Spotlight: Nakamura Eishi

Author: Bret Gordon​

One of only six men to receive the Shihan Menkyo from Horikawa Kodo, Nakamura Eishi is a rather obscure figure in Daito Ryu history with not much known about him. During the 1960s, Nakamura began the study of Daito Ryu Kodokai under the art’s founder, Horikawa Kodo. His classmates and training partners included Okamoto Seigo, founder of Daito Ryu Roppokai, and Inoue Yusuke, Menkyo Kaiden. It was through Horikawa that Nakamura would also meet Shioda Gozo, founder of Yoshinkan Aikido and fellow student of Kodo in the late 1970s. ​

As one of Horikawa's highest ranking students, Nakamura would often accompany him when traveling to give demonstrations and seminars, one of the most famous is the 1973 NHK Documentary on Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu (picture below).

In 1978, Nakamura would visit the Daito Ryu Kodokai North American Hombu in California under the direction of Kiyama Hayawo. After Horikawa's death in 1980, Nakamura began teaching Daito Ryu independently of the Kodokai and traveling across Japan. Although not much is publicly available about Nakamura sensei, given his close relationship to Horikawa Kodo and his prominence in the Kodokai we feel it's important to let the world know about this highly skilled aikijujutsuka.

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1973 NHK Documentary (Nakamura, seated far right)

Nakamura studying from Horikawa

A light-hearted moment, late 1980s

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EDIT (November 25, 2020) - In doing more research about Nakamura shihan, I came across this old post from the official Daito Ryu Kodokai Facebook page from 2016, showing the picture above from the 1973 NHK documentary filming. In the photo caption, Nakamura shihan is listed at the time as a 5th Dan. It's important to note that Okamoto Seigo is also listed as a 5th Dan at the time. Okamoto would jump to 7th Dan the year later, and received the shihan license in 1978. Therefore, it is possible that Nakamura would also have been promoted sometime between 1973 and Horikawa's death in 1980 but further research is still needed.

EDIT (December 12, 2024) - As we continue to do more research on historical figures in the Daito Ryu community, more information has come to light about Nakamura Eishi 中村英士 (also romanized as Eiji).

​​Sometime around 1979 or 1980, Nakamura shihan was appointed the Secretary General of the Kodokai, and upon Horikawa’s death in 1980, it was Nakamura that convened a meeting of high ranking Kodokai officials where Inoue Yusuke was officially named as Horikawa’s successor. In 1982, Nakamura shihan was the Editor in Chief for the publication Daito Ryu: Immortal Aiki. 

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