Links

Reference Sites and Finding Other Aikido Resources

Ki no Kenkyukai Musubi British Aikido Board Highland Ki Society Kinloss Ki Aikido Club

Other Branches of Ki Aikido

Ki Aikido has developed and formed different branches over the years. All stem from the original work by Sensei Tohei so, unsurprisingly, there are a lot of common features but the governance of the branches are different. ‘My’ line (the Highland Ki Society) was governed by the Ki no Kenkyukai Association Internationale, founded by Yoshigasaki in 2003. It now takes its inspiration from the new Ki no Kenkyukai organisation that emerged following the passing of Yoshigasaki Sensei in 2021. The new organisation’s values were determined through a series of meetings that involved all the global community that had been following Yoshigasaki’s teaching. The new Ki no Kenkyukai Musubi is an umbrella association, where each dojo is free to choose their own path and the teachers and examiners they want to work with. Musubi can be translated as, tying together, connecting people or creating relationships and is therefore a very appropriarte name for the new association. Not all clubs and teachers subscribed fully to the new Ki no Kenkyukai Musubi and its community centred approach. However, since the Musubi principle is that each dojo can follow their own path, this is not a problem. In the UK, the change led to some differing ideas which led to a split within the British Ki Society. The senior instructor in the British Ki Society is Sensei Shihan Burgess and the senior instructor in the Highland Ki Society is Sensei Lyall. Since both branches follow the teachings of Yoshigasaki Sensei, there is very little difference in practice for students learning aikido. Highland Ki Societies originally comprised three clubs: Alness Ki Society, Inverness Ki Society and Kinloss Ki Society. As 2021 ended and 2022 began, the line was redrawn with Inverness and Kinloss dojos choosing to follow the wider Aikido community, working with the new Ki no Kenkyukai Musubi association, and the Alness Ki Society choosing to remain under the British Ki Society. All three dojo remain members of the British Aikido Board (the UK Governing body for all forms of Aikido) and work together to promote Aikido as a satisfying way of life by creating unification and harmony between mind and body. Clubs that chose not to follow Yoshigasaki in 2003 but stayed with the original Tohei teaching come under the UK Ki Federation, which is affiliated to the Ki Society HQ in Japan. This organisation was founded by Tohei in 1971 and is also known by its official Japanese name of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido Kai or, in English speaking countries, as ‘Ki Society’. Ki No Kenkyukai HQ in Japan is the place where Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido Kai have their offices. Despite sharing common terms derived from their common ancestry, eg: ‘Ki Aikido’, ‘Ki Society’, ‘Shin shin Toitsu do’; the Ki No Kenkyukai Association Internationale is not linked to Ki No Kenkyukai Japan. When Yoshigasaki Sensei broke away from KNK Japan most of the clubs in Europe followed him. Ki No Kenkyukai Association Internationale had around 4,000 members in 186 clubs across 24 countries, including: Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Slovenia, South Africa and the UK. Most of these, since 2022, are now with Ki no Kenkyukai Musubi.