Morihiro Saitō Shihan at Iwama Dojo (1992) — Rare Aikido Interview & Training Footage

Описание: Morihiro Saitō was born in 1928 and began training with Morihei Ueshiba in 1946, shortly after the war. He was a local resident of Iwama and trained almost daily with the Founder for more than twenty years. Unlike many students who trained intermittently or traveled between dojos, Saitō remained in close proximity to Ueshiba’s daily life.

Morihiro saito worked full time for the Japanese National Railways while maintaining his training. His relationship with Ueshiba was practical and grounded: cleaning the dojo, preparing weapons, assisting in demonstrations, and absorbing instruction through repetition rather than explanation.

After Ueshiba’s death, Saitō was entrusted with maintaining Iwama Dōjō and the Aiki Shrine. He became responsible for preserving not only the physical space but also the training methods, weapons curriculum, and daily etiquette established by the Founder. This placed him in a unique position: he was not running a large organization or promoting a brand, but acting as a caretaker of living tradition.

Over the following decades, Saitō gradually began teaching more widely. Foreign students arrived in increasing numbers during the 1970s and 1980s, drawn by the reputation of Iwama as the Founder’s home dojo. Saitō taught with consistency and clarity, emphasizing precise angles, correct distance, strong kamae, and strict basics.

He eventually formalized the weapons curriculum into recognizable systems of suburi, kumitachi, and kumijō. He also codified the relationship between taijutsu techniques and weapons principles, showing how footwork, hip rotation, and entering lines mirror sword movement. Then Saitō Sensei passed away in 2002, leaving behind a global network of students who continue to teach what is often called “Iwama style” or “Takemusu Aiki.”

In Iwama, however, the curriculum remained remarkably stable. Saitō insisted that students learned Strong hanmi posture, Correct ma-ai (distance), Clear entering lines, Precise grips and angles, Repetition of foundational techniques.

Weapons training was never treated as optional. Sword and staff were central tools for understanding body mechanics and timing. Practitioners learned to cut correctly before attempting to blend freely. This preserved a martial clarity sometimes lost in more abstract interpretations of Aikido.

Equally important, Saitō preserved a disciplined training culture. Classes were serious, and physically demanding. Students learned patience, humility, and attention to detail. This mindset reflects prewar budō values more than modern recreational martial arts.

other dojo were focused in other aspects and were not in opposition; they represented different responses to modernity. Tokyo-based Aikido branch adapted to urban life, diplomacy, and cultural exchange. Iwama maintained continuity with the Founder’s rural training environment.

For many Western practitioners, discovering Iwama training in the 1970s and 1980s was transformative. It provided missing technical depth and clarity. Students returned to Europe, North America, and Australia with a renewed appreciation for basics and weapons, influencing entire generations of instructors.

Saitō frequently used the term Takemusu Aiki, often translated as “martial creativity arising naturally.” In the Founder’s usage, it meant that true mastery generates spontaneous technique without conscious selection. However, Saitō emphasized that spontaneity must grow from deep technical structure, not from improvisation alone.

This footage carries significance, for Morihiro Saitō, Takemusu was not mystical abstraction but the natural result of disciplined repetition. Only when posture, timing, and distance are internalized can freedom emerge safely and effectively. This perspective grounds spiritual language in physical training. For modern aikidoka, this footage offers calibration — a way to reconnect with the structural roots of the art amid stylistic diversity.

Even instructors who do not identify explicitly as “Iwama style” often unknowingly benefit from Saitō’s influence, because many teaching materials, seminars, and textbooks derive from his work. The conversation between tradition and innovation continues. But without custodians like Saitō, much of the Founder’s technical legacy might have been fragmented beyond recognition.

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