The training is hard and severe, there are no tatami mats in the dojo and the students, few in number at that time, have to learn to fall on the wooden floor. After three months he finds himself alone, the teenage course disappears but Hiroshi continues to practice with the adults.
His training partners are named Morihiro Saito, Takeo Murata, Sakae Shimada, Sachio Yamane or Kunio Oyama.
In 1958, Hiroshi left Iwama to join the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces (Nihon Koku-Jieitai). He was mobilized in Chitose on the island of Hokkaido. Aged 21, he began teaching aikido to members of the US military police, then at the request of the garrison commander, to all members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.
Many of his military students are physically stronger and taller than he is, forcing Isoyama Sensei to develop powerful techniques in order to meet the challenges of his students.
Isoyama Sensei is promoted to 5th dan on the occasion of the 1962 new year (kagami biraki).In January 1985, he was named 8th dan.
After a long career in the military, where he served as head of defensive tactics for the Japanese Academy of Self Defense, he retired from the government. Isoyama Sensei can now devote himself full time to further training and teaching.
To be continued…
Source: Facebook/Aikido
