James Young

Although I haven't read Aikido Shugyo yet, from watching videos of Shioda-sensei I'd agree with Mike that I believe he had a mastery level of kokyu. One example that comes to mind is on a couple of videos I remember watching Shioda-sensei do randori and there would be instances where he would turn his back to his attacker and when the attacker's hands reached his back (shoulder blade area) he would throw them or repel them back with a slight movement of his back. I wouldn't be surprised if I could talk to those ukes that they would say the power in that throw was much more powerful than seemingly appears by just that visible slight movement of his back. To do something like that effectively not only requires superb timing but also the ability to connect with an attacker in that moment and then throw them with kokyu power. This leads me to believe Shioda-sensei probably knew how to move and manifest kokyu power (or ki power if you prefer) around his body, at least in this case the upper back, and then use it effectively. Of course it's hard to be sure without being the uke yourself, but that's my opinion based on what I've seen.