This summer we were sad to report the death of Amos Parker. We met briefly in Japan in 1984 and I was very impressed with his quiet demeanor and dignified bearing. This was the highest ranking non Japanese in the aikido world with perhaps the exception of a few ‘self proclaimed’ super grand masters…
Amos Lee Parker (Born December 12, 1936. Died August, 20 2013) was an American aikido teacher. He is ranked 9th dan in Yoshinkan Aikido.
Amos Parker first came into contact with aikido in 1958 while a member of the US Navy on board the USS Bradford (DD-545). Another member of the crew, Signalman Hill, was demonstrating techniques and Amos was shocked at how easily Hill was able control him and others.
In 1962, Amos Parker received his orders to Japan and was deployed to the Yokosuka Naval Base. The Monday after his arrival he found an aikido dojo on base that was under the direction of Yukio Noguchi, 7th dan Yoshinkan Aikido. His training with Noguchi only lasted a couple of months as the latter accepted an invitation to teach aikido in Hawaii. Aikido classes were taken over by Kiyoyuki Terada, 10th dan. Amos Parker would spend the next 35 years training and teaching in Japan.
Amos Parker received his Shihan in 1986, making him t
he first non-Japanese instructor to receive such an honor. In 1995, he received the rank of hachidan (8th dan) and in January 2010 he was awarded the rank of 9th dan by the Aikido Yoshinkai Foundation making him the highest ranking non-Japanese Yoshinkan Aikido instructor in the world. Amos Parker is senior to many of the Japanese shihans and served as a presiding judge at several yearly embutaikai’s (demonstrations)
Tenrokan Aikido Dojo 
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