In the early 1940s, with war on the horizon, the Founder left Tokyo and moved to a rural town about two hours north by train called Iwama, and built a farm-dojo and a shrine to the gods of aiki. It was at this time that Ueshiba-sensei –referred to as ‘O-Sensei’ by many in the west– crystalized everything he had learned and formalized a new ‘way’, calling it the way of aiki, or Aikido.
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While the Aikikai organization and headquarters dojo was formed and nourished by his son in Tokyo, the Founder took to rural life and continued to refine his art with Iwama locals; his dedicated students from Tokyo also took the train trip to Iwama to stay and train with him whenever they could.
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When the Founder passed away in 1969, he left his Iwama dojo and the aiki-shrine in the care of Saito-sensei, who went on to become a 9th dan in Aikido known worldwide for his large collection of techniques including wooden weapon practices that the Founder only practiced in Iwama. The Aikido that Saito-sensei taught, which he noted was exactly how the Founder trained with him, became known as Iwama Aikido or Iwama-ryu to some.
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