Athletes - Mitsugi Saotome

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	Athletes - Mitsugi Saotome

Mitsugi Saotome Shihan (born c. 1937, Japan) is an Aikido teacher currently living in the United States. He is a master in the martial art of Aikido and a master of budo and bujutsu. Saotome Shihan is considered to be a direct disciple (uchi-deshi) of the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba (O Sensei).

At the age of 16, Saotome Shihan began his martial arts training in Judo. At the age of 18, he entered the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Japan in order to train under Ueshiba. Saotome Shihan became an uchi-deshi in 1958 and trained under Ueshiba until the death of his teacher, in 1969.

After the death of Ueshiba, Saotome began teaching at the World Aikido Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. He was very well respected as an instructor, receiving many honors. Saotome Shihan ultimately obtained an appointment as a senior instructor at the World Aikido Headquarters, continuing to give instruction there until 1975.

At this time Saotome began to give great thought and meditation as to his future purpose. After many days of consideration, he was said to have felt the hand of divine spiritual intervention. This was instrumental in his decision to relocate to the United States. Saotome Shihan felt that the US was at a point of development that embraced new ideas, and that this would be an ideal environment to spread the message of peace and harmony implicit in the study of Aikido.

When asked about his decision to move to the US, Saotome Shihan said "I meditated on O Sensei's (Ueshiba's) spirit for three days and three nights and I felt it was his wish that I should go. This country is a great experiment, a melting pot of people from many different cultural backgrounds living together, the world condensed into one nation. The goal of aikido and O Sensei's dream is that all the peoples of the world live together as one family, in harmony with each other and with their environment. The United States has the opportunity to set a great example."

After relocating to the US in the late 1970s, Saotome Shihan founded an organization known as Aikido Schools of Ueshiba. He continues to serve as a master instructor for the organization.

Saotome Shihan is especially skilled in the use of traditional Japanese weapons, including the wooden staffs jo and bo, and the wooden sword bokken. He has also developed a system for working with two swords in Aikido. Saotome Shihan feels that learning the movements and skills associated with proficiency in these weapons not only increases speed and agility, but harmony with one's partner. Grace and perfection are very important since a single accidental blow with one of these 'practice' weapons can be excruciatingly painful. Since Aikido emphasizes harmony between oneself and the universe, respect for one's partner is very important. The consequences of your techniques are immediately obvious and intense concentration and training should ultimately lead one to a controlled and harmonious interaction.

Saotome Shihan currently resides in the state of Florida in the US. He continues to teach at the Aiki Shrine Dojo in Myakka City, Florida, but spends approximately 6 weeks each year teaching at the Aikido Shobukan Dojo, in Washington, DC. He also travels extensively, teaching seminars throughout the US.

Saotome Shihan has also written three books on Aikido: Aikido and the Harmony of Nature, The Principles of Aikido, Aikido: Living By Design and produced a collection of videos demonstrating various techniques, including a video on the two-sword technique.

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