On 21st March 1977, the 1st National Adult Aikido Kyogi Competition was held at Osaka Municipal Dojo Shudokan, which is located within Osaka Castle Park, as a commemorative event marking the first anniversary of the founding of Shodokan as the central dojo. At this time Tomiki shihan, smiled with delight, his eyes narrowing warmly as he saw the many familiar faces who had gathered from all over the country. Among the guests was Kujiraoka Takashi sensei (at that time, 9th dan), who was a senior of Tomiki shihan’s from Yokote Middle School. Kujiraoka sensei sat beside Shihan, conversing with him throughout. Kujiraoka sensei listened intently to Tomiki shihan’s explanations and stayed until the very end of the closing ceremony.
In Shihan’s address at the time, he remarked, “The mission of this tournament is to widely disseminate and develop the excellent ‘waza’ of traditional Japanese jujutsu through today’s new training methods. The techniques of classical jujutsu are diverse and varied, and therefore cannot be fully expressed through judo competition alone. There are atemi waza and kansetsu waza that are used to throw or pin an opponent attacking from a range outside grappling distance. Aikido kyogi provides a system for thoroughly practicing these techniques, progressing from randori to full competition.”
After the tournament, and upon returning to where Shihan was lodging for the night, Tomiki shihan spoke with genuine happiness, saying, “Today, I was praised by Kujiraoka sensei. He told me, ‘You’ve really accomplished a lot.'” At the time, I did not know much about Kujiraoka sensei, but when I asked Shihan, he told me, “He’s a graduate of Tokyo Higher Normal School and was one of Kano Jigoro shihan’s close students. He practiced wonderfully soft and skillful judo. Now, he lives in Nara, devoted to a spiritual life in faith of Amida Buddha.” I cannot help but feel that for Tomiki shihan, being praised by Kujiraoka sensei must have felt like being praised by Kano shihan himself.
On 1st~2nd September 1979, the 12th Annual Conference of the Japanese Academy of Budo was held. On the first day, Tomiki shihan delivered a presentation titled “Regarding the Importance of ‘Tsukuri’ in Atemi waza and Kansetsu waza.” In this presentation, he spoke about the principles of judo proposed by Kano Jigoro shihan (principles of natural posture, the principle of ju, and the principle of kuzushi) and the relationship between those principles and atemi waza and kansetsu waza, which had not been incorporated into conventional judo competition. Notably, the distinguished judoka Kotani Sumiyuki sensei and Otaki Tadao sensei sat in the front row and attentively observed the presentation. Kotani sensei had once received instruction in aikido from Tomiki shihan himself. Also present was Nakabayashi Shinji sensei, a kendoka who at the time taught in the martial arts department at Tsukuba University. After watching the 8mm film I presented at the same conference, he remarked, “I would have liked to have tried practicing an aikido like that.” His words left a lasting impression. After the schedule of the two day conference had concluded, I had the opportunity to travel with Shihan from the conference venue at Osaka University’s Nakanoshima campus to the long-established soba noodle restaurant “Chikuma” in Sakai City’s Shukuin district. We travelled together in the car of the then Shodokan Friendship Association President Arao Toshinori, and upon arrival at the restaurant, we had a very enjoyable dinner with Shihan. On December 25 of the same year, Tomiki Kenji shihan passed away. He was 79 years old.