Aikido book from the 50's or early 60's?

I just inherited several aikido books from my grandfather who practiced aikido from 1957 to 1992 in hakalau hawaii ,he passed away in 2005." Ki in daily life" signed by Koichi Tohei sensei ,"How to develop Ki " signed by Koichi tohei and Koretoshi Maruyama sensei and a third book . This 3rd book i have never seen before ,The tiltle just says "Aikido" in japanese,it has a picture of 2 aikidoka practicing shizumi otoshi or aikido knee drop on the cover ,its is all in japanese ,the pictures have koichi tohei doing taiso and techniques ,the date on the back of the book says 1959and the most interesting part is that there is a page that is actually signed by O sensei next to his picture. I verified the signature with my sensei but have no idea about this book . I tried looking on the internet and have no leads .
Does anyone have any information on this book or ideas where i can find more info . Thank you .

I think it's Aikido: The Arts of Self Defense, written by Tohei and supervised by Morihei. The PDF file of it that I have is in English and is dated 1960, Rikugei Publishing House.

Hhhmm.... it seems like you have a nice collection going! I would definately hold onto them. I will try to find out something for you. I am usually good at finding things online... but we will see. The only thing I could think of is to go to an older book store or something and ask them. I would think you would have better success with a used bookstore or an independent shop. For some reason, they just seem more knowledgable... but that is just my opinion. Do you know anyone your grandfather trained with? Since there are a few people from Japan on the forum, perhaps they will be of better help then I am. Sorry! I will post if I find something! Do you think you could post a pic of the cover? That may help me easier.

Raul Rodrigo wrote: I think it's Aikido: The Arts of Self Defense, written by Tohei and supervised by Morihei. The PDF file of it that I have is in English and is dated 1960, Rikugei Publishing House.

Hello
could you tell us where we could get this PDF?
cheers phil

thank you very much . I will scan the books as soon as i can .

Jamie Yugawa wrote: thank you very much . I will scan the books as soon as i can .

Oh, pleaseeeee... do !

Raul Rodrigo wrote: I think it's Aikido: The Arts of Self Defense, written by Tohei and supervised by Morihei. The PDF file of it that I have is in English and is dated 1960, Rikugei Publishing House.

Yes, that sounds like the book - here is a link to a description over at Aikido Journal: http://www.aikidojournal.com/bibliog...details?id=168

Although, originally published in 1959/60, I picked up a reprinted publication a few years ago from a British publisher.

I am a bit of an Aikido book collector and I favor Tohie's books - my prized book is a 1968 first printing of Tohie's 'This is Aikido'. I got it a few years ago from a lady in Hawaii who's father owned a book store and she was liquidating items after his death - it came to me brand new in the actual shipping box from the publisher, I was the first to actually open the book after all these years.

You should cherish your signed books - I had a signed book by Koretoshi Maruyama that I got form him back in the mid 70s' - unfortunately, I lost it over the years through my many moves, etc.

Greg

Yeah my granfather had the first edition of "this is aikido" with the blue cover , unfortunatly my grandma gave the book to my cousins girlfriend who was practicing at the time (not now unfortunatly!). I should ask for that back !!! lol

Jamie Yugawa wrote: Yeah my granfather had the first edition of "this is aikido" with the blue cover , unfortunatly my grandma gave the book to my cousins girlfriend who was practicing at the time (not now unfortunatly!). I should ask for that back !!! lol

I would try to get it back if you could - in some circles ti is considered one of the better Aikido technical manuals every published - and even well used copies in fair condition can draw a very good price in a book auction such as on Ebay,,, I also have a 1975 and 1976 edition of the book.

Greg

Jamie Yugawa wrote: I just inherited several aikido books from my grandfather who practiced aikido from 1957 to 1992 in hakalau hawaii ,he passed away in 2005." Ki in daily life" signed by Koichi Tohei sensei ,"How to develop Ki " signed by Koichi tohei and Koretoshi Maruyama sensei and a third book . This 3rd book i have never seen before ,The tiltle just says "Aikido" in japanese,it has a picture of 2 aikidoka practicing shizumi otoshi or aikido knee drop on the cover ,its is all in japanese ,the pictures have koichi tohei doing taiso and techniques ,the date on the back of the book says 1959and the most interesting part is that there is a page that is actually signed by O sensei next to his picture. I verified the signature with my sensei but have no idea about this book . I tried looking on the internet and have no leads . Does anyone have any information on this book or ideas where i can find more info . Thank you .

Since O'Sensei signed it, I would hang on to it and never sell it. I don't believe his autograph is commonplace at all, therefore you may have something to treasure.

Jamie Yugawa wrote: Yeah my granfather had the first edition of "this is aikido" with the blue cover , unfortunatly my grandma gave the book to my cousins girlfriend who was practicing at the time (not now unfortunatly!). I should ask for that back !!! lol

You should because if it really is the first printing edition, depending on condition, it's market value is over $300 at least without signature.

I have a couple of copies but they are later editions.

Jamie Yugawa wrote: "Ki in daily life" signed by Koichi Tohei sensei

That's a 70's edition of Tohei Sensei's original 60's book "Aikido in daily life". The value there is purely sentimental and there might be some value in the signature, not sure. Frankly I prefer the original but then I'm a stealth-heretic within KNK.

