Morihei Ueshiba

The foundations of Aikido can be traced back to the 11th century when two brothers of the samurai family Takeda began systematizing techniques and knowledge of the warrior art. This developed, and was kept within the family for centuries.

When the samurai epoch ended in the late 19th century, the different systems were made accessible to the general public. The last master of the system - which was then called Daito ryu aiki-jutsu - was Sokaku Takeda. His foremost student was Morihei Ueshiba (O-sensei), who founded modern Aikido.

Ueshiba trained and improved during his entire 85-year long life. His goal was to create a system without aggression or confrontation, where the goal was to develop body, mind and soul, an old warrior art tradition which can play an important role in solving physical and mental tensions in our modern society. Ueshiba passed away 1969, and after him an organization called Hombu Dojo (head school) took over. The dojo lies in Tokyo, Japan.

Morihiro Saito

The leadership has been inherited from father to son. In the early 1940 M. Ueshiba started a private Aikido school in Iwama, c:a 60 miles from Tokyo, where he also took up residence.

A young man by the name of Morihiro Saito began training there 1946. He soon became uchidechi (inner student) to the master, and remained so until the master's death 1969. On his death bed the master assigned his school to Saito who led it until 2002. It is Saito's specific school that we follow in Aikido Dojo Gamlestaden. During the years many of our members have traveled to Iwama and trained directly under him.