Yamada Yoshimitsu Shihan died in January 2023. It has taken me quite a while to write about him. I have had to wait until the powerful impact of his passing diminished enough for me to express myself.
Yamada Sensei was dispatched from Hombu Dojo in 1964 to New York City, where he established New York Aikikai through many years of financial struggle. Aikido was a new martial art. Yamada Sensei had to stand up to various challenges from other and better-known styles. It took some time to attract students, but Yamada Sensei’s technical skill, commanding presence, and warm personality (not to mention his fluent English) allowed him to build a following not only in New York but also in other US cities. In fact, he asked Hombu Dojo to dispatch another instructor. Yamada Sensei was finding it too hard to commute to other locations. As a result, Kanai Mitsunari Sensei was sent to Boston.
I first met Yamada Sensei in 1976 at the USAF East Coast Summer Camp. I was immediately impressed not only by his obvious mastery of technique but also by the sincerity and joy that emanated from him. I attended about twenty-five of those camps over the years, and my respect for him only grew.
One summer, when I was not yet a black belt, I went to New York Aikikai on my way to camp in New England. Yamada Sensei (who knew everybody by name, even me) invited me to take a boat tour around Manhattan Island along with Arikawa Sensei, who was a guest instructor that year. He insisted on paying my fare.
In my capacity as an administrator for the Canadian Aikido Federation, I sometimes had telephone conversations with Yamada Sensei, who was keen to help develop Aikido in Canada. His advice was always welcome.
One time, he had dinner at my home, and Gerry cooked Japanese food for him. For years afterward, he always asked me to tell him that he had never forgotten the excellent meal.
In 2005 Aikido Seishinkai celebrated its tenth anniversary by inviting Yamada Sensei to teach at our dojo. On the ride back to the airport after the seminar, I asked Yamada Sensei how long he would keep traveling and teaching. He replied, “As long as I can and as long as you want me.” Despite operations for lung cancer, he was still teaching until shortly before his death at age 84.
