Morihiro Saito Sensei - In memorian tenere
Morihiro Saito Sensei died on 13th May 2002


at 02:09 am japanese time. We want to keep


him in good memory by endeavouring to train


Aikido and pass it on, in the way he taught us.




Our deceased teacher dedicated his whole life to his teacher ...

Dedication, Challenge, Enthusiasm and Loyalty for his teacher, the filtering and exact analysing of the techniques passed on to us within all areas cannot be described with words.

The thing I have in mind about Saito - Sensei, are absolut precision, a smile, the necessary brawniness and a incomparable charisma.

And to pass on a martial art in its tradition.




TAKEMUSU AIKI / IWAMA RYU = school of Iwama
An interview with the deceased Saito - Sensei

An interview with Saito - Sensei; it has been made due to his 50 years Aikido-anniversary during a workshop in Scandinavia by Mats Alexanderson (Many thanks for the approval of publishing the interview at my homepage):

MA: Have you done other Budo-arts before your Aikido-study?
Saito: Yes, I studied kendo, karate and a bit of judo ...

MA: How did you actually come to Aikido?
Saito:I heard of a mysterious man who taught and developed a totally unknown art of Budo, not very far away of my domicile at all. That exactly has been in 1946 and I started to train at the founder. As I started with Aikido, the training has been improbably hard and we trained hard. Sometimes we trained Suwari Waza until both knees were bleeding, but we didn't stop the training. We sometimes practised Suwari Waza for days, then the founder changed to Ryotedori - techniques and also these ones we practised for days.

MA: At the time you started with Aikido, have there also been other students at the Dojo?
Saito:Yes, there were some pupils at this time. Tohei, Abe, Tanabe and Shioda were there as I started. Tohei only stayed for a short period of time and then left the Dojo, because he wanted to set up a family. Abe stayed for one year and then went to France. Tanabe also only stayed for a short spell and also Shioda, who then left the Dojo for working in a steel mill, where he then started to teach Aikido.

MA: Except you, have there been "house-pupils" who stayed longer then you? And how long?
Saito:There were no other house-pupil! In case you especially mean house-pupils who stayed longer than one year. Lot of the pupils only stayed for three - six months.

MA: Who, of the now well-known Senseis' (teacher) have actually been house-pupils?
Saito: Well, if you speak of Senseis' like Yamada, Tamura, Tohei, Saotome and Kanai, these are all pupils of Kisshomaru Ueshiba. They have never gone to Iwama and studied at or for O-Sensei.Chiba - Sensei only stayed three months in Iwama.

MA: Who taught in Iwama and Tokyo, if O-Sensei was not there?
Saito:If O-Sensei wasn't in Iwama, I had to make the training. I don't know who taught in Tokyo, as I have been in Iwama. I hardly was in the Hombu Dojo. O - Sensei was very vital from 1960 - 61. Then it happened that he went to Tokyo time-by-time to teach his art, but few days later pupils called me that I shall take O-Sensei back to Iwama. O-Sensei didn't gave them anything for free during this time, he accused them of changing his art. In Iwama, O-Sensei practises for himself in the wee hours of the morning and I had the possibility to train with him, in return I worked at his farm.

MA: Where did O-Sensei teach most of the time, in Iwama or Tokyo and how did this change in the forties, fifties and sixties?
Saito: First of all, I want to point out that O-Sensei was a human being of Iwama, he wanted to spent his time there. During the forties, fifties O-Sensei spent most of his time in Iwama, sometimes he went to Tokyo. In the sixties the ratio was about 50 / 50 and if he didn't feel like staying in Tokyo he called me ... It always has been a big difference what he taught in Tokyo and what he taught in Iwama, O-Sensei taught no weapons at the Hombu Dojo, he only spoke about it. The ratio of RIAI (the connection between Tai-Jutsu and Buki Waza) only has been taught in Iwama. O-Sensei really trained hard in Iwama. The development started in 1945 and ended between 1960 - 65. Aikido has been developed in Iwama during this period of time.
I only want to say some words to this and also to the lies about the Aikido of O-Sensei. For example that there are people who affirm that there are no weapons within Aikido, that makes me angry. I want to unearth the truth and unearth the background of Aikido. Please publish this interview in the internet. I am especially angry about blurring the facts; O-Sensei was a human being of Iwama and during his time in Iwama, Aikido has been developed.

At this point the interview ends.
Enclosure: In 2001, the grandson of O-Sensei, Moriteru Ueshiba, published a text within AIKI - NEWS / AIKI- Journal, that his father Kisshamuru Ueshiba changed the techniques of O-Sensei to make it more understandable and accessible for the world.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 11:58