Yoshida Kotaro
“The
Last of the Real Samurai”:
1886-1966
Yoshida
Sensei began his training rather late in life as he began when he was
29 years of age, in 1915. His training was under the direct tutelage of
the legendary Sokaku Tokeda in Hokkaido, in Shiragi Saburo Takeda Ryu
Ju Jitsu.
Yoshida was a graduate of Tohoku Gakuin in Sendai in 1906, Waseda
University, as well an American university. He authored numerous
books, operated a newspaper company and oversaw a private library.
An interesting side note is a short story that Sensei Kim told us often:
Once, when he visited Yoshida, he saw all the University Ph.D. diplomas
on the wall and was very impressed with them. Yoshida Sensei said
to him, “do not be impressed with these they are only paper -it is
the mind that counts, not certificates.”
Although few are still alive that have actually seen him perform there
is much evidence that Yoshida Sensei was a master beyond compare.
His skill was acclaimed by such notables as Mas Oyama in his book “This
Is Karate”, Katsuyuki Kondo, who in Yoshida’s later years
taught Kondo (Kondo trained from 1963 to 1965 with him), and our own Richard
Kim.
He was a staunch, right-wing activist and belonged to such ultra-nationalist
organizations as the Genyosha (Black Ocean Society) which later became
Kokuryu kai (Black Dragon Society). This group believed very much in the
old ways of the samurai and even though the samurai class was disbanded
in the Meiji Restoration -January 3rd, 1868 - it still operated, but in
the 'quiet'. Yoshida was a member of this elite group and continued
its ways and teachings until he passed away. Other members of these groups
included names like Doshin So, founder of Shorinji Kempo, Moreihei Ueshiba,
and Sokaku Tokaeda.
Although we have no proof, we also believe that other martial arts masters of that era, like Gogen Yamaguichi, Mas Oyama and Richard Kim, were also members of this underground group of spies.
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In his book, “The Cat”, Yamaguichi talks in length about his involvement with spies in Manchuria. Oyama was in the Japanese Army and he, Richard Kim and Yamaguichi all became very good friends in the late 1940s. Both Richard Kim and Oyama became students of Yamaguichi, and received their black belt in 1950 from Yamaguichi Gogen.
The
Black Ocean Society was started in 1881 by a group of former samurai who
had been suppressed during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. They became
famous for their espionage and sabotage techniques, particularly in Russia,
China and Manchuria around the turn of the century. They were especially
active in the training of spies and agents.
The Black Dragon Society, formed in 1901, was an offshoot of the Black
Ocean Society (or Kokuryu Kai) and is said to have been of paramount importance
in leading Japan into World War I. In fact they were involved in
several covert intelligence-gathering activities that included the USA
prior to WWII.
He was also a member of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai which, prior to the
end of WWII, every martial artist belonged to. In fact, it had millions
of members throughout Japan. It was shut down in 1946, as was the
Black Dragon Society, by General Douglas MacArthur for being ultra right
wing organizations which had a dangerous political influence on the Japanese
society.
Yoshida Sensei passed away in the summer of 1966 in Hitachi Ibaragi Prefecture.
According to Sensei Kim, he had been injured and paralyzed on his left
side during an accident when he ran his bicycle in front of a truck to
save a young child’s life as the truck was coming down the road.
By diving in front of the truck on his bicycle he forced the truck to
turn and saved the life of the child, but was seriously injured in the
accident.
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When Sensei Kim visited him in the hospital, he said, that when he looked
at him with ptty in his eyes, Yoshida Sensei sensed it and said, “do
not worry about thi,s as I will now have to operate on mind power, I will
use the wireless system”, and began laughing.
He lived with Richard Kim in Yokohama in his house with his family, and
this is when and where he taught Sensei Kim. He trained under Yoshida
Kotaro for seven years (according to Black belt Magazine, June 1969).
Sensei Kim often expounded on how difficult these years were under Yoshida.
He was apparently tough to deal with.
It was Sensei Kim who introduced his friend Mas Oyama, a Korean by birth,
to Yoshida Sensei. Oyama began training with Yoshida Sensei and, in fact,
in his book “This Is Karate”, Oyama refers to him as his teacher
and the greatest of them all. In hindsight, it was quite a compliment
having both Richard Kim and Mas Oyama calling him Sensei, so we know he
must have been something very special.
He was an eccentric in many ways, according to Mas Oyama, and lived a
life of poverty. His life’s work was reading, writing and the study
of the martial arts. He once said that the martial arts were meant
for human development: physically, psychologically and for mental discipline,
and were not meant for gaining wealth or fame. Yoshida Sensei was most
definitely from the old school of the martial arts, as he would not teach
just anyone no matter how much they paid him, unless their character was
compatible with that of his.
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Oyama,
who apparently only trained a couple of years directly with Yoshida Sensei,
was so impressed with Yoshida’s skills that he said in his book,
“my teacher's mastery of the arts can only be described as perfection
and I fear that the readers of this book will only half believe me.”
Yoshida Sensei taught him reverse locks, and joint techniques, woman’s
self defense using a parasol and Jo Jitsu and Bo Jitsu techniques.
He tells of how Yoshida Sensei could actually catch a fly with his chopsticks
at will. He did it by constant practice (over 300,000 attempts)
as he believed nothing was impossible. He at first caught a bee,
and then he tied the bee with a thread and continued practicing this until
he was able to catch it at will with his chopsticks. He then caught
a large fly, like a horse fly we suppose, and then he tied this up and
practiced until he could catch it at will. Then came a regular fly
in the winter months and finally a regular fly in the heat of summer.
