Tanaka was a student of Ueshiba who started when the certificates handed out were for Daito Ryu under Sokaku Takeda. Takeda and Ueshiba broke ties not long after Tanaka started – 1937. A famous incident where Takeda showed up in Osaka to announce he would take over instruction of the Asahi news group in Osaka happened in 1936.
Tanaka was drafted into the army in 1939, where he served as a bodyguard. The war ended in 1945, and Aikido was outlawed until 1949 (famous students like Morihiro Saito and Hirokazu Kobayashi both date their start in training to 1946).
Tanaka resumed his aikido training a year after the end of war and he was asked by O Sensei to open Osaka Aikikai in 1951. Tanaka stayed in Iwama until the dojo was opened in early 1952. O Sensei arrived and taught in Osaka for several weeks, and made very frequent trips to Osaka.
Shioda started a dojo in 1950, gave a career changing demonstration in 1954, and didn’t start his own style until 1955 officially. Morihei Ueshiba looked to be in retirement, and Shioda was Tanaka’s senior.
To be continued…
Source: Facebook/Aikido
