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My Quest for TenShin Aikido
By Frank K. Ani, Jr.

Since my return to Aikido in 1996 I have been searching for someone to teach me what I believed was Steven Seagal's TenShin Aikido. I certainly was not alone in that quest by any means. Many of my fellow Aikidokas at the time were also searching. We bought every Steven Seagal movie and relentlessly tried to learn any of his moves as best we could. This went on for several years.

Unaware of what TenShin Aikido really was we thought we had finally reached our goal to obtain a "PURE TenShin Aikido" instructor in early 2002. We paid a heavy price both financially and training time. There are some dojos/organizations that are claiming to teach Steven Seagal's "PURE TenShin Aikido" and to the uninformed, like we were, it seems like the attainment of a dream. Believe me it's not. The fact is to my surprise there is no such thing as "PURE TENSHIN AIKIDO or TENSHIN AIKIDO" period. They are teaching there own form of Aikido and calling it TenShin Aikido.

Those who have truly studied under Steven Seagal Shihan will simply say they have studied Take Sensei/Shihan's Aikido, nothing more. If any thing it can be called Steven Seagal's TenShin methodology because "TenShin" was the name of Take Sensei/Shihan's Dojo. Those who have attend a few seminars with Take Sensei are the ones calling it "TenShin Aikido or Pure TenShin Aikido." They are ringing their own cash register(s) and the uniformed Aikidoka is paying the price. Leon Clough Sensei wrote a very fine article defining Take Sensei/Shihan's Aikido (TenShin). If you would like to read this article, click here.

If you would like to learn Take Shihan's Aikido or if you have any questions concerning Take Shihan's Aikido please contact me directly especially if you are considering joining any organization or federation claiming to teach "PURE TENSHIN AIKIDO."

You will be glad you did!