Iwama Ryu
岩間流Aikido line from Iwama associated with Morihiro Saito. It trains techniques without weapons, the sword and the staff as one whole.
Quick Facts
JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Iwama Ryu
About Iwama Ryu
Iwama-ryu is a line of aikido tied to the dojo in the village of Iwama, today part of the city of Kasama in Ibaraki Prefecture. Morihei Ueshiba moved there in 1942, built the Aiki Jinja shrine, and in 1945 a training dojo next to it. The line bears the name of the place, not of a school founded in a particular year, and we have not been able to confirm the year of its origin. Its main figure was Morihiro Saito (1928–2002), who began training with Ueshiba in the summer of 1946 and after Ueshiba's death in 1969 led the Iwama dojo and cared for the shrine. Its technical peculiarity is studying taijutsu without weapons, the sword aiki-ken and the staff aiki-jo as one whole. Saito arranged Ueshiba's weapon movements into a system of suburi, kata and paired exercises, such as the 31-movement jo kata, and in 1989 introduced his own certificate for them. The term takemusu aiki is linked with the line. After Saito's death the line split. His son Hitohiro Saito left Aikikai in 2003 and leads the organization Iwama Shinshin Aiki Shuren Kai, which issues iwama-ryu certificates. The original dojo, under the name Ibaraki Branch Dojo, is administered by Aikikai.
History
According to Aikikai, Morihei Ueshiba planned on the Iwama grounds from 1941 and moved onto the site in 1942. He built the Aiki Jinja shrine in 1943 according to one Aikikai page, while another says it was completed in 1944, and in 1945 the Aikido Shuren Dojo training dojo arose beside it, the predecessor of today's Ibaraki Dojo. According to Stanley Pranin, Ueshiba lived in Iwama permanently until 1955, and it remained his official residence until his death in 1969. Morihiro Saito, born on 31 March 1928, began training with Ueshiba in Iwama in the summer of 1946. After Ueshiba's death, according to Pranin, he led the Iwama dojo and cared for the shrine for 33 years, until his death on 13 May 2002. In November 2003 his son Hitohiro Saito left the Aikikai Foundation and gave up responsibility for the shrine and dojo, which Moriteru Ueshiba took over. The two sides describe the causes of the split differently. In 2004 the dojo was renamed Ibaraki Branch Dojo.
How it differs
The main difference from Aikikai lies in the place of weapons. According to Aikido Journal, Aikikai Hombu Dojo takes taijutsu as the core of the art and weapons as a supplement, whereas Saito's syllabus treats taijutsu, ken and jo as one continuous whole. Pranin considers the Iwama syllabus much more extensive than that of Yoshinkan, Aikikai or Ki-Aikida, but does not expressly claim that it is better. Saito also stated that Ueshiba introduced hanmi, kokyuho and the unity of sword, staff and taijutsu in Iwama differently from Daito-ryu. Tomiki Kenji, by contrast, tested competitive aikido at the judo club of Waseda University, and Shioda Gozo's Yoshinkan still trains members of the Tokyo police today.
Technique
Iwama aikido combines taijutsu, meaning techniques without weapons, with aiki-ken, the sword, and aiki-jo, the staff. Saito stated that Ueshiba regarded all three as one whole, the explanation of aikido often began with the sword, and taijutsu was derived from the sword. Pranin estimates taijutsu at roughly 600 techniques, and at more than a thousand forms with the weapon forms and paired exercises. In the hanmi stance, according to Saito, the rear foot must stay in line with the front one so that the hips can work. Saito arranged Ueshiba's unnamed staff movements into 20 jo suburi, from which the 31-movement jo kata emerged, and created 7 ken suburi and the 13-movement jo kata. At Tohoku Gakuin University in Sendai he developed 31 kumijo in the nineteen-sixties. The weapons syllabus consists of ken suburi, ki musubi no tachi, five kumitachi, jo suburi, jo kata, 13 jo awase, 31 kumijo and 10 kumijo.
Training
Morning training in Iwama, according to Saito, began with about 40 minutes of seated meditation. For three to four years it taught only the first paired sword exercise, repeated to exhaustion. For the striking exercise tanren-uchi Saito built a wooden post. According to a 2015 Aikido Journal editorial note, in Iwama weapons are practiced once a week by ordinary students and every morning by uchideshi. In Tokyo, according to a 1991 interview, Saito was allowed to teach ken and jo only in the last 15 minutes of the Sunday training.
Ranks and progression
Saito himself held 9th dan of Aikikai and the title of shihan. In May 1989 he introduced a traditional certificate for aiki-ken and aiki-jo. According to him, training progresses from hard, static practice to ki no nagare, flowing execution, as the final level. After the split, Iwama Shinshin Aiki Shuren Kai issues its own iwama-ryu certificate, according to its statement mainly to students outside Japan.
Today
Ibaraki Branch Dojo in Iwama, today part of the city of Kasama in Ibaraki Prefecture, stands under the direct supervision of Aikido Hombu Dojo and training is held there every day except public holidays. Next to it stands the Aiki Jinja shrine, where the Taisai festival is held every year, and in 2002, according to Aikido Journal, about a thousand people attended. Outside Aikikai operates Hitohiro Saito's Iwama Shinshin Aiki Shuren Kai with a dojo in Iwama. According to its 2004 statement, some of Saito's older students also founded the Takemusu Aiki group, which issues its own certificates.
Did you know
Saito worked for the Japanese state railways, and a schedule of 24 hours on duty and 24 hours off allowed him to train with Ueshiba very often. On his first visit, according to Pranin, Ueshiba threw him several times, Saito's sleeves and trousers were torn, and the master told him he could come to train. He trained under him as uchideshi from the age of 18 to 41. Saito devised the name sanjuichi-jo for the 31-movement staff kata, and it caught on, as did the term Iwama style. He wrote six books, including the five-volume series Traditional Aikido. The 2002 Taisai festival was his last public event, and the ceremony was led by priests of the Omoto-kyo religion.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Iwama aikido practiced?
The original dojo and Aiki Jinja shrine stand in Iwama, today part of the city of Kasama in Ibaraki Prefecture. Today the dojo, as Ibaraki Branch Dojo, is administered by Aikikai.
Is Iwama-ryu part of Aikikai?
The Iwama dojo is a branch of Aikikai under the supervision of Hombu Dojo. However, Hitohiro Saito's organization Iwama Shinshin Aiki Shuren Kai left Aikikai in 2003 and issues its own certificates.
Why are the sword and staff practiced in Iwama aikido?
According to Morihiro Saito, Ueshiba saw techniques without weapons, the sword and the staff as one whole, and explaining aikido often began with the sword. So in Iwama weapons are practiced with taijutsu.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.