Kazuo Chiba

Kazuo Chiba ( Japanese千葉和男, Chiba Kazuo , born February 5, 1940 in Tokyo ; † June 5, 2015 ) was an Aikidō teacher from Japan and a direct student of Ueshiba Morihei . He was a holder of the 8th Dan of the Aikidō organization Aikikai . He was also the founder of the Dōjō San Diego Aikikai in San Diego and the Aikido organization Birankai . His style is considered to be very direct, which is why this Aikido is sometimes viewed as relatively "hard" or "rough". Much emphasis is placed on training with the weapons commonly used in Aikido ( Jō , Bokken and Tantō ).

biography

TK Chiba was born in Tokyo on February 5, 1940. At the age of 14 he began to train judo , at the age of 16 Shōtōkan karate . Dissatisfied with this, he looked for another martial art .

In 1958 he heard of Aikidō and then lived for seven years as Uchi-Deshi with Ueshiba Morihei, the founder of Aikidō, in the Hombu-Dōjō, at the same time as other well-known Aikidōka such as Yoshimitsu Yamada and Mitsunari Kanai . During this time he also worked with Iaidō . In 1960, Chiba Sensei acquired the 3rd Dan, and was sent to Nagoya to set up and teach a branch of the Dōjō there. In 1962 he received the 4th Dan and started teaching at the Hombu-Dōjō. For the next three years he taught at many nearby universities and finished his training as Uchi-Deshi, with which he also received the 5th Dan.

In 1966 Chiba moved to Sunderland , England. There he created the Aikikai of Great Britain, which was later renamed the British Aikido Federation . In 1970 he received the title Shihan (means something like "teacher of teachers") and the 6th Dan. In 1975 he returned to Japan to work as a managing director in the International Department of the Hombu-Dōjō. He was also studying Zen meditation in Shizuoka Prefecture at that time and was actively involved in founding the International Aikido Federation .

In 1981 he accepted an invitation from the United States Aikido Federation (affiliated to Hombu-Dōjō) and moved to San Diego, California. There the San Diego Aikikai was founded under his direction.

Chiba Sensei founded Birankai in 2001 during an Aikidō course in Labaroche (France) in order to offer his students from all over the world a common organization to support their training and development.

He was director of the San Diego Aikikai, chairman of the teaching committee of Barankai International, and oversaw the activities of the United States Aikido Federation, Western Division.

In 2008 he stopped actively teaching.

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personal data
SURNAME	Chiba, Kazuo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	千葉和雄 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Japanese aikido teacher
DATE OF BIRTH	5th February 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tokyo
DATE OF DEATH	5th June 2015