Post-war Years
Beginning in 1953 Koïchi Tohei Sensei was responsible for the introduction of Aikido to the West, mainly through regular teaching journeys to Hawaii, but also continental US and Europe. It was the first time the Founder of Aikido allowed for the art to be taught outside of Japan. For that reason, Hawaii became a center for diffusion of Aikido in the United States, and remains today an important place for Ki-Aikido. During his years at the Aikikai, Tohei Sensei taught Aïkido to many famous Shihan like Hiroshi Tada, Sadateru Arikawa, Seigo Yamaguchi, Shigenobu Okumura, Kazuo Chiba, Yoshimitsu Yamada and Steven Seagal.
In 1969, Tohei was asked by Ueshiba to accept the new rank of 10th dan, which Tohei accepted, after having previously refused the same offer. The top rank in aikido had been 8th dan, but the ranks were expanded by Ueshiba for practical as well as political reasons.
Read more about this topic: Koichi Tohei
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