Mitsugi Saotome

Mitsugi Saotome (五月女貢, Saotome Mitsugi) (born March 7, 1937) is a Japanese aikido instructor currently living in the United States. Mitsugi Saotome is a master in the martial art of aikido and was a direct disciple of the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. At the age of 16, Saotome began his martial arts training in judo. At the age of 18, he entered the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo in order to train under Ueshiba. He became an uchi-deshi in 1958 and trained there for a total of 15 years until his teacher's death in 1969. Saotome began teaching at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in 1960. He was very well respected as an instructor, receiving many honors. He obtained the title of shihan and ultimately was appointed a senior instructor. As a senior instructor in Aikido he was the Chief Weapons Instructor at Hombu. He held that position until 197