Mori no Tora dōjō

ISAMU SHIRAISHI

Shiraishi Sensei is called “the Smiling Demon”; no matter what – he always has a smile on his face. Most western students traveling to Japan will notice – and appreciate – that he teaches his classes in both English and Japanese. You’ll also notice that he is often used as uke in Soke’s classes, and you can sense the deep respect and admiration he has for Soke.

Shiraishi Sensei is all about principle and balance. This is characterized by his concept of “foot work, spine work, hand work”, where there’s always a shifting of balance onto one foot before moving the other. There is also a rotation of the hips as you shift your balance, lending to the “spinework” aspect of movement.

Not only is this movement extremely stable, but it’s also very sneaky – it’s hard for the opponent to sense where your moving as you confuse their balance. You can also see Soke using this movement if you watch his feet, although it’s extremely hard to catch since Soke performs it so subtly. As Shirashi Sensei would say “good foundation training this makes”.