Arizona Aikido

ensei later moved to New York, where he continued to train in Aikido under Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei, the head of the New York Aikikai and the Eastem Region of the United Stated Aikido Federation. After riding his motorcycle across the United States, Takagi Sensei settled in Phoenix. He came here with his wife, Linda, whom he had met in Hawaii. Wanting to bring Aikido to the area, he became the founder and first sensei of Arizona Aikikai in 1968. The dojo's first location was the downtown YMCA. There, he met Judo instructor Tsuneji Sakakibara Sensei. The two men met when Takagi Sensei visited Sakakibara Sensei's Judo class. Sakakibara Sensei became interested in Aikido and went to see the class. He joined the class as one of Takagi Sensei‘s first Aikido students, and later became one of Takagi's associate instructors. Within a year, Arizona Aikikai moved to a new location at 817 N. First Street, fondly remembered by those who were there as," The First Street Dojo." Takagi Sensei had a house in back of the dojo, where he lived with his wife and children. He also ran a business, Takagi Imports, out of the front of the dojo. At the First Street Dojo, classes were held six days a week. There were 30 or 40 members in the early 70's. There were day classes and kids' classes in addition to the usual evening classes. Takagi Sensei encouraged teaching by kyu-rank members and was especially fond of having these students lead warm-ups and ki exercises. At its start, Arizona Aikikai reported directly to Aikido Headquarters, Honbu Dojo, in Japan. The head instructor under O'Sensei at Honbu Dojo was Koichi Tohei Sensei, who was largely responsible for bringing Aikido to the United States, beginning in Hawaii. When O‘Sensei died in 1969, his son, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, became Aikido's Doshu, meaning "master of the way." Tohei Sensei continued on as head instructor for a while under Kisshommaru Ueshiba. In 1974, Tohei Sensei left Honbu Dojo to found Ki No Kenkyukai, also known as Ki Society. At that time, out of allegiance to Tohei Sensei, Arizona Aikikai and Takagi Sensei followed and became part of Ki Society, as did many other sensei and dojo. Arizona Aikikai was a Ki Society dojo for several years, under Rod Kobayashi Sensei, then head of the Western Region. By the early 1980’s, Arizona Aikikai had left Ki Society when Takagi Sensei, along with Fumio Toyoda Sensei of Chicago, founded a new organization, Aikido Association of America. Jon Takagi Sensei led Arizona Aikikai successfully through many changes over sixteen years. His life suddenly and unexpectedly came to an end on February 5, 1984. He was riding his bicycle with one of his students, Janice Dee, when they were both hit and killed by a drunk driver. After Takagi Sensei's death, Tsuneji Sakakibara Sensei took the position of chief instructor. During reorganization, we adopted our current name, Arizona Aikido. The dojo was also forced to move, and found a temporary location at 7th Street north of McDowell Road. Widening of 7th Street made another move necessary. It was then that we found our current location at the Asian Arts Center. Another change for the dojo was reestablishing our connection with Honbu Dojo in Japan. We affiliated with the United States Aikido Federation (U.S.A.F) under T.K. Chiba Sensei in 1985. By 1990, we decided that our interests would be better served in maintaining our connection with Honbu Dojo under Mitsugi Saotome Sensei and Aikido Schools of Ueshiba (A.S.U.). Saotome Sensei is a direct student of O' Sensei and was an instructor at Honbu Dojo for many years before establishing A.S.U. A.S.U. reports directly to Honbu Dojo and the current Aikido Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba, O' Sensei's grandson. Sakakibara Sensei served as chief instructor from 1984 until 2010. He holds a 6th degree black belt and currently serves as chief instructor emeritus and as a member of the Board of Directors of Arizona Aikido. Tom Haines Sensei took on the role of chief instructor in 2010 and also serves as President and as a member of the Board of Directors of Arizona Aikido. Haines Sensei holds a 6th degree black belt. There is one additional member of the Board of Directors of Arizona Aikido, Rafa Mithuna Sensei, who lives in Prescott, Arizona and also holds a 6th degree black belt.