Masamichi Noro
Masamichi Noro ( Japanese 野 呂 昌 道 Noro Masamichi; born January 21, 1935 in Tokyo ; † March 15, 2013 ) was the founder of Kinomichi . Previously, he was a senior Japanese aikido teacher in France.
Life
Noro entered the Aikikai Honbu Dōjō in Tokyo in 1955 as Uchi-Deshi . At the same time, Yasuo Kobayashi and Katsuaki Asai began there with Aikido . For six years he lived day in and day out at the side of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, who sent him to France in 1961 as the official delegate of the Honbu Dojo for Europe to further spread Aikido. At the age of 26 he was the youngest Shihan (teacher of teachers) to date . In the course of his travel and teaching activities from Europe to North Africa, over 200 new aikido dojos were created in the following years.
In 1966 he had a serious car accident. In the course of his rehabilitation, he became acquainted with Western methods of bodywork such as the Feldenkrais method and eutonia . He meets Lily Ehrenfried and Karlfried Graf Dürckheim , whom he describes as his western spiritual father. In order to realize the basic ideas of Aikido it seems necessary to him to change the movement techniques themselves. He gradually integrated many elements of these methods, especially in his preparatory exercises, and gradually developed his own synthesis, which he presented to a wider public for the first time in 1979 under the name Kinomichi and initially referred to as an "anti-martial art". He withdraws from the Honbu Dojo and henceforth teaches his "Method Noro Kinomichi" ( Path of Energy ) in Paris. From the year 2000 onwards he again came closer to aikido. The Kinomichi becomes a member of a large French Aikido Association (FFAAA) in 2001 and has also been recognized there as an independent discipline since 2018.
In the last years of his life, the consequences of his accident become more and more noticeable, so that he can only teach to a very limited extent.
He was more than a great teacher of his art, he was a great artist. Like all great artists, he had the ability to live fully in the moment, to be fully himself. He never tired of emphasizing that he was just a simple person, with all the contradictions of human existence.
Masamichi Noro has influenced and shaped an invaluable number of students around the world over the course of his 50 years of activity. Many only experienced him for a short period of time and were nevertheless deeply influenced by him, others were by his side for 50 years. Over the years he has trained over 100 teachers who are organized in the KIIA (Kinomichi International Association).
“ So I am an artist who shapes future artists. My materials are movement, energy and breath. My goal .... the opening to fellow human beings and the universe ... My anchor point: the breath of eternity and silence ... "
style
Kinomichi combines eastern and western approaches to movement. It makes use of the entire Aikido movement repertoire. The movements are slowed down considerably, especially in the basic levels, and enlarged as if under a microscope, in order to prevent all kinds of excessive tension right at the beginning and to enable the movements to flow freely and smoothly. Great importance is attached to good contact with the partners, with each other instead of against each other is the top priority. Like Aikidō, Kinomichi is not performance-oriented. Nevertheless, Dan graduations have recently returned.
literature
- Daniel Roumanoff : Kinomichi - the Noro method. Touch, relationship, movement. Kristkeitz, Heidelberg 1994, ISBN 3-921508-59-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Noro, Masamichi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 野 呂 昌 道 |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese aikido master |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 21, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tokyo |
| DATE OF DEATH | 15 March 2013 |