Introducing Aikido Iga Shokikan

"Martial Arts without Conflict," to the World

    Kenji Ono, 62, a martial artist from Osaka moved to Ishikawa, Iga, Mie Prefecture, and opened a dojo in an old house. He has been teaching aikido, a noncompetitive martial art, to local people in four developing countries for about six years as a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) overseas cooperation corps member. The spirit that leads to peace is passed on from one generation of students to the next.

Aikido is a modern martial art founded by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969). Aikido uses the body rationally to defend against an opponent's attack, using throws, or restrains the opponent while minimizing damage. The aim is not to win or lose, or to compete with each other for superiority or inferiority, but to train the body and mind through practice and to improve each others skills. 　Mr. Ono began aikido in his first year of college. When he entered university, he had intended to continue with judo, which he had practiced since high school, but he was enthusiastically invited to join the aikido club, partly because he was interested in using weapons such as wooden swords and  sticks. 　About six months later, he had his first opportunity to learn from a master who was a direct disciple of the founder, and despite his age of 65, he radiated tremendous spirit and found himself thrown to the ground. Mr. Ono decided to continue practicing aikido as long as his body would allow him to continue, and he devoted himself to his training more and more. 　In his third year of college, he began teaching aikido at an off-campus dojo, and continued to do so even after he began working for an electronics manufacturer. One day, when he was 26 years old and feeling "hazy" about his life as a company employee, a junior colleague introduced him to an article recruiting for the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV). It was a two-year assignment to teach aikido in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the South Pacific.

Aikido is the lingua franca.

   PNG consists of the eastern half of New Guinea Island north of Australia and the surrounding islands, and is home to numerous languages and ethnic groups. Conflicts between tribes were constant, and security was not good. 　Mr. Ono was assigned to a police academy in the suburbs of the capital and taught aikido to eight instructors. The local police had adopted aikido as an arresting technique, and Japanese instructors had been teaching it before Mr. Ono arrived. 　English was the official language, but the accent was so thick that communication was difficult. On the other hand, he felt no difficulty　in training, and recalls that "aikido itself had become the lingua franca. In weapon practice, he taught mainly with a walking stick, which is more familiar to the local people than a wooden sword. Interest in Asian martial arts was high due to the influence of "Ninja" and "Kung Fu," and when he held classes outside of the police academy, many local residents came to attend. By the end of his tenure, he found it rewarding to see the progress of his students. 　After returning to Japan with a sense of accomplishment and loneliness in his heart, he went back to work as an office worker. When he turned 46 years old after getting married, he learned that the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers had a "Senior Overseas Cooperation Volunteers" program for those in their 40s to 60s. This rekindled in Mr. Ono a desire to go abroad, which had been distant from him. He soon traveled to Egypt in Africa, Senegal at age 54, and Peru in South America at age 59, where he worked with a local aikido association to promote aikido among the local residents. 　In 2020, due to the spread of the new coronavirus, all Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers were forced to return home. Mr. Ono returned to Osaka with regret, but soon decided to establish a base for future activities in Japan. In Iga City, which he was familiar with through motorcycle touring, he found an old private house in a good environment and purchased it. He renovated a Japanese-style room in a detached house and established a new aikido dojo, "Shokikan.”Currently, the dojo is open to working people from the city and also accepts university students for training camps. He says that he still keeps in touch with his students overseas via Facebook, and laughs, "One of my students is always awake, 24 hours a day, somewhere in the world, constantly training his body and mind. Now that the Corona Disaster has settled down, I would like to make it a base for inviting my students from overseas to train and enjoy sightseeing

 Translated from the article of “YOU” ～ the Iga town NEWS Vol.841