Background
Shimizu was born in 1940 in Fukuoka, Japan.
清水 健二天道流
Shimizu was born in 1940 in Fukuoka, Japan.
He had been training judo since childhood and held a 4th dan in this art when he changed to aikido in 1963. After Ueshiba died in 1969, Shimizu, then with a 7th dan in aikido, founded his own school in Tōkyō named Tendoryu (School of the Way of Heaven). Tendoryu Aikido is characterized by its large and clear movements, emphasizing naturalness and harmonic flow of motion.
Since 1978, Shimizu has regularly held seminars in Germany and other European countries.
A German Tendoryu Society was founded in 1993. In the same year he was invited to the autumn garden party at the imperial palace in Akasaka, Tōkyō.
He then became one of the last personal students of the aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba. Shimizu received the "Foreign Minister Award", an award from the Foreign Minister of Japan, on July 16, 2002 for his work spreading aikido abroad. Shimizu-sensei was the first Aikido and Budo artist to receive this award.
