Shizuo Imaizumi (今泉鎮雄), born 1938) is a Japanese aikido teacher. He holds a rank of 7th dan from the Ki Society, but broke away from the Ki Society in 1987 to found the Shin-Budo Kai style of aikido.
Imaizumi sensei first started training in aikido in April 1959 during his days as a student at Waseda University in Tokyo. He went to training sessions at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo which was located near the Waseda Campus. It was there he first met O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, during one of his aikido demonstrations.
In 1965, Imaizumi became an apprentice to the teaching staff, shidoin, at the Hombu Dojo. He would often serve as uke, for Ueshiba during his early morning classes.
During his time at the Hombu Dojo he frequently trained under Koichi Tohei and became one of his supporters. This was a time of increasing tensions between several high-ranking instructors of the Hombo Dojo and the head instructor Koichi Tohei, starting with the death of Morihei Ueshiba in 1969 and culminating in Tohei’s departure from the Aikikai in 1974.
During that time in spring of 1972 he was instructed by Tohei, who was still serving as head instructor at the Hombu Dojo, to travel to Los Angeles in the United States to teach aikido and ki-principles under Roderick T. Kobayashi Sensei, who was the chief Instructor of the Western States Aikido Federation at this time.
During his stay there he would tour the immediate Western Area of the US, teaching regular classes and spread Tohei’s ki-principles.
To be continued…
Source: Facebook/Aikido
