Aikicommunications ...

Bill Witt Making 19th Visit to Virginia Oct. 12-13, 2013

RICHMOND, Va. (5-8-13) William Witt Shihan, 7th Dan and Morihiro Saito Shihan's senior student in the U.S., will be making his 19th visit to Virginia October 12-13.

The site will be Aikido in Fredericksburg, 6155 Hickory Ridge Rd, Spotsylvania, VA 22551.

See the Aikido in Fredericksburg website at http://aikidoinn.com/ for further details. Telephone (540) 582-9600.

Witt Shihan is primarily responsible for bringing the teaching of Saito Shihan to the United States. This is extremely important in the history of Aikido in the U.S., because Saito had a superior understanding of O Sensei's Aikido and the best understanding of O Sensei's weapons system.

O Sensei did not teach weapons to any great extent at the Hombu Dojo in Tokyo. He kept this training almost exclusively in Iwama. Weapons and Taijutsu go together in Aikido, as we've read, and if Bill Witt had not connected Saito Sensei with U.S. Aikido students, we might never have gained this understanding. See: The Man Who Built the Bridge to Iwama.

(Photo: Bill Witt Shihan at 2010 Gasshuku at Lake Tahoe.)