Nihon Goshin Aikido

[Jason Chambers]

Are there any opinions on this art? I recently had the opportunity to see Mr MacKewen recently and was a bit impressed with the techniques he was demontrating... but it looks and awful lot like Miyama Ryu.

[Justin Campbell]

Nihon Goshin Aikido is a great art. Nihon Goshin is actually a Ryu-ha of Daito-ryu founded by Shodo Morita. It became "Aikido" when Bowe Sensei brought the art to America. The art contains 50 classical techniques and an unspecified number of variations and applications to those techniques. There are several sites that are on Nihon Goshin Aikido. Visit http://www.goshinkai.com at check out the Nihon Goshin information… or do a search on the Internet for Nihon Goshin Aikido and you will get a few sites.

Hope this helped.

[TommyK]

Greetings,

I have seen this type of Aikido and it is very similiar to the type of eclectic Korean Karate and Self-Defense that I practice. I have little doubts about its street effectiveness. Our style is based on Chi Do Kwan (some call it Shoto-kan lite) and includes select Judo and Aikido techniques in its Self-Defense applications. This stuff works, as I believe Nihon Goshin Aikido does.

There is a fine schol of this type located in the borough of Queens, in NYC, on Northern Blvd., on the border with Nassau county, if anyone in the area would like to see it up close.

Regards,
TommyK

[Justin Campbell]

Sir,

I have no doubts to Nihon Goshin Aikido's (NGA) effectiveness. I earned my Shodan in NGA back in June 1993. I used this art while I worked in a Jail as a guard to control unruly prisoners.

NGA is among the most "combative" Aikido systems I have seen (I use the term "Aikido" simply because it is in the name). I feel that people are lucky to study NGA if they are near a Dojo. There are other fine Aikido systems (Yoshinkan and Iwama to name two) out there...so please no flaming over this. I have visited many Aikido Dojos and love the art... but my heart belongs to Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu. My NGA background has only added to my abilities as a student and learner... Keep training. Train hard. Remember why and what you train for.

[Justin Campbell]

Here are a few links you should check out if you are interested in NGA.

http://www.goshinkai.com

http://www.aikidoschool.com

[Mike Collins]

Justin,

Do you also train in Nihon Goshin Aikido in Seaside? Or only Seibukan? I'd like to watch a class of NGA one day if it is in Seaside or the Monterey area somewhere. I live in San Jose, so it's just a short trip. I've seen Julio Toribio both in an Aikido context and teaching at his school, which at that time had a different name, Hakko Ryu, I think, but I'm not sure; he is very good.