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The Aikido Biography of Sensei Henry Ellis




By Henry Ellis

The Biography of Sensei Henry Ellis
5th dan




Henry Ellis and Derek Eastman - 2000

Henry Ellis was born May 3rd 1936 in a tough coal mining town in the County of Yorkshire, North of England. This was pre-war Britain, and growing up as a child during the austere war years of the 1940’s all Henry ever knew was hard times and hard discipline as the son of a tough coal face miner. Henry didn't realize that this tough life with strict discipline would stand him in good stead in the years to come.

In 1956 he became a member of the Abbe School of Budo at the now famous Hut Dojo. His first introduction to Martial Arts was in the Judo section. After a full year of Judo, Henry saw the great master Kenshiro Abbe sensei demonstrate Aikido which had only recently been introduced to Britain ( 1955 ).

Henry Joined the Aikido section in 1957 while continuing with his Judo studies.


TheHutDojo1957, Judo and Aikido students.
Front row Abbe Sensei and K Williams Sensei.

The Hut was the Hell Dojo of all Hell Dojo’s. The discipline was very strict and very few continued to study. This was the only Aikido dojo in the UK. Abbe sensei and Williams sensei would teach with a shinai, words were wasted but the shinai always received the students full attention. Abbe sensei said many times that his English was bad but his shinai spoke excellent English.

Henry fitted well into this disciplined routine where a mistake would receive a whack with the shinai or between 100 and 200 press-ups on the back of the wrists. At third kyu Henry was promoted to personnel assistant to Williams sensei, he then travelled around the UK with his teacher taking the very first Aikido seminar in the UK in the town of Devises near historic StoneHenge.



Henry Ellis Sensei and David Warne Sensei demonstrate shiho-nage.
Basingstoke Dojo 1986

When Henry reached first dan he was instructed to take an assistant, the assistant was Derek Eastman who is still associated with the Ellis Aikido Schools.

Of this early select group eight became dan grades ( black belts ) these were the only dan grades for Aikido in the UK. Henry was the first Aikido teacher to introduce Aikido into the British education system in the early sixties.

In the very early sixties Ellis and Eastman, on the instructions of Williams sensei, travelled around Britain teaching Aikido to Judo and sports clubs for free. They worked a few days here and there for a meal and a bed, often sleeping in the car, in an effort to promote the art to anyone who would give them the opportunity to teach and demonstrate. The two spent one year “on the road “ .

Ellis and Eastman both studied Kendo with their best friend Tomio Otani Sensei the British National Coach for Kendo. They in turn taught Tomio Aikido.

At this time Harada Sensei was teaching his ShotoKai Karate at the Hut Dojo. Henry studied with Harada Sensei, Henry using Karate in his Aikido and Harada Sensei using Aikido movement in his Karate.

Harada Sensei had last been graded to 5th dan in 1957 by the founder of modern Karate Gichin Funakoshi. Harada Sensei had developed the art of ShotoKai Karate. When asked why he was still 5th dan as he is today, Harada replied “ Any grade above 5th dan is totally pointless “. This impressed Henry who himself was now sick at the sight of so many self appointed egotistical self aggrandising so called masters who cared more for titles than the Martial Art they represented. Ellis and Eastman agreed to follow Harada Sensei’s stand and they made the highest grade in the Ellis Schools of Traditional Aikido to be 5th dan.



Henry Ellis with Mikito Nakazono Sensei

Henry has personally studied with many of the great early names in Aikido. Sensei’s Kenshiro Abbe – K Williams - Tadashi Abe – Mikoto Nakazono - Misamachi Noro – N Tamura – Kobayashi – Kazuo Chiba to name a few.

Henry is proud of the expansion of the ESTA to the USA in Alamogordo New Mexico and Dallas Texas.

On the 17th of December 2004 the release of the book “ Positive Aikido “ was of great satisfaction after almost 50 years of Martial Arts.

Henry Ellis
C/o Author: Positive Aikido

http://www.EllisAikido.org
http://www.geocities.com/britishaikido
 
 
About the Author
Henry Ellis a direct student of the legendary master Kenshiro Abbe Sensei from 1957.

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  Some other articles by Henry Ellis
British Aikido - Japanese Terminology 1950 / 60's
British Aikido - Japanese Terminology 1950 / 60's By: Henry Ellis Co-author of Positive Aikido In modern ...

The Friends of Kenshiro Abbe Sensei ?
The Kenshiro Abbe web site and its contributors are either direct or indirect students of Kenshiro Abbe Sensei. Students, who would never refer to themselves as 'friends' of ...

The Long and Winding Road - A True Aikido Story
Interview with Henry Ellis and Derek Eastman by Keith Morgan Published Online Reprinted with the approval of the magazine from the April 2006 issue of Martial Arts ...

British Aikido Board & The Aikido Controversy
The Aikido Controversy The Aikido Controversy is now a part of British Aikido History. It was a long and difficult fight ...

Early Days of British Aikido - Part Two..
Recollections of the Early Days of Aikido in Great Britain Part Two: By Henry Ellis - Ellis Aikido School Some of the Aikido I have seen in recent years depresses me because it can ...

British Aikido Board National Nepotism Seminar
The British Aikido Board Disastrous National Nepotism Seminar 2004 – 99 Students By Henry Ellis For many years The British Aikido Board ( BAB ) have shown no interest whatsoever in ...

  
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