Quote:
dainippon99 wrote:
i was just wondering what saotome senseis weapons credentials were. is he self taught, or did he study any weapons arts other than aikido? i am wondering because i see him doing iai in some of his books. thanks!
|
The bulk of the weapons that he teaches is basically stuff that he's made up himself. So far as I know he's never had any significant weapons training (in a formal environment that is). My Shinto Katori-ryu teacher says that he used to come watch the classes, but he never actually trained there.
I've seen him teach some of the seitai iai kata, but he wasn't all that good at it, I thought. His other weapons work is somewhat different from classical weapons, but it's quite good for Aikido practice in that it's designed to elaborate and clarify his conceptions of Aikido principals.
Best,
Chris