,"How to develop Ki " signed by Koichi tohei and Koretoshi Maruyama sensei.

If that is what I think it is, that is very rare and the signatures make it even more valuable.

This 3rd book i have never seen before ,The tiltle just says "Aikido" in japanese,it has a picture of 2 aikidoka practicing shizumi otoshi or aikido knee drop on the cover ,its is all in japanese ,the pictures have koichi tohei doing taiso and techniques ,the date on the back of the book says 1959 and the most interesting part is that there is a page that is actually signed by O sensei next to his picture. I verified the signature with my sensei but have no idea about this book . I tried looking on the internet and have no leads. Does anyone have any information on this book or ideas where i can find more info.

Unless he went to Japan, your grandfather must have had it signed on O Sensei's one visit outside of Japan in 1961 to Hawaii. I have seen various interesting photos from that visit when I was at the Maui Ki Society dojo. So that's definitely of historical value.

If nage (probably Tohei Sensei) is facing the camera looking down with the uke having been thrown over on his back with the top of his head facing the camera, then it's interesting that it's in Japanese as that is one of the first Aikido books to appear in English, maybe the first. The Japanese edition was according to the preface in the English edition to have first been published in August, 1957. The preface is not quite clear but seems at least the English version was written when Tohei Sensei was in Hawaii from 1957 to 1958. The quality of prose in his early classics like this one are on the whole much better. I have a feeling there were some Hawaiian ghost writers at work here.

I have the 1966 London edition (AIKIDO / The Co-ordination of Mind and Body for Self-defense) which seems much more common than the original English version it was copied from by Rikugei (published 1961). I don't know how rare the Japanese version is in Japan or Hawaii, but I think it's safe to say it's non-existent elsewhere.

For someone studying aikido, your grandfather left you a nice inheritance.

Greg Steckel wrote: Yes, that sounds like the book - here is a link to a description over at Aikido Journal: http://www.aikidojournal.com/bibliog...details?id=168

Yes, that has got to be it. The dust jacket and description match.

"The early hardback editions are characterized by an unusual heavy twill fabric covering."

That was interesting to read as it describes my copy. I guess they don't mean just the earliest hardback editions.

Yeah my grandfather was here in hilo when O sensei came to hawaii .My grandmother said Koichi tohei would come over to eat dinner and she would always prepare a meat dish because it was so expensive in japan .i know he met him here because O sensei did several demos here on the big island and i think there are pictures of my grandfather in those pictures. Back to the book its got a color picture on it and looks nothing like that book in english , i guess when they translated it they changed everything . cant find any pictures of this book anywhere !!

I have a copy of the 1974 printing of "This is Aikido" and it has a dark blue/grey cover. The dust jacket is bright blue with a picture of Tohei Sensei performing a technique on three Uke. I paid $ 170.00 for it on E-Bay. A friend has a first edition that her father bought and the cover to that is some sort of fabric with a texture of woven bamboo. Very, very nice and I covet it.

Wow! I have a second edition 1971 of This Is Aikido. I had no idea it was so valuable, thanks for all the info.

btw, one of Tohei Sensei's uke is Seishiro Endo, who is the other one?

Jamie Yugawa wrote: Yeah my grandfather was here in hilo when O sensei came to hawaii .My grandmother said Koichi tohei would come over to eat dinner and she would always prepare a meat dish because it was so expensive in japan .i know he met him here because O sensei did several demos here on the big island and i think there are pictures of my grandfather in those pictures. Back to the book its got a color picture on it and looks nothing like that book in english , i guess when they translated it they changed everything . cant find any pictures of this book anywhere !!

Interesting, my first Aikido sensei was David H Kalama and I believe he was around during Tohei's visits as well as O Sensei's visit back then. Do you recognize the name or have any info on him from your grandfathers stuffs?

Thanks

Greg

Here are some pictures from the unknown aikido book .

more from the book

and more pictures.

sorry dont recognize kalama sensei i will ask around about him for you .I have been talking to the older senseis that knew my grandfather Takashi Nonaka sensei ,ramon goya sensei , and Hajime uyeki sensei who seem to verify that the book was signed by O- Sensei .I will try to take the book to other people to verify that it was signed and not printed ,it looks authentic to me .

Here is "Aikido in Daily Life "

Jamie Yugawa wrote: more from the book

Hi Jamie,

The bottom group photo in the "aikido book scan 6aikiweb.pdf" file says "Hawaii Aikikai Instructors". I wonder if you could get me a bigger scan of just that photo - it would be great to post at www.aikidohawaii.org

Best,

Chris

Jamie Yugawa wrote: sorry dont recognize kalama sensei i will ask around about him for you .I have been talking to the older senseis that knew my grandfather Takashi Nonaka sensei ,ramon goya sensei , and Hajime uyeki sensei who seem to verify that the book was signed by O- Sensei .I will try to take the book to other people to verify that it was signed and not printed ,it looks authentic to me .

Thanks - I appreciate any info you can dig up. Although our group was training in Guam during the mid 70s, we were a part of the Hawaii Aikikwai and we believe Kalama Sensei was in Hawaii during the 60s.

Greg

Jamie, you have quite a heritage.

Best,
Ron