Yōseikan Budō or Yōseikan Aikidō is the composite martial art developed by Minoru Mochizuki, who first taught it at his dōjō in Shizuoka in 1931. This style of Aikidō incorporates elements of the pre-war Aiki Budō of Morihei Ueshiba, as well as elements of many other martial arts: Jūdō, Aikijūjutsu, Karate, traditional Jūjutsu, Kenjutsu, Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, Gyōkushin-ryū Jūjutsu, Iaijutsu, Kendō, Yari, Kitō-ryū etc. The techniques are executed empty-handed or with weapons.

Genealogy of Yōseikan Budō

Saigō Chikamaza
1829-1905
Oshikiushi
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Takeda Sōkaku
1860-1943
Aikijūjutsu
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Ueshiba Morihei
1883-1969
Aikidō
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Mochizuki Minoru
1907-2003
Yōseikan Budō

Yōseikan, the Name

Yōseikan can signify different things depending on the interpretation or the context. Since it is a Japanese word, it is composed of ideas. These ideas are represented by 3 ideograms 養正館 (YŌ-SEI-KAN):

Yōseikan, the Place

The Yōseikan is also the name given to the dōjō built in November of 1931 in Shizuoka, Japan. This dōjō was built by Mochizuki Sensei's brother and some friends while he was recovering from a pleurisy and pulmonary tuberculosis. When the dōjō was built, a friend of the Mochizuki family (a philosophy teacher) called it Yōseikan. The name was immediatly adopted by Mochizuki Sensei since it means “the place to develop the truth”. It reflected his teachers' ideals and it reinforced the positive attitude of “Mutual welfare and prosperity” he always promotes. After WWII, it had to be rebuilt since it was burnt during the war.