This course highlights the aikido sword and staff forms taught by Morihiro Saito, 9th dan. Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba spent many years studying these weapons — called the Aiki Ken and Jo — at his country retreat in Iwama during and after World War II. Saito lived in Iwama and devoted himself to aikido training at the side of Ueshiba Sensei for over 20 years. Due to the severe conditions existing after the war, the Founder had few students during this period. As fate would have it, the responsibility for preserving, systematizing, and disseminating Morihei Ueshiba’s weapons practices fell to Saito Sensei. Added to the hundreds of empty-handed techniques of aikido, these ken and jo practices combine to form a cohesive, content-rich curriculum.
Watch now on Aikido Journal TV or purchase the course separately.