Quite possibly this is where Sensei Kim came up with the idea of having
us cross out two words in our dictionaries of “try” and “impossible”.
Although we have no proof of this, we again suspect that this is where
Sensei Kim developed his thirst for knowledge of hypnosis... he was a
master of both direct and indirect hypnosis. (I personally saw him hypnotize
over 200 people in less then 10 seconds in Britainne, France, while at
a summer camp hosted by Richard Lee in 1985 era). Yoshida Sensei was somewhat
of an eccentric and his study of the occult was well known and documented,
as was Yamaguichi Gogen’s who loved his crystal ball. But it is also
known that Ueshiba Moreihei was also a student of the occult and loved
his crystal ball and this is what makes us think that this interest in
hypnosis came from Sokaku Takeda to Yoshida Kotaro to Sensei Kim.
Remember, though, Sensei Kim also trained with Yamaguichi Gogen and Moreihei
Ueshiba, both who delved in the occult as can be seen in videos and photos.
(Sensei Kim introduced his class to Dr. Milton Erickson, one of the world
leaders in clinical hypnosis.)
In Oyama’s book, he talks in length about hypnosis and its relationship
to the martial arts, which again makes us believe that it was Yoshida
who gave Sensei Kim and Oyama the interest in hypnosis.
On more then one occasion, I personally saw Sensei Kim sitting down as
he watched an individual who was on the other side of the room and then
he began to explain everything about the individual and it all made sense.
He watched the way the person walked and said you can tell everything
you need to know about a person by the way they walk, he watched how they
were dressed, watched the way they ate their food, watched their eyes,
and anything else that was evident. He would explain things, like if the
man was well dressed he was probably well educated, or if he was sloppily
dressed he was more then likely a factory worker. He would note
things like which hand he used to eat with, and what he was eating.
If he ate healthy or if he ate non healthy foods might dictate whether
he was a martial artist or an athlete. He said he learned this in Japan
and, again, we suspect he learned it from Yoshida Sensei, as he was a
spy for the Japanese during WWII, as well as in Manchuria and was trained
in these ways.
Yoshida Sensei’s skill with all the traditional weapons of Japan
was apparently unequalled and he was well known for his skill with the
spear, sword, halbred, knife and shuriken, as well as throwing and joint
and muscle manipulation.
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He
received a teacher’s license from Tokeda and created his own style
and a set of scrolls to go with the style. These scrolls contained
the secrets of Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu. This is the name of the style
Yoshida Sensei created. These scrolls are now in the possession
of Mrs. Richard Kim (Sensei Kim’s wife) and were seen by several
of her followers as recent as Winter 2005.
The scrolls, read as follows left to right:
1. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu techniques with Bo and Jo.
Signed Yoshida Kotaro.
2. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu techniques of Shuriken and Throwing Knives. Signed Yoshida Kotaro
3. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu Techniques of Aiki #1. Signed Yoshida Kotaro
4. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu Techniques of Aiki #2. Signed Yoshida Kotaro
5. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu Techniques of Muscle Manipulation and Bone Adjustments. Signed Yoshida Kotaro
6. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu Techniques of Aiki Judo Throwing Arts.
Signed Yoshida Kotaro
7. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu Techniques of the Sword. Signed Yoshida Kotaro
8. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu Techniques of Aiki Judo Throwing Arts.
Signed Yoshida Kotaro
9. Daito Ryu Aiki Jitsu - Can not see in the picture as it is cut off but it is as well signed Yoshida Kotaro.
The
scrolls photo was taken by George Dong for an article written in June
Black Belt Magazine in 1969. It was taken in the apartment of Mr.
Robert Leong. They were translated by Mr. Naito, a senior citizen
in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo and his assistant. These scrolls are signed
by Yoshida Kotaro. There is no date on them in this picture, usually
the date is inside the scrolls.
In the Black Belt article, Sensei Kim says that Yoshida sensei was the
greatest martial arts master that Japan has produced since the Meiji Restoration
of 1868. Only those in the Butoku Kai and those who lived in Japan
knew him, said Sensei Kim. It was Yoshida Sensei who ordered Sensei
Kim to go and study with all the greats in the Tokyo area, including Ueshiba
Moreihei. Sensei Kim personally told me that he trained everyday
from 6:00 a.m. until about 9:00 a.m. with Ueshiba in his home in Tokyo
for close to one year.
According to Mas Oyama, Yoshida Sensei’s skill in Aiki, sword fighting,
judo and knife and shuriken throwing were unequalled. He never gave
up the traditional dress and always wore kimono and carried an iron fan
(tessen). In fact, it is reported in Frederick Lovrets' “Budo Jiten”
that he actually killed a bear with his iron fan.
Mas Oyama was given a teachers license (Menkyo Kaiden) from Yoshida Kotaro.
Although we have never seen the Menkyo that Yoshida gave Sensei Kim (as
he never had a formal dojo), we would assume that it was similar to the
one Oyama received from him. In the June 1969 Black Belt article,
it does say that Sensei Kim did receive a Menkyo Kaiden from Yoshida Kotaro.
He was also given an iron fan - which is one of Sensei kim’s most
valuable possessions - from Yoshida Sensei who, according to Sensei Kim,
had won 111 actual matches by using the fan.
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