Iwama Ryu
Iwama Ryu was a now defunct
aikido organization, comprising of a part of the students of
Morihiro Saito doing the type of aikido normally referred to as
Iwama aikido or Iwama style. Much confusion exists between the concepts Iwama Ryu and Iwama aikido.
Most of the Iwama aikido practitioners were never within the Iwama Ryu, and the distribution of Iwama Ryu was more abundand in some countries, such as the
Scandinavian countries, where almost all Iwama aikido was within the Iwama Ryu. Many of the Iwama Ryu members were allowed to choose between having their
dan ranks in Iwama Ryu or in the original organization
Aikikai. The existence of this organisation was reflected in the organisation of aikido in some countries, such as
Sweden, where there were three comittées for the different types of aikido within the Budo Federation - Iwama Ryu,
ki-aikido, and Aikikai. Despite this, Iwama Ryu was never officially being declared an organisation independent of the Aikikai, and it can be regarded a rather informal network held together by the fact that Saito sensei gave out his own dan ranks - Iwama Ryu ranks - rather than ranks from the
Aikikai Hombu. Specific weapons ranks and weapon transmission scrolls were also given within the Iwama Ryu. The highest Iwama Ryu ranks given was 7th
dan, and it was given to
Ulf Evenås and
Paolo Corallini who both also held title of
shihan in this style, with the right to give Iwama Ryu dan ranks. Other top instructors included
Tony Sargeant 6th dan and
Daniel Toutain 6th dan.
The Iwama Ryu was created partly as a consequence of the Japanese aikido teacher and Swedish resident
Takeji Tomita ending his relationship with his teacher Morihiro Saito. Upon the split Tomita stayed in the Aikikai, while the Scandinavian students who wished to follow Saito instead gathered in Iwama Ryu. With Saito's death in 2002, some of the Iwama Ryu clubs joined an organization called
Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shurenkai, formed by Morihiro Saito's son
Hitohiro Saito while others, among them Evenås and Corallini and their students, rejoined the Aikikai.
*
Iwama style*
Ulf Evenås entry in
Stanley Pranin's
Encyclopedia of Aikido*
Stenudd, Stefan, Aikido - den fredliga kampkonsten (litteraly "Aikido - the peaceful martial art"). Arriba 1998, ISBN 9178940184 (Swedish)
