Summer Camp July 16 featuring Mitsugi Saotome Shihan

Mitsugi Saotome, Shihan (“Sensei”) is our head instructor at Aikido Shobukan Dojo and Founder of Aikido Schools of Ueshiba. He was a disciple (“uchi-deshi”) of Morihei Ueshiba (“O-Sensei”) the founder of Aikido for fifteen years until O-Sensei passed away in 1969. While with O-Sensei, Sensei studied intensely the practice and philosophy of the founder’s own studies of Aikido and Takemusu Aiki. Sensei was soon promoted to a senior instructor position at World Aikido Headquarters, the seat of Aikikai Foundation today. In 1975, Sensei felt compelled to come to the United States, and remained ever since as a model Aikidoka for the world. When asked what compelled Sensei to come to the United States, he replied, “I meditated on O-Sensei’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