# Jan Hermansson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jan_Hermansson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jan_Hermansson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hermansson > Source revision: 1290406946 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Swedish aikidoka (1942–2019)}} thumb| '''Jan Hermansson''' (15 March 1942 - 18 February 2019) was one of the first [aikido](/source/aikido) pioneers in [Sweden](/source/Sweden), and a respected aikido practitioner in the country. His rank was 7th [dan](/source/dan_rank) [shihan](/source/shihan) in the aikido organisation [Aikikai](/source/Aikikai).{{Cite web|url=https://www.budokampsport.se/2019/02/22/jan-hermansson-har-gatt-bort/|title=Jan Hermansson har gått bort|first=-Svensk Aikidos Kanske|last=Störste|date=February 22, 2019}} Hermansson's first experience in [budo](/source/bud%C5%8D), Japanese [martial arts](/source/martial_arts), was in his home town [Stockholm](/source/Stockholm) in 1959, when he started taking judo classes for [Gerhard Gosen](/source/Gerhard_Gosen), an immigrant from the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands) who at the time was important in spreading budo training in Stockholm. Gosen found a book about aikido in France. Guided by the book and by French aikido tapes where [Minoru Mochizuki](/source/Minoru_Mochizuki) showed his aikido, Gosen and Hermansson started experimenting with aikido techniques in 1961 (first class February 6, 1961) which counts as the beginning of aikido in Sweden. Naturally, they got a couple of things wrong. For instance, they mistook the wide dark [hakama](/source/hakama), wide pleated trousers that often are worn in addition to the typical white budo [keikogi](/source/keikogi), for a skirt. Hermansson asked his mother to make one for him, but it split during an aikido demonstration that Hermansson held. Gosen and Hermansson also went to France, to practise aikido for [Tadashi Abe](/source/Tadashi_Abe). In 1965 Hermansson moved to [Tokyo](/source/Tokyo) in Japan, to practise aikido at the [Aikikai hombu dojo](/source/Aikikai_hombu_dojo). To make a living, he did everything from window cleaning to [show wrestling](/source/show_wrestling). At Hombu he eventually got awarded 4th dan, a rank not common among westerners in those days and hence the nickname "Janne Yondan" that he wore in Japan. ("Janne" is a common form of Jan, and yondan means fourth dan.) Of the teachers at Hombu dojo, [Sadateru Arikawa](/source/Sadateru_Arikawa) has been pointed out as a major influence on Hermansson's aikido. Upon returning to Sweden in 1980, Hermansson started training and teaching at a [dojo](/source/dojo) in the southern suburbs of Stockholm, Farsta aikidoklubb. Since 1994, Hermansson is an honorary member in the grading committee of the Swedish Aikikai. In 1995, he was awarded 6th dan; it took many years for another Swede to receive the same rank. He was given 7th dan in 2006. When Hombu in 1998 granted Swedish aikido the right to give dan ranks without a Japanese shihan present, it can be assumed that Hermansson's name in the grading committee was an important factor. When Hombu dojo for the first time officially gave out the title "shihan" to seven non-Japanese (around 2002), Hermansson was one of the recipients. Since Farsta aikidoklubb closed down in 2003, Hermansson no longer taught regularly. He suffered from a worn-out hip joint, partly eased by surgery. Although the result hampered his physical mobility, he still taught at seminars and could else be found training at the aikido dojo Iyasaka in Stockholm. Among Hermansson anecdotes, apart from the "skirt" event, his holding out one of the people training at Hombu dojo, known for being cruel to beginners, from a window asking "Hard or soft?" is legendary. == Photos == File:Jan hermansson.aikido.b9dn5094423.jpg|Jan Hermansson. File:Jan hermansson.aikido.b8dn3996307.jpg|Jan Hermansson teaching in Stockholm. File:Jan hermansson.aikido.b8dn3996365.jpg|Jan Hermansson performs a throw. File:Jan hermansson.aikido.b8dn3996379.jpg|Jan Hermansson teaching in Stockholm. == References == {{reflist}} * [Stenudd, Stefan](/source/Stefan_Stenudd), ''Aikido - den fredliga kampkonsten'' (Swedish, meaning "Aikido, the peaceful martial art"), the expanded 1988 edition, {{ISBN|91-7894-018-4}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermansson, Jan}} Category:Swedish aikidoka Category:1942 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Martial artists from Stockholm --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jan Hermansson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hermansson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hermansson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.