The most surprising thing I discovered about Kanai Sensei was his compassion. It was not what I expected from a man of his stature in martial arts. The best example I can give is…. When I was away from classes due […]
My first experience of Kanai Sensei was in my first day of classes. During kokyu ho, he came by and seated himself to practice with me. He grasped my wrists and I tried to move him, and it was hopeless. […]
Kanai Sensei was a powerful presence. Not tall but broad across the chest and with well-muscled forearms that, I later learned, were soft. All that iaido. He paid special attention to beginners, teaching basics classes every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. He […]
I had been practicing Aikido for four years at Musashi University’s Aikido club in Tokyo. Ibecame a captain of the club and received the 2nd Dan upon my graduation in 1976. I imagined that I also graduated from Aikido and […]
My time with Kanai Sensei was between 1976 to 1978, and it was a time when he was finally gaining some confidence in his life in the US. But he still was shy in imposing Japanese Dojo etiquette to the […]
I first met Kanai Sensei in April 1972 when I joined New England Aikikai in Central Square, Cambridge. For the next 32 years I was his student, and he was my only teacher. He had a wealth of talents and […]
In my early days at New England Aikikai, trips back to Japan for practice at Honbu Dojowere fairly regularly scheduled. Sensei’s Kanai and Yamada would host these sojourns,most likely as a way to finance their own travel home as there […]
Dear Mitsunari Kanai kun, I met you for the first time at Rokugo Junior High School in Ohta. We went to different highschools, but we kept in touch with each other after we graduated. You invited me to visit Hombu […]