“Aikido” is the name it’s founder, Morihei Ueshiba O’Sensei called his martial art after the end of the Second World War.

“Takemusu Aikido” is the name we use to refer to the style of those who study Aikido according to the lineage of Morihiro Saito Sensei and maintain strong, healthy relations with Aikido Headquarters (“Hombu Dojo”) and the current Doshu, Moriteru Ueshiba Sensei (Head of Aikido and Direct descendant of Morihei Ueshiba).

“Takemusu” itself is a Japanese term that the founder of Aikido used to describe the ultimate goal of Aikido training; "a spontaneous creation of technique".

To achieve this lofty goal for our own Aikido, we follow a structured path established by Morihiro Saito Sensei that comprises several levels of training starting from a foundation of static, well gripped and strong, committed attacks (“kotai” or “kihon”). We build upon this foundation with flexible (“jutai”) and fluid (“ryutai”) levels of training. This style of training was maintained by Saito Sensei to be the way the “Founder” himself trained.