Teruo Fujiwara "The time when I studied under Tomiki-shihan in 1956-1958 is called 'the age of Judo Exercise'. The main ways of moving the body and hands were picked from Aiki skills, then simplified and abstracted and organized as the exercise forms. These forms are 'Judo Exercise'. The plan of making 'Judo Exercise' is that by doing them repeatedly, we can learn Aiki as if we learned hundreds of thousands of skills which can benefit our bodies in a positive fashion. 'Judo Exercise' is the valuable legacy of Tomiki-sensei.
Tomiki-sensei wrote in the pamphlet Judo Exercise (published as the text of regular subject physical education in April 1957) that he made 'Judo Exercise' as the way to practice Aiki, which couldn't be a sport, and that when practicing aikido, we must study for correctness and beauty, rather than strength. That is why our time is called 'the age of Judo Exercise'.
I could study the beauty of Aiki following Tomiki-sensei without hesitating but there were many students interested in the strength of Aiki. It may be natural for young men who would like to study martial arts. Tomiki-sensei said that they must satisfy their desire for strength by practicing the other skills in 'Judo Exercise' but they didn't always follow his suggestion.
In 1958, Aikido Club which was previously not an official club (in early times, Aikido Club was a part of Judo Club. Tomiki-sensei was also the shihan of Judo Club) was granted official status in the Department of Sport and Physical education at Waseda University. As a condition of becoming an official club, Aikido Club was required to practice as a competitive sport. There is no doubt Tomiki-sensei was considering how to develop aikido into a competitive sport as the ultimate goal, yet, he did not expect the situation to become an urgent matter. It was this requirement that forced Tomiki aikido to step into 'the age of sport: Randori'.
Today Sport Aikido is moving toward completion step by step. However, the skill level of Sport Aikido is not the same as our 'age of Judo Exercise'. While we must accept that wrong forms will happen in sport, Randori, 'Judo Exercise' is useful as the model for checking and correcting them. I think that such a correction will bring sport Randori higher, with beauty and grace. For the beginner, 'Judo Exercise' is the proper guidance of skills. I think it is necessary that beginners learn to perform the correct postures and beautiful movements by training in 'Judo Exercise. This method will help them avoid incorrect forms in future Randori practice."
