Tamura Shihan

[philipsmith]

Sadly Tamura Sensei passed away on Friday 9th July 2010.

He will be remembered not only for his outstanding skill and passion for Aikido but also his tremendous "joie de vivre" both on and off the mat.

He will be sorely missed.

Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (8th dan, Aikikai) was born in 1933 in Osaka, Japan and started out as an uchideshi under Morihei Ueshiba sensei in 1953. He was sent to Marseille, France, by Ueshiba sensei in 1964; according to Wikipedia, "he arrived in France in the port of Marseille in 1964 as the final destination of his honeymoon cruise (he paid part of his trip by performing aikido exhibitions on the ship). In France, he succeeded Tadashi Abe as the Aikikai representative there and decided to stay in this country teaching aikido as a living, despite the fact that he was barely speaking French at that time."

[Kim Taylor]

I remember being at the 20th anniversary seminar of the NY Aikikai and watching Tamura sensei take every class, regardless of who was teaching. He was in with the students taking ukemi and spreading joy. As a kyu-grade aikidoka that lesson made a great impression on me.

Kim Taylor