Gadi Shorr

Gadiel Shorr (born October 7, 1967 in Yafo, Israel) is an aikido teacher the founder of Yoshinkan Aikido in Israel. Shorr attended the 26th Senshusei course and was a direct student of Gozo Shioda and Tsutomu Chida. After finishing the course Shorr stayed in Japan as an instructor of the first International Yoshinkan Aikido Instructor Course at the Yoshinkan Hombu Dojo. Shorr is one of the few instructors in the world who has received a special instructor's certificate from Gozo Shioda. It permits Shorr to open a dojo in Japan and anywhere else in the world. Shorr is currently ranked 6th dan in Yoshinkan Aikido. Shorr is an author and has written two books about aikido and has participated in other artistic ventures.
Early life
Shorr was born in Yafo (Jaffa), Israel on 7 October 1967 and spent his childhood in the center of the country. From an early age he showed an interest in various fighting styles and Far East Asian culture. He started practicing boxing at the age of 11 and later took up Yoga and meditation. He trained in Shotokan Karate for 6 years. Shorr served in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) from 1986-1989. 1989 was also the year he first heard about aikido, a martial art which was virtually unheard of in Israel.
Career
Yoshinkan Aikido Training
In August 1989, after completing his army service, Shorr travelled to Tokyo, Japan, to pursue his love of martial arts. He intended to study aikido and to continue training in Karate. A friend who trained at the Yoshinkan Aikido Hombu Dojo took Shorr to a class conducted by Gozo Shioda, the founder of Yoshinkan Aikido. Shorr was so impressed that he joined the Yoshinkan Aikido Honbu Dojo the following day. At first he participated in the regular classes held by the Yoshinkan instructors, training three to four hours daily. In February 1990, determined to become proficient in the art, Shorr signed up for the Senshusei Course, intensive training with members of the Tokyo Riot Police that lasted a year. It was the only way at the time to become an instructor at the Hombu Dojo.
Yoshinkan Aikido Instructor
For the first few months of the Senshusei Course Shorr was an Uchi Deshi at the Honbu Dojo.
After completing the course and attaining Shodan rank, Shorr joined the teaching staff at the Honbu Dojo. It was the last time that a non-Japanese student would participate in the Tokyo Riot Police Course as a new course had been established - The International Senshusei Course, consisting of mainly non-Japanese students. Shorr became an assistant instructor of this course alongside Jacques Payet, Mark Baker and Roland Thompson. Shorr taught two Senshusei courses while continuing to train in Yoshinkan Aikido. After a few months of studies in China in 1993, Shorr returned to Japan, and continued teaching and studying Aikido. He attained the level of 4th dan before leaving Japan.
Martial Arts Studies After Japan
When Shorr left Japan in 1993 he travelled to China to pursue his studies in Asian medicine, especially acupuncture. He studied at The Japan China Friendship Hospital and trained in two forms of wushu, sanda and tai chi. He felt that both would improve his aikido abilities as sanda is an empty-handed martial art that like aikido, incorporates throws and locks in the fighting game. Tai chi has a similar emphasis on flow and similar techniques to aikido yet it differs greatly in body mechanism. In the years that followed he also studied Brazillian Jiu Jitsu and trained for a few years under Roger Brooking who was a Bronze medalist at the Mondial Jiu Jitsu and an instructor for the Alliance organisation. Shorr incorporated these new ideas and applications into his aikido.
Yoshinkan Aikido Israel
In 1994, Shorr returned to Israel and opened a dojo in Ramat Chen, (near Tel Aviv), therefore founding the headquarters of Yoshinkan Aikido in Israel. The Ramat Chen dojo is open to this day. Shorr is the official Yoshinkan Aikido representative in Israel. His dojo is registered as "Yoshinkan Aikido Israel".
From 2002-2007 Shorr lived in England and ran a dojo in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. Shorr was awarded 6th dan in 2007.
In 2007 Shorr moved back to Israel and took over training of the Ramat Chen dojo once again. Shorr opened other dojo in Ness Ziona, Kiryat Gat and Lachish. These dojo are currently in operation.
Core Aikido
From his early days in aikido, Shorr felt there was a need to combine the pre-war strict and rigid style of aikido with the fluidity of the modern styles. He believed it was the only way forward for Yoshinkan Aikido, the style he studied and taught in Japan. During the 1990's he turned ideas into action by slowly forging the old with the new. He mixed the strong emphasize of the Yoshinkan style on basic movement and Samurai-like mental attitude, with the smooth and flowing techniques of modern aikido. In order to do so, he extended the basic movements, splitting them into Level One and Level Two. He also incorporated practice into his aikido basic moves. At the same time he stopped cutting the techniques into phases, as is practiced in the rigid Yoshinkan Aikido. This turned the broken down techniques into a smooth performance, a flowing movement from beginning to end. In the early days of 2000, efforts bore fruit and he began to teach his unique system under the umbrella of Yoshinkan Aikido. In 2007, Shorr decided to present his system as a unique branch of aikido. He named it Core Aikido.
Artistic ventures
Alongside the running of 4 dojo Shorr also writes articles that have been published in various places including Aikiweb and Tapuz (Hebrew)] Martial Arts Forum in Israel. Shorr has written two aikido novels, Skill (Japanese)] and its sequel, City In The Clouds, fantasy aikido stories loosely based on his training at Yoshinkan Aikido Hombu Dojo in Japan. The first book has been translated into Japanese and was published by Hiden, one of the main martial arts publishing houses in Japan. Shorr wrote a children's book, Beki, that appeared in print in Israel in 2009. Shorr has taken part in cross disciplinary art projects in New York, the LAAP. He appears on the music record Pop It that was released in 2016 by System Dialing Records.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu