“I never missed a class in all these 50 years because I’ve never been sick.
We practice harmony, and that is what aikido is all about.”
Robert Aoyagi
86-year-old aikido instructor
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By Gene Park
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There have been doctors, lawyers, boat captains, restaurant managers, college students and children.
That’s just an abbreviated list of people Robert Aoyagi has thrown around at the Aikido of Honolulu dojo, the first of its kind outside Japan. “As you can see, I was born in 1920,” said Aoyagi with arms outstretched. “I’ve had hundreds of students pass through these doors.”
The 86-year-old Kona native was a mechanic and an English teacher in his past life. His current life as the dojo’s chief instructor started 50 years ago when he walked into a local teahouse where he saw an aikido exhibition.
“I was fascinated by the performance,” Aoyagi said. “I inquired about it, and they told me I didn’t look right at the time. I don’t know what they meant, but I tried again and they accepted.”
Aikido, developed in Japan during the 1920s, was introduced to Hawaii in 1953. Back then the practices were held at various venues, like parking lots and gyms. In 1960, Aoyagi and other aikido practitioners got together to build the dojo, on Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki. Morihei Ueshiba, aikido’s founder, came to Honolulu to preside over the 1961 grand opening.
Aoyagi considers the dojo to be among his greatest achievements in his life, and the training as a connection to his roots. He said he didn’t know any Japanese before moving to Oahu.
“Aikido is my culture,” he said. It’s also his lifestyle - he trains almost every day for an hour or two, eats fish to keep up his strength and gets plenty of sleep.
“I never missed a class in all these 50 years because I’ve never been sick,” Aoyagi said before knocking on his wooden desk. “We practice harmony, and that is what aikido is all about.”
David Witherwax, a student at the dojo of four years, said Aoyagi moves well for his age.
“Just the fluidity of it all,” said the 35-year-old tour boat captain. “You can see the years of experience, and he’s very healthy and strong.”
Aoyagi often needs rest, and isn’t able to train every day anymore. Sitting at his desk at the dojo and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he watched his students wrap up another morning training by kneeling and bowing toward each other and another instructor.
“There is so much respect in Asian martial arts,” he said. “If there’s no respect, this world cannot live.”
But of all the people he’s helped train, he regrets never having the chance to work with his daughter and three sons.
“Sad to say, nobody had followed me in my practice of aikido,” he said. “For example, my daughter is in Las Vegas, and she’s an auditor. They’re all grown up already.”
It doesn’t matter, he said, because the students he has had are always contributing members to society, and he’s happy to have added to that discipline.
“I wish I can practice forever, and that’s impossible,” he said. “But as long as I can contribute to the betterment of society, I know I’ve tried my best. And so far, so good.”
MEET AOYAGI-SENSEI
Name: Robert Hiroshi Aoyagi
Birth date: Oct. 28, 1920, in South Kona, Big Island
Family: Wife Dora, daughter Eleanor, sons Robert, Thomas and Terrence
Occupation: Chief instructor at Aikido of Honolulu
ABOUT THE DOJO
Aikido of Honolulu is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the Japanese martial art in Hawaii. It is affiliated with Aikikai Hombu Dojo, the martial art’s headquarters in Tokyo. Construction on the dojo, often called the Waialae Dojo, was completed in 1961, becoming the first aikido dojo outside of Japan.