Oberlin Aikido Club Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Reunion and Master Classes

OBERLIN, OHIO — Oberlin Aikikai, the oldest collegiate club practicing the Japanese martial art Aikido in the United States, will celebrate its 40th year with a special May Fair Seminar featuring Mitsugi Saotome Shihan, a former student of Aikido’s founder Morihei Ueshiba.

For 40 years, the Oberlin Aikido Club has brought people together through the study of Aikido’s harmonious approach to conflict resolution. The club is open to Oberlin College students, faculty, staff, and community members.

Aikido is often translated as “the way of harmonious spirit.” Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury. Aikido is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on.

The 40th anniversary seminar will open on Thursday, May 1, and run through Sunday, May 4. The program will offer Oberlin Aikido students and alumni a chance to train with the best teachers and practitioners from around the country, while receiving instructions from Aikido masters.

The seminar will be taught by Mitsugi Saotome Shihan, head of the Aikido Schools of Ueshiba (ASU), which is the Oberlin Aikido Club’s affiliate organization. Saotome Shihan is one of the last remaining live-in students of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba.

For more information and registration, visit the Oberlin Aikikai 40th anniversary page.