Lineage

Koretoshi Maruyama Sensei is an original student of O’Sensei and founder of the Yuishinkai style of Aikido.

Maruyama Sensei was born in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, on 5 October 1936. He graduated from the Economics Department of Keio University in March 1956 and joined his father’s business, Maruyama Manufacturing. He became interested in the martial arts during his middle school years and at his father’s urging, practiced Judo and earned a black belt. Again at his father’s urging, he entered the Rikidozan School of Professional Wrestling and also trained in weight-lifting and boxing, while simultaneously training in Judo at the Kodokan.

In the spring of his third year of college, he began to develop doubts about the martial arts of judo, wrestling and boxing, which emphasized a mere contest of strength. At this point he entered the Aikikai, as well as training at the Keio University Aikido Club. It was here that he found in aikido what he had been searching for all those years, a martial art which did not depend on strength, and taught the right attitude of mind. After graduation, he continued his training in Aikido while working at the family business. In 1967, he delegated his responsibilities in the business so that he could become a full-time professional Aikido instructor, under the tutelage of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido.

Maruyama Sensei with Williams Sensei and Okajima Sensei
In 1971, he went to Hawaii for 4 months, to teach Aikido on each of the islands. A year later, he resigned from Aikikai to become the Chief Instructor of Ki no Kenkyukai (Ki Society) which was founded in September 1971 by Koichi Tohei Sensei, who granted Maruyama Sensei the rank of 8th-dan.

In 1973, he became responsible for teaching in Hawaii and for 10 years taught ki principles at the University of Hawaii in Hilo as well as the Keio University Physical Education Research Department in Japan. From 1977, he studied with Haruchika Noguchi Sensei on how to heal and help people with Ki and use Ki in daily life. At the same time, he also studied the psychology of Zen from Zen priest Shogen Munou, from whom he learned how to use the mind positively.

During this time, he also traveled extensively to Hawaii, many states in America, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, Guam, England, Italy and other parts of Europe, teaching Aikido and Ki Principles, and eventually becoming the President of Ki no Kenkyukai in 1990. However, he began to have reservations about the direction and policies of the Ki Society, and resigned from this position on 29 July 1991. From this time he undertook a period of 10 years in a temple in Saitama Prefecture, intensively training in the philosophy and practice that ‘You are fundamentally Mind.’ He left the temple on 9 October 2001, during which time he had received permission from the temple priest to establish Aikido Yuishinkai on 9 May 1996, which he has continued to develop until the present day. (Extract from ‘Aikido Yuishinkai Student Handbook ‘by Michael Williams).