Imagine lightning splitting the sky as a master wields his jo staff like a storm unleashed—that’s the electrifying image on the poster from the French Aikido and Budo Federation (FFAB). From January 9-11, 2026, at EMS Dojo in Saint-Pierre-du-Mont (Landes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine), Toshiro Suga, 7th Dan Aikikai, unleashes the secrets of authentic aikido. This isn’t just training—it’s a rendezvous with living history.
From Tokyo Streets to Hombu Dojo: A Warrior’s Odyssey
Toshiro Suga was born on August 22, 1950, in Tokyo to a family steeped in martial traditions—his grandfather mastered jujutsu, his father kendo. At 15, the young Suga stormed a Tokyo police dojo, honing judo, but destiny struck on February 16, 1968. A 17-year-old stepped into Aikikai Hombu Dojo during Sadateru Arikawa’s class—and daily faced Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生) Morihei Ueshiba himself. Suga assisted giants: Morihiro Saito’s iron logic, Michio Saotome, Akira Tohei, Yasuo Kobayashi, Koichi Tohei, Kisshomaru Ueshiba. Earning his 1st dan in 1970, he absorbed aikido’s essence straight from the source.
Europe beckoned in 1971: Suga became Nobuyoshi Tamura’s right-hand man in Paris. From 1973, he taught French aikidoka; in 1989, he founded a dojo in Brest (until 2002), then Daikyo Kan in the capital. As Chargé d’Enseignement National FFAB, Suga globe-trotted: Vienna, Edinburgh, Salzburg, Canada (training military), Germany (exams for Free German Aikido). Thousands of seminars—no compromises on tradition.
A Captivating Style: Lightning Meets Steel
Suga masters synthesis: Iwama’s power, Saito’s structure, a whirlwind of weapons (jo, ken, jokaiho). His classes build a “solid” foundation for fluid harmony, reviving each technique as practical self-defense. Forget static kata: Suga demands speed, precision, uke sensitivity, transforming aikido into a weapon of peace. The poster—master with jo amid thunderbolts—captures it perfectly: raw energy, masterfully controlled.
Why This Seminar is Aikido’s Event of the Year
In an age of diluted styles, Suga bridges to Ueshiba as one of O-Sensei’s last direct disciples. The EMS Dojo gathering lets French and European aikidoka taste pure Tamura-Hombu aikido. It ignites breakthroughs for beginners, rekindles masters. The global community holds its breath: such events unite continents.
Don’t miss the storm—it’s incoming!
