Throughout Kokushi’s first few decades, Nobuyoshi Higashi, founder of the school, was hard at work not just building it up with hard-working students, but refining his own techniques and compiling the many years of hard work and philosophy into books. Today we open up these books, found at the Kokushi dojo, to gain some insight into the mind of the founder himself. # Having a physical book detailing techniques was especially important for the style Sensei Higashi himself created, Kokushi-Ryu Jujitsu, since these books could be called back to years and years later for proper form, sequence, and technical details. In fact, this is what is done today. # The books in these photos were mostly composed in the 70s and 80s, with reprints and revised editions coming out in the years after. # One of his most thorough books, Basic Judo, exquisitely details his pedagogy for teaching Judo to beginners of the martial art. It contains his thoughts on which tachiwaza and newaza techniques to teach first to provide foundational knowledge for the more difficult techniques that come later on in Judo. His book was even recommended by Dr. Bonten Shibata, president of Kokushikan University, where Nobuyoshi trained and coached at for many years. # Swipe left for words from Sensei Higashi himself, who believes practicing martial arts is a way to provide happiness in one’s life. As martial artists, we can all agree on this - no matter how bad a day one has had, when one steps on the mats, all worries evaporate away. During practice, we are all equals in the pursuit for perfect technique and personal fulfillment. # #judo #karate #aikido #jiujitsu #teamkbi #history #japan #nychistory #japanesehistory #bjj #sambo #mma #vintage #martialarts Reposted from @kokushibudoinstitute https://www.instagram.com/p/B2vY0qJpe6h/?igshid=upmpt30m25zq
