Minoru Mochizuki

Minoru Mochizuki (望月 稔, Mochizuki Minoru?, April 7, 1907 – May 30, 2003) was a Japanese martial artist who founded the dojo Yoseikan. He was a 10th dan in Aikido, 9th dan in jujutsu, 8th dan in iaido, 8th dan in judo, 8th dan in kobudo, 5th dan in kendo, 5th dan in karate, and a 5th dan in jojutsu.

Born in Shizuoka, Japan, Mochizuki was one of the direct students of judo founder Jigoro Kano, aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba and Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate.

Believing that the martial arts had become distorted by specialization into separate disciplines or transformed into sports, Mochizuki achievement was to assemble back the major techniques of the Japanese martial tradition into a single structure, as it was once practised. He oversaw the development of the system from his home in Shizuoka, Japan, where his dojo, the Yoseikan, was often visited by martial arts practitioners from all over the world. He died in Aix-en-Provence, France in 2003.