The lndigenous Tomiki Aikido Alliance (formerly National Aikido Alliance) is a coalition of martial arts instructors and dojos with a direct lineal connection to Indigenous Tomiki Aikido first brought to North Carolina in 1960 by Jack Mumpower, Jr. Sensei Mumpower was a student of Kenji Tomiki and Hideo Obha at Fuchu Air Station in Fuchu, Japan in the late 1950's. There were no intermediate instru
ctors, so there was personal attention, hand-to-hand, with these style patriarchs. In 1960, Sensei Mumpower opened a dojo in Charlotte, NC and continued teaching the indigenous Aikido principles he was taught prior to the formal competition direction of Tomiki Aikido that resulted in the abridgment of martial principle for sport, competition, and the politics so common in post-WWII martial arts of any style. Fuchu Air Station provided the medium for Mr. Tomiki and Mr. Ohba to continue practicing and teaching what the politics of Waseda University staunched. What Mr. Mumpower learned and has taught for sixty years is precisely what Mr. Tomiki himself referred to when he reflected on his own studies: "What I studied at that time was Daito-ryu aikijujutsu, not aikido, so I don't understand present-day aikido." This indigenous form of aikido has been preserved primarily in the 15 Basics, what the ITAA considers to be the defining principles of the art it has been entrusted to preserve. The leading members of the ITAA are the last formal students of Sensei Jack Mumpower, Jr. who, though 80 years old, continues to actively teach today.
