MORIHIRO SAITO: “TAKEMUSU AIKIDO,”
O-SENSEI’S CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT
“The aim of Aiki is to banish fighting, warfare and violence.” — Morihei Ueshiba
The Iwama aikido curriculum as disseminated by Morihiro Saito, 9th dan, has its roots in the techniques taught by Founder Morihei Ueshiba in the postwar era in Iwama, a small town in the countryside of Ibaragi Prefecture.
Morihei Ueshiba lived, farmed, and practiced his aikido with great intensity in Iwama after the war left Japan in a poverty-stricken state. For the first time in years, he was able to concentrate his efforts on the perfecting of his martial techniques and spiritual development. This period is generally regarded as the birth of aikido as recorded by Morihei’s son, Kisshomaru Ueshiba. O-Sensei used the term “Takemusu Aiki” to refer to his art at this stage. The literal meaning of “Takemusu Aiki” is “Aiki which gives birth to martial techniques.” Morihei explained that this was the highest level of aikido where one is capable of spontaneously executing perfect techniques.
Morihei Ueshiba training outdoors in Iwama with Morihiro Saito, c. 1958
Through a quirk of fate, Morihiro Saito, one of Ueshiba’s closed disciples, found himself in a unique position to be the beneficiary of Morihei’s vast knowledge. The flexibility of his job allowed him to spend large amount of time with the aikido founder on alternate days, this in contrast to the few others students who had to struggle to eke out a living in these years of great struggles. For more on this subject, readers may wish to read Stanley Pranin’s article titled “The Iwama Aikido Conundrum.”
Morihiro Saito executes tai no henko from “Takemusu Aikido, Volume 1: Background & Basics”
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