The International School of Traditional Aikido (ISTA) is an umbrella organisation for

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

dojos founded in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Shihan is a Japanese term that is used in many Japanese martial arts as an honorific title for expert or senior instructors. It can be translated as "master instructor". The use of the term is specific to a school or organization, as is the process o ...

Alain Peyrache, that allows aikidoka to practice the art of aikido in a traditional way, without the modern changes in martial arts in present days.

Alain Peyrache

Founder of ISTA and EPA (Europe Promotion Aikido). Born in 1950, and started training in aikido by the age of 14 by error - going to a

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d� ...

only to discover that the class taught at that time was actually aikido. After a few years of practicing aikido under various teachers, Peyrache began training under

Nobuyoshi Tamura was a prominent aikidoka and a direct student of Morihei Ueshiba. The son of a kendo teacher, Tamura entered the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in 1953 as an uchi-deshi (live-in student) of aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba. He was one of Ueshiba's favorite ...

after he was sent to

Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art, martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher". The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Wakayama, Tanabe, Ueshiba studied a number of ...

. At the age of 20 Peyrache was already teaching at his own

, and later on he began holding various administrative positions in French aikido organisations, such as the A.C.F.A, U.N.A and the FFLAB. A few years later, in 1982, Tamura's offers Peyrache to become the head of the National Commission of Ranks, but Peyrache begins to realise that it might not be the correct path for him, and he refuses the job. From this point on, Peyrache starts to build up what would become the EPA, and later on, ISTA, as organisations that restore the traditional art of aikido. In order to explain his point of view on aikido training, Peyrache is often quoted saying "Aikido can be understood only if one familiarizes himself with the cultural context in which it developed: the tradition and Eastern philosophy ". Aikido Journalbr>Interview with Alain Peyrache
/ref>

International School of Traditional Aikido

The goal of ISTA is to be as faithful as possible to the spirit of OSensei's development of aikido. It is not a distinctive aikido style rather than an umbrella of different

s with the same goal or common grounds - teaching aikido loyal to the tradition. The main concept in ISTA is "one master, one dojo" - meaning that there is no superior administration above the dojo cho of the dojo. Each teacher teaches his own Aikido, without standards or limitations. The ISTA allows teachers to run their dojos completely autonomously, and search for their style of aikido along with their students. Granting ranks is also up to the teacher's judgement and nothing or nobody else. ISTA allows teachers to organise and give seminars nationally or internationally, with Peyrache travelling through ISTA dojos around the world, holding seminars in each country on a yearly basis.

List of ISTA countries

*ISTA Chile *ISTA France *ISTA Italy *ISTA Belgium *ISTA Switzerland *ISTA Netherlands *ISTA Spain *ISTA Greece *ISTA Canada *ISTA Israel *ISTA Haiti *ISRA Russia *ISTA Egypt *ISTA Portugal

References

{{Aikido styles Aikido organizations