Morihiro Saito

Quick Facts

Date of Birth3/31/1928

Date of Death5/13/2002

Country of OriginJapan

OccupationCivil servant

Biography

Morihiro Saito was a Japanese aikido teacher, a long-time student of Morihei Ueshiba in Iwama and keeper of the Aiki shrine and dojo there, whose approach is called Iwama aikido or Takemusu aikido. He was born on 31 March 1928 near Iwama in Ibaraki Prefecture and died on 13 May 2002 in Iwama aged 74.

He came from a poor farming village and practised kendo, karate and judo before aikido. In 1946, aged eighteen, he began training with Morihei Ueshiba in Iwama. He worked for Japanese National Railways on twenty-four-hour shifts, and so he could often train alone with the founder, also with the weapons of aiki-ken and aiki-jo. Ueshiba gave him a plot of land where he built a house. In January 1959 he became a shihan of Aikikai, according to Aikido Journal.

After the death of Ueshiba in 1969 he looked after his house, dojo and shrine for 33 years, while Wikipedia gives his leadership of the dojo from as early as 1964. He named the exercises suburi and the jo kata of 31 movements and insisted on the standardisation of basic techniques. He published the five-volume series Traditional Aikido (1973–1976) and from 1994 to 2001 six volumes of Takemusu Aikido. From October 1974 he led seminars abroad almost every year.

On 8 March 1992 he celebrated his 9th dan. After his death his son Hitohiro Saito founded the organisation Shinshin Aikishuren Kai and in November 2003 left Aikikai, and the dojo in Iwama was then taken over by Moriteru Ueshiba.

Early life

Morihiro Saito was born on 31 March 1928 in a small village near Iwama in Ibaraki Prefecture. According to Stanley Pranin, he came from a poor farming village. Before aikido he practised kendo, karate and judo.

According to his own account, at the age of eighteen he heard of an old man with unusual techniques on a mountain near Iwama and set out there alone. At the first trial Morihei Ueshiba let him attack with a punch, a kick and a grab, and Saito was thrown every time. Then Ueshiba told him he could train. Asked later about his motivation, he replied that he simply wanted to be strong.

Training and teachers

He began training with Morihei Ueshiba in Iwama in 1946. He worked for Japanese National Railways in shifts, twenty-four hours of work and twenty-four hours off, and so he could often train alone with the founder. Morning training began with a prayer at the Aiki shrine and continued with weapons practice at the time when Ueshiba was developing aiki-ken and aiki-jo. Ueshiba gave him a plot of land where he built a house and lived with his family next to the founder.

At the end of the nineteen-fifties he was among the leading instructors of Aikikai and taught in Iwama when Ueshiba travelled. He became a shihan of Aikikai in January 1959. At the Hombu Dojo in Tokyo he led the Sunday morning classes. On 8 March 1992 he celebrated his 9th dan in the presence of Kisshomaru and Moriteru Ueshiba, and we have not found the dates of his 7th and 8th dan in the sources.

Contribution and innovations

According to his own words from 1987, he himself named the exercises suburi and the jo kata of 31 movements, because Ueshiba did not name weapons techniques. He wrote the five-volume series Traditional Aikido, volume 1 appearing in 1973 and the last in 1976. From 1994 to 2001 the publisher Aiki News issued six volumes of Takemusu Aikido, the sixth with fifty techniques from the Budo handbook of Ueshiba from 1938. Wikipedia also lists earlier volumes of Takemusu Aiki from 1979 and 1981.

From October 1974, when he taught in San Francisco and at Stanford, he led seminars abroad almost every year until 2001. Around 1989 he built a new dojo on his own land, because the Ueshiba family was considering selling the land with the original dojo.

Philosophy and principles

In an interview from 1987 he said that basic techniques are meaningless unless they are standardised. He regarded the Iwama period as the time when aikido was perfected, and he claimed that true aikido cannot be explained without explaining the sword through techniques without weapons and vice versa.

Legends and documented facts

It is often written that Saito left Aikikai or was expelled. According to Stanley Pranin and Wikipedia he never left Aikikai, and it was his son Hitohiro who left the foundation in November 2003.

The year he began leading the dojo in Iwama differs: Wikipedia gives 1964, Aikido Journal gives care of the dojo from the death of Ueshiba in 1969. The year of his first trip to the USA is disputed between 1973 and 1974, and the date of death between 12 and 13 May 2002.

Legacy

After the death of Ueshiba in 1969, according to Aikido Journal, he looked after his house, dojo and the Aiki shrine for 33 years. His students included Kazuo Chiba, Paolo Corallini and Ulf Evenås, and foreign students Hans Goto, David Alexander, Dennis Tatoian and Bruce Klickstein lived with him in Iwama. In May 2001 he appeared for the last time at the All Japan Demonstration at the Nippon Budokan.

He died on 13 May 2002 in Iwama, while the website saitosensei.com gives 12 May. His son Hitohiro Saito founded the organisation Shinshin Aikishuren Kai and in November 2003 left the Aikikai foundation. The dojo in Iwama was then led by Moriteru Ueshiba, and Hiroshi Isoyama deputised for him.

Teachers, students and family

Associated Martial Arts

Ranks and titles

• 9th danShihan · Aikido

Quotes