The Art of Aiki

“I was uchideshi this year again for one month (tooooo short) and had the opportunity to learn Battojutsu directly from [Hitohiro Saito] Sensei. First, Sensei handed us the Iaito (the Tanrenkan has several) and told me, as the highest grade present, to practice suburi, and kumitachi. Since I did not know anything about it, I had to depend on Kasper (an excellent long time sotodeshi), and another day on Yasuhiro Saito, to teach me the Sekiguchi Ryu. About a week later, Sensei taught us directly with many details. It was a wonderful class. Sekiguchi Ryu is a ryu originally from Wakayama (O’Sensei’s country). It is a vigorous style with lots of kiai. We also practiced with live blades using some excellent swords that Sensei has.

One site where you can have a look at this Battojutsu style is bushinjuku.com.

It seems that Sensei has had a long connection with this style.”