Sakamoto sensei began his martial arts training in 1976 starting with jujutsu, later moving on to judo, Gōjū-ryū karate and kendo. He began his aikido training in 1994 under Kimeda Takeshi (b. 1941, 9th degree black belt) the father of Yoshinkan Aikido in Canada at the Aikido Yoshinkai Canada dojo. Sakamoto sensei trained intensively at Kimeda sensei’s Toronto dojo until 2010 when he moved to Nara, Japan.
In Japan he began his training under Jacques Payet (b 1957, 8th degree black belt) at the Kyoto Mugenjuku dojo. In 2013 Sakamoto sensei founded the first Yoshinkan Aikido dojo in Nara prefecture; Yoshinkan Aikido Enmeikan which is still being run by his student Tsujimoto Kenji. While in Japan Mr Sakamoto acquired his 6th degree black belt in Yoshinkan Aikido as well as the corresponding Shidōin (teaching license). He also acquired a Kyoshi 7th degree black belt and the kongen no maki (license of full transmission) in Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū iai, a Mokuroku license in Hōzōin-ryū Takada-ha spear and has studied Konkō-kyō Shinto as well as Sōtō-shū Zen. Sakamoto sensei has been back in Canada since September of 2021 and has opened the Enmeikan dojo in Toronto to teach Yoshinkan Aikido with an emphasis on self-defense, encompassing a study of situational awareness, environmental awareness, command presence and tactical communication.
Students will have a chance to benefit from discussions of self-defense in Canadian Law, Japanese history and culture as well as the opportunity to attend seminars with some of the highest ranking practitioners of Yoshinkan aikido. Sakamoto sensei has over twenty years of wide experience in the security field.