The Master's Blueprint: How Hatenkai Aikido Systematized "Real Combat"

Hatenkai Aikido cannot be explained away by the single word "talent" when describing its founder, Tenkei Fujisaki.

 

It is the product of a meticulously calculated "blueprint," one that encompasses the laboratory of competition, revolutionary curriculum reforms, and a scientific approach to strength.

 

Here, we trace the development of that strength and how it was constructed.

Chapter 1: The Laboratory of Competition - Discovering the "Equation for Victory"

It all began with the Aikido championships of Fujisaki's youth, a unique tournament resembling a mixed martial arts event, which he won three times. The ring was crowded with skilled practitioners of 2nd and 3rd Dan rank from Karate and Judo, making it a laboratory for him to test what was truly effective.

 

He took the vast amount of combat data he gathered there and began to thoroughly systematize his training regimen, as if reverse-engineering an equation for victory.

* Systematization of Core Techniques: His first step was to focus on standing joint locks (tachi-kansetsuwaza), which could be called the essence of Aikido. From the back-and-forth of real matches, he extracted combinations, counters, and specific defensive methods, organizing them into drills that anyone could practice repetitively.

 

* Reform of Training Methods: He emphasized uchikomi (repetitive drills), a practice that had become a mere formality, and upgraded single-shot strikes to practical "combinations" that incorporated mitt work. Furthermore, he overturned the conventional wisdom that kumite (sparring) was for optional practice, allocating nearly half of his dojo's training time to purpose-driven sparring.

 

This "equation for victory" produced immediate results. Within just three years, his dojo produced five champions across various divisions, including two in the main tournament. This was a clear victory not for his individual talent, but for the "training system" he had built.

 

Chapter 2: The Post-Independence Revolution - Designing the "Shortest Path to Strength"

After establishing his own organization, Fujisaki's reforms accelerated. He fundamentally redesigned the path for his students to become strong.

First, he created the original method of "Renkan-hō" (The Linking Method), a system for tactically thinking of techniques not as "points" but as a continuous "line." It teaches how to seamlessly link to a second technique the moment the first is defended.

 

Next, he revolutionized the core of the dojo: the promotion test curriculum. Discarding traditions of seniority or difficulty, he rearranged all examination techniques in "order of effectiveness in sparring." This created a system where students would naturally acquire practical combat skills as they progressed in rank—the shortest path to strength.

 

Furthermore, he created an entirely new training tool, the "Kumite-gata" (Sparring Form), to learn the feints and tactics of a real fight. This allowed students to pursue both the principles of tradition and the skills of a real fight.

 

Chapter 3: The Quest for Striking and Its Sublimation - Creating "Aikido-style Striking"

What defined Hatenkai's uniqueness was its approach to striking. It was a three-stage story of evolution: "Acquisition," "Neutralization," and "Sublimation."

* Stage 1: Acquisition and Mastery of Striking

After independence, he first welcomed a national champion of senior-division full-contact Karate as a striking coach, renewing the training system. The curriculum was highly specialized, covering everything from basic training and movement to parrying, mitt work, and sparring segmented by purpose. He learned the foreign language of striking by, in his own words, "getting beaten up."

 

* Stage 2: Development of Counter-Striking and Sabaki

After understanding striking, his next challenge was to neutralize it. With an active professional boxer as a sparring partner, he had them "attack freely" and developed dageki-sabaki—the art of parrying and controlling strikes with Aikido principles. This was not "Karate + Aikido," but the search for an answer to the problem of "Aikido vs. Striking."

 

* Stage 3: Evolution into "Aikido-style Striking"

In the final stage, he aimed to "sublimate" striking by incorporating it into the principles of Aikido itself. In 2019, he established the "Unified Aikido Rules," which permit shuto (knife-hand) strikes to the face. This opened a path for traditional Aikido movements (shomen-uchi and yokomen-uchi) to function as practical strikes in modern combat. It was here that a unique "Aikido-style Striking," not a mere imitation of other arts, was perfected.

 

Chapter 4: The Engine of Kumite - Science and a Phenomenal Volume of Practice

All of this theory and technique was made real by a phenomenal spirit of inquiry and an overwhelming volume of practice.

The foundation of his precise body movement was a deep commitment to the basics. He spent 1.5 hours on weekdays and 2 hours and 15 minutes on weekends on their repetition. Yet, he is also a rationalist who now analyzes his own past as "inefficient."

The heart of his system, the engine that tested all his theories and forged them into his very being, was a phenomenal amount of sparring. From his 20s to his 30s, including his time spent teaching, he practiced up to 11 times a week and made sure to spar in every single session.

 

This is a training volume comparable to the world of professional fighters and top athletes. If the dojo was a laboratory, kumite was the relentless, high-speed stress test. This vast accumulation of real combat experience is what transformed his techniques from theory on paper to absolute reality.

 

His body was supported by a scientific approach. For 13 years, he underwent specialized weight training and built his 68kg (150 lb) body into a 95kg (209 lb) "fighting physique" with a thorough nutritional science. He took a full range of supplements, including protein, BCAAs, glutamine, and creatine, and even personally imported giant tubs of protein from the American brand "Optimum Nutrition," a rarity at the time. He scientifically strengthened his body while being surprised by its "ridiculously sweet" taste.

 

Conclusion: A Replicable Blueprint for Strength

The Hatenkai curriculum is not the flash of a genius's inspiration. It is the result of a practical development cycle that was relentlessly repeated: Input (Combat Data) → Design (System) → Test (Overwhelming Kumite) → Update (Scientific Approach).

Fujisaki says, "My talent is average. You can get strong with the right practice and the right training."

 

That is not mere humility. His journey itself is a "replicable blueprint for strength" that does not rely on the word "talent."