“The Founder was the proverbial ‘driven man’ who focused his energies on his own training and ventured forth on a unique voyage of inner discovery that culminated in the birth of aikido.” Aikido...
Archive - August 2015
Josh GoldMorihiro Saito Celebrates 50 Years in Aikido, by Stanley Pranin
“An intimate glimpse of the Ueshiba and Saito Families in Iwama when Aikido was born” On May 4, 1996 a celebration was held in Iwama, Ibaragi Prefecture, to commemorate the 50 years Morihiro Saito of the Ibaragi...
PDF download: January 1964 issue of Aikido Headquarters Newspaper
“Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei boards the plane for NYC in 1964” While going through some old boxes of documents, we recently came upon a collection of old English-language newspapers published by the Aikido...
Harold T. — “That’s Just How It Bends” by Tom Collings
“How these guys can run like the world’s fastest human, while handcuffed behind their backs and shoeless is beyond me” HAROLD was recently out of recruit class, so the boss told me to take him on his first...
“Aikido’s lost book treasures and what to do about them” by Stanley Pranin
“How do we keep our precious heritage of books from being lost?” In the past few months, I have been pondering a phenomenon that I don’t think most people in the aikido world are aware of. If you have...
Historical photo: Koichi Tohei, 10th dan, escapes from bear hug of huge American soldier by Stanley Pranin
“Koichi Tohei was the only person to be officially awarded the 10th dan by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.” This is a rare photo of Koichi Tohei Sensei, 10th dan, teaching a group of military personnel in...
Morihiro Saito Sensei demonstrates Shomenuchi Ikkyo Omote from the “Complete Guide to Aikido”
“A true master introduces one of Aikido’s core techniques” In the technical manual Budo, published by the founder in 1938, it is written that in shomenuchi ikkyo omote, the person throwing initiates...