Welcome to a Nishio Style information site posted by Thomas Huffman from Aikido of Gainesville.   While in the US Navy, I was stationed for 3 years at Atsugi Naval Air Facility about 35 miles south of Tokyo and about 13 miles west of Yokohama.   During the time at Atsugi, I trained at the Matsuo Dojo on Mondays and Fridays, the Kanagawa Budokan on Tuesday nights, Fukaya dojo on Thursday and Sunday nights and various places on Saturdays or Sundays when Nishio Sensei had special training.  I was also training with Hitohiro Saito Sensei on Wednesday nights at a middle school in Yoyogi-uehara about 3 stations south of the Shinjuku Station on the south side of Tokyo.  The first two years, I also traveled up to Iwama to train with Saito Sensei for a number of weekends. After 3 years at Atsugi NAF I transferred to the USS Independence aircraft carrier stationed in Yokosuka Japan on the east side of the Miura Peninsula about 15 miles southeast from Yokohama.   I served my last three years on the USS Independence.  The first year the ship was in drydock, so I had plenty of off time and trained often with Nishio Sensei or Nishio Style 4 to 6 times a week and once a week with Ryuji Sawa Sensei of the Iwama Style in the village of Misaki-guchi at the very end of the Miura Peninsula.  This is at the west side of the opening for Tokyo Bay.   After the Independence came out of drydock and finished workups, our schedule took us out to sea most of the time.  My last two years we were at sea 9 months out of the year.  So my last two years in Japan, I became a visitor.  We were gone so much I ended up forgetting who was teaching where and when and how to get to the dojos.   Also things were changing.  A number of the dojos Nishio was teaching at were closing and Nishio Sensei was reducing his teaching schedule. After practicing Iaido for 3 years with Nishio Sensei and achieving Shodan in Iaido, Yasuhiko Takemori Sensei invited me to visit Tokutomi Sensei, a 10th degree Battoh (tameshigiri cutting) master near the city of Zushi, on the other side of the Miura Peninsula.  So I became a student of Tasaburo Tokutomi Sensei.  After three years with Tokutomi Sensei, he held testing in December of 1996.  I successfully passed from no rank to Sandan in one test.  Tokutomi Sensei's style of Battoh involves cutting on the draw.  This was what my test consisted of.   The Toyama Ryu Style here in the U.S. is mainly cutting with a previously drawn sword.  It is consistent with most of the Batto I have seen in most videos of tameshigiri.  What I was taught was relatively unique. 

Tom Huffman (352) 494-7816
sensei@aikidoofgainesville.com
4424 SW 35th Terrace Suite 4
Gainesville, FL 32608