The TINY Aikido Master Who Humiliated Robert Kennedy’s Bodyguard

February 10, 1962. Robert Kennedy and his wife Ethel are watching a demonstration in a Tokyo dojo. On the mat stands a man about five foot one, a little over a hundred pounds. Then one of Kennedy's bodyguards steps onto the mat with him. Seconds later, the bodyguard is on the floor — live on Japanese television. Was it real, or a show for a famous guest? To answer that, you have to know who that little man was. Gozo Shioda was a sickly child who grew up on his father's judo mats, walked into Morihei Ueshiba's "Hell Dojo" at 17 to expose a trick — and got thrown on his back. He became a classmate of Masahiko Kimura, who admitted Shioda was "really strong." In Shanghai in 1941, at 26, he faced a real fight in a dark room at two in the morning. And after the war, he built Yoshinkan Aikido and trained the Tokyo police. This is the true story of Gozo Shioda — from his own autobiography, his 1987 interview with Kimura, and the record of the Kennedy visit. What the footage shows, what was set up, and why it still counts. Tell me in the comments which master you'd like to hear about next.