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*1899@ Kyoto, Nihon,
†1969@ Paris, France
Ref.s: [W00a1] |
 
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Mikonosuke Kawaishi was born in Kyoto in 1899. He
studied Jiu-jitsu at the Dai Nippon Butokukai (Greater Japan Association of
Martial Virtue) in Kyoto. It is not known exactly what style of Jiu-jitsu he
learnt. Although it seems it was a form of Aiki-jiu-jitsu. A group in
England that continues to teach this form refer to their teachings as
Kawaishi Ryu Jiu-jitsu.
In the mid-1920's he left Japan and toured the United
States, teaching particularly in New York and San Diego. In 1928, he arrived
in the United Kingdom and established a Jiu-jitsu club in Liverpool, where
he taught Aiki-jiu-jitsu. He supplemented his meager income from teaching by
wrestling professionally under the name "Matsuda", taking
on wrestlers and boxers in the ring and on stage in music halls.
In 1931, he moved to London, founding the Anglo-Japanese
Judo Club and teaching Judo at Oxford University. Around this time Kawaishi
was awarded his third dan by Jigoro Kano. It was common at this time
for Jiu-jitsu instructors to teach, or call what they taught, Judo. Moreover,
Kano awarded many Jiu-jitsu exponents Judo black belts in order to
recruit them into the Kodokan.
In 1936, then a fourth dan, Kawaishi moved to Paris
where he taught Jiu-jitsu and Judo. During World War 2, Kawaishi returned to
Japan and was imprisoned in Manchuria for a time, but he returned to Paris
after the war to continue teaching.
Before the war, Kawaishi and his student Moshe
Feldenkreis had prepared the photographs for a book on Judo. Feldenkreis
had to flee France during this time. Kawaishi later used the
photographs in "Standing Judo", while Feldenkreis wrote
"Judo", and "Higher Judo".
Kawaishi came to believe that merely transplanting
the teaching methods of Japan to the West was inappropriate. He developed an
intuitive style of instruction and a numerical ordering of the techniques
that he felt was more suitable for the occidental. This seemed to catch on
in France and there was a rapid growth of interest in Judo.
After WW2 and through the 50's, the Kodokan moved more and
more towards the sport of Judo; banning techniques from Shiai and dropping
them from the Kodokan syllabus. Kawaishi, however, continued to teach
many of these techniques. This led to several political splits and critics
suggesting he had departed from the spirit of Kodokan Judo. His proponents,
on the other hand, say that his teachings remained closer to Kano's
Jiu-jitsu. In fact, the strength of his Judo has led some Jiu-jitsu
historians to believe that he was a Judoka who also taught a system of
Goshin-jitsu (self defence).
Professor Wally Strauss took Kawaishi's
system of Judo, together with a knowledge of several other arts, to
Australia from Europe. It is unclear when and where he had contact with Kawaishi,
if indeed he did at all. In any case, the Australian Federation of
Instructors continues to use Kawaishi's numerical system.
Kawaishi placed special emphasis on kata training.
He promulgated Kyuzo Mifune's Gonosen No Kata (The Kata of Counters)
in Europe and possibly his own version of Go No Kata, the kata of blows. He
also wrote the book "Seven Katas of Judo". Gonosen No Kata remains
comparitively common in Europe, but practically unheard of in the United
States as a result of Kawaishi's (and Gonji Koizumi's)
teachings.
Kawaishi Shihan died on January 30, 1969. Every
year a group of his students visits his grave on the anniversary of his
death to celebrate his contribution to the martial arts. His eldest son, Norikazu
Kawaishi, still lives and teaches in France.
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