Brief History of Aikido: Part 5 - Recent

Seiichi Sugano

Seiichi Sugano

A silent man, Mr. Sugano is seldom heard of, but his consummate skill and dedication as an instructor has seen a host of skilled Aikido students and teachers emerge throughout the world.

Sugano Sensei founded the first and original Australian Aikido school in Sydney in the 1960's under the auspices of the Founder, Morihei Ueshiba.

Mr. Sugano currently teaches at the New York Aikikai in New York, U.S.A. and visits Australia from time to time in relation to his role as Chief Instructor for Australia in his capacity as a representative of the Aiki-Kai organisation.

SHINING PIONEER

In about 1965 it was rumoured in martial arts circles that O'Sensei had given his blessing to one of his Uchideshi (live in apprentice), namely Seiichi Sugano, to go to Australia and teach the then mysterious art of Aikido. A young lady name Varelle had gone to Japan to learn Aikido. Love blossomed between her and the young Uchideshi of the Master and this led to marriage. They moved to Sydney.

In those days hardly anyone had heard of this esoteric martial art. And what little was known was either fraught with skepticism or spoken of in hushed tones as something almost magical. But there were those who felt an attraction to doing it different from the standard accepted way of self defence which in those days mainly constituted of either bashing better or struggling more strongly. They almost instinctively knew that a better way did in fact exist. A Way which more faithfully represented the essence of true Budo. A Way more than mere sports fighting. A Way without the the added strictures of contest and ego. A Way which fostered the refinement of the spirit as well as the body-mind. And a Way which focus was more toward the upliftment of the individual and society than the collecting of endless inane trophies.

Aikido proved to be such a Way. In its origins, the Ai-Ki arts had consistently proven themselves as the secret trump card of the samurai and made a difference in the feudal history of old Japan. Now, as a result of O'Sensei-Morihei Ueshiba's further transformation and refinement of the Budo secrets as Aikido for the modern world, the art was ready to emerge. Stories of the prowess of Master Ueshiba soon travelled. To have a representative of the Master's art actually here in Australia would be a rare privilege indeed.

Over time Mr. Sugano's group grew from a modest few to a full scale organisation by the time he left Australia in the early 80's. He expanded Aikido in Europe and then moved to the USA where he became instrumental in the further development of New York Aiki-Kai, an extension of the Japanese organisation later developed by the founders son, Mr. Kisshomaru Ueshiba.