Yoshinkan

Yoshinkan (養神館, Yōshinkan, lit. House for the Cultivation of the Spirit) is a style of Aikido founded by Gozo Shioda (1915-1994), a student of Morihei Ueshiba initially at Daito- Ryu Aiki Jujutsu and after World War II in Aikido.

It is characterized by being an aikido with strong and forceful techniques, with characteristics that are often more reminiscent of Aikijujutsu than Aikido, being focused on efficiency in unarmed combat. It is routinely practiced by the Japanese police.

It is a very dynamic style of practice much harder than other styles resulting from the arduous period of training Shioda spent as an uchi-dechi (intern student) of Morihei Ueshiba. Yoshinkan Aikido has some 150 basic techniques that are practiced repeatedly, which would later allow mastering the remaining much more complex techniques that transcends totaling almost three thousand techniques in total including their variations. Yoshinkan does not target competitions and instead emphasizes self defense applications. It is one of the martial arts practiced by the Tokyo police. Yoshokai aikido is a derivative of the Yoshinkan, based in North America.