Well, no, not "forgotten" exactly. But certainly not as well known as he deserves to be. Yamaguchi Sensei (9th dan aikikai) was, at one time, one of the most important and influential aikido teachers at the Hombu Dojo and his students include such significant figures as Seishiro Endo and Christian Tissier. Even so, if you were to ask most students of aikido to name some of the aikido 'greats' I suspect Yamaguchi would not feature on their lists. Well, that's their loss. Yamaguchi was not only a master of free-hand aikido but also of weapons. If I were to characterise his aikidoi style I think I would say that he was a master of unbalancing an attacker. If you watch videos of Yamaguchi Sensei on YouTube you will note that his attacker is often unbalanced at the very point of contact. This is truly one of the great skills of aikido but one which few people ever come close to mastering. Here, to inspire you, is a short clip of the great man himself...
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