It was a great Seminar!

2017 Minnesota Aikido Seminar with Bill Witt Shihan & Sensei Mark Larson, 6th dan. The first and last American Uchideshi of Morihiro Saito Shihan ('the bookends'). 

Bill Witt (Shihan) 8th degree black belt (front row, left), senior instructor of the Takemusu Aikido Association. Witt Sensei has been teaching and training since 1967, and is one of the most senior instructors in the United States. He has trained extensively in Iwama, Japan and is a direct student of the late Saito Morihiro Shihan. In addition, Witt Sensei has trained directly with Ueshiba O-Sensei, the Founder of Aikido. In January 2017 Witt Sensei was one of the few Aikido teachers worldwide who has been awarded the title of Shihan, or Master Instructor.

Sensei Larson, (front row, right) is the founder and chief instructor of Minnesota Aiki Shuren Dojo, in Minnesota, USA, a dojo name bestowed upon his dojo directly by the late, great Morihiro Saito Shihan. In 1992, Sensei Larson's Aikido studies took him to Japan for a decade where he lived, learned, and trained as a live-in/direct student (uchideshi) of Morihiro Saito Shihan at the Founder’s Dojo in Iwama, Japan, the birthplace of Aikido. Read more...

Tatami Studio receives certification through Sensei Larson’s organization, the Iwama Takemusu Aikikai, Minnesota, USA, which is affiliated with the World Aikido Federation (Aikikai) Headquarters, in Tokyo, Japan. Tatami Studio is honoured to have received the name Winnipeg Aiki Shuren Dojo from Sensei Larson.