Our style of Aikido is sometimes called "Iwama Aikido" as Saito Sensei taught this form of Aikido at the Iwama Dojo in Japan. If you are not already an Aikido practitioner, the difference with other styles will probably not matter much to you.
All Iwama Aikido dojos strive to keep to the original teachings as passed down from O'Sensei to Saito Sensei, less so the modern 'flowing' and stylistically beautiful Aikido more commonly seen today in demonstrations, but more as the 'Budo' (martial way) Aikido as the founder intended.
That's not to say that Iwama style Aikido can not 'flow', in fact quite the opposite, as the Takemusu element of this Aikido is the personification of blending, flowing and controlling your attacker.
We teach to both juniors and seniors and are part of "Takemusu Iwama Aikido Europe", with Sensei Tony Sargeant 7th Dan as head of the organisation. We train both with and without weapons, such as Ken (sword), Jo (stick), Bo (long stick) and Tanto (knife).
The International Aikido Federation categorises 'Iwama-Ryu' Aikido as follows:
While still a part of the Aikikai, the style taught by Morihiro Saito, based in the Iwama dojo, is generally considered sufficiently stylistically different from mainstream Aikikai that it is named individually. Saito-sensei was a long-time uchi-deshi of O-sensei, beginning in 1946 and staying with him through his death. Many consider that Saito-sensei was the student who spent most time directly studying with O-sensei. Saito-sensei says he is trying to preserve and teach the art exactly as it was taught to him by the Founder. Technically, Iwama-Ryu seems to resemble the Aikido O-sensei was teaching in the early 50s mainly in the Iwama dojo. The technical repertoire is larger than in most other styles and a great deal of emphasis is placed on weapons training.
This is achieved by studying the basics before moving on to the more advanced forms and training in Aiki Ken and Jo. Our Aikido school has not attempted to modify or change Saito Sensei's teaching.