The focus of the seminar is weapon techniques, here in Jöran's words:
The taijutsu techniques in aikido are based on sword movements. What distinguishes aikido from other forms of budo is the hanmi stance and the concept of awase. Saito Sensei often pointed out that one cannot simply mix judo and kendo in the hope of creating aikido.
At the Iwama dojo, Saito Sensei taught kumitachi and kumijo outdoors. We only trained indoors when it rained; on those
occasions, we practiced tachidori, jodori, and jonage. (On the rare occasions when it snowed, we trained outside so we could take nice photos.) Saito Sensei did not teach tachidori and jodori except when it was raining; since most short-term uchideshi chose to travel to Iwama during good weather, few have received thorough instruction in tachidori and jodori.
At the seminar, we will go through parts of what Saito Sensei taught me during my 15 months as an uchideshi and at
seminars across Europe. We will also examine some of the techniques involving the juken (bayonet) and yari (spear) that O-Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba, documented in his book Budo from 1938. Saito Sensei told me, when I was assisting him as uke as he was taking photographs for a commentary on the book in 1997, that when he began practicing in 1946 those techniques were performed with a jo.
