 Minoru Mochizuki Sensei, Founder of Yoseikan Budo
Born April 7, 1907 - Died May 30, 2003. Minoru Mochizuki was a Japanese martial artist who founded Yoseikan Budo. He held the ranks 10th dan, Aikido (International Martial Arts Federation); 9th dan, jujutsu; 8th dan, iaido; 8th dan, judo; 8th dan, kobudo; 5th dan, kendo; 5th dan, karate; 5th dan, jojutsu.
Born in Shizuoka, Japan, Mochizuki Sensei was one of the direct students of judo founder Jigoro Kano, aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba and Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate.
Sharinig the same viewpoint of The International Budo Institute, Mochizuki Sensei believing that the martial arts have become distorted by specialization into separate disciplines and transformation into sports, Mochizuki Sensei assembled the major techniques of the Japanese martial tradition into a single coherent structure. He oversaw the development of his system from his home in Shizuoka, Japan, where his dojo, the Yoseikan, was often visited by martial arts practitioners from all over the world. His art is currently practiced in 29 countries around the world, and in such diverse places as Australia and Algeria, where a recent clinic had 240 people in attendance. The organization continues to grow and expand to more countries each year. In 2003 he died in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Mochizuki Sensei, began by training in kendo at the age of five, at his grandfather's dojo in Shizuoka. Then he began Judo and joined the Kodokan in 1925 where he became an outstanding competitor. Under the tutelage of Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, Mochizuki became the youngest member of the Kobudo Kenkyukai - an organization for the study, preservation and development of classical martial arts - established within the Kodokan. Here he practiced among others Katori Shinto-ryu. In 1930, he was sent by Jigoro Kano to study aikijujutsu with Morihei Ueshiba Sensei. He was the uchideschi of Morihei Ueshiba Sensei at the Kobukan dojo for one year before opening his own dojo in Shizuoka City in 1931.
 Minoru Mochizuki Sensei, Founder of Yoseikan Budo |
