Aiki ken is the name given to the set of Japanese sword techniques as taught first by Morihei Ueshiba (Founder of Aikido) then further developed by one of his most prominent students – Morihiro Saito Sensei.
The partnered forms practice of aiki-ken is called kumi tachi meaning the crossing/meeting of swords. There are five kumi tachi . The kumi tachi teach students how to alternately control the center line and move off it to avoid attacks and how to blend with an opponent’s attacks, among other skills.
Ichi no tachi
In the below video Saito Sensei demonstrates and provides instruction for the first kumi tachi (Ichi no tachi).
- Brief Biography – Morihiro Saito Sensei (1928-2002)
Morihiro Saito Sensei’s practice of Aikido spanned 56 years and he is one of the most important teachers in Aikido history. Saito Sensei was a live-in student of O’sensei for more than 20 years at his home dojo in Iwama, Japan.
Saito Sensei spent his teaching life dedicated to preserving the technical style of Aikido as practised and shown to him by O’sensei in the post-war period. Without his commitment to preserving the Aikido of the Founder and extensive efforts to record and document his teachings, much of the Aikido of O’sensei would have no doubt been lost. The Aikido world owes him a great debt.