Special offer: “Aikido: Its Heart & Appearance” by Morihiro Saito republished!

We are pleased to announce the long-awaited republication of one of the classic aikido books from the 1970s, Aikido: Its Heart & Appearance by Morihiro Saito, 9th dan. This outstanding training manual was orginally published in 1975 in tandem with the famous Traditional Aikido series. It was meant as an introductory manual to the traditional training methods taught in postwar Japan by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, and subsequently, by one of his leading students, Morihiro Saito.

The republication of Heart & Appearance has been undertaken by the PM Group AB of Sweden, owner of Aikidostore, and Aikido Journal is the exclusive distributor for the North and South American and Asian markets. As we will be importing the books from Sweden and due to the recent precipitous fall of the US dollar, the price of this new volume will be expensive when viewed in terms of dollars. It will be of little concern, however, to customers from countries whose currencies have risen vis-a-vis the dollar in recent times. This is a matter beyond our control and we request your understanding.

Morihiro Saito, 9th dan

Details and ordering information for Aikido: Its Heart & Appearance are available here.

If this venture is successful, PM Group AB will also reprint Traditional Aikido, Volumes 1 through 5 in a new edition of a quality equal or superior to the original books published in the early 1970s. These wonderful volumes have been out of print for years and copies of the early editions have long been sold for hundreds of dollars on Internet auction sites such as ebay.com.

The President of PM Group AB, Mr. Per Melander, writes the following concerning his vision for the publication of Heart & Appearance and the forthcoming Traditional Aikido series:

If you are interested in learning how O-Sensei taught Aikido from the late 1940´s until his passing when he set out on the true path of Aikido by entering into the spiritual world, there are few other instructors who can impart such deep knowledge on this subject as the late Morihiro Saito Sensei. These books are especially important due to the fact that they were written only a few years after O-Sensei passed away at a time when Saito Sensei was at his physical peak. You are really able can see how powerful yet relaxed Saito Sensei´s Aikido was. You will also find many wonderful pictures of O-Sensei from various stages of his life!

With the availability of Aikido: Its Heart And Appearance and the Traditional Aikido, volume 1 - 5 books once again, and the existence of the Lost Seminars, “Aiki Ken and Jo DVDs, and the Takemusu Aikido technical series published by Aikido Journal, we are able to construct a timeline of Morihiro Saito Sensei´s life. This is important if we are searching for information regarding the development of his Aikido from the early 70’s, through the 80’s, into the 90’s and until he sadly passed away in May 2002.

My intention with the republication of the Traditional Aikido series is to make them available to everyone—from those that have just started their journey in the wonderful world of Aiki up to the highest ranked practitioners of the art. This will hopefully also make Morihiro Saito Sensei´s Aikido even more immortal and therefore also O-Sensei´s legacy more alive. Its with an enormous humbleness and respect that I take on the republishing of Morihiro Saito Shihan´s six books, but yet with a big smile and a good, warm feeling in my heart!

March 3^rd, 2008 (add comment)