Southland Aikido

James Graves Sensei is the chief instructor at Southland Aikido in Monterey Park. He holds the rank of 6th Dan and the title of Shihan, awarded by Aikikai World Headquarters in Japan in 2024. He has trained and taught Aikido since the early 1980s, with direct lineage to original students of Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei, the founder of Aikido.

Background & Lineage

Graves Sensei’s Aikido practice began in 1981 at Mount Pleasant Aikido. In the years that followed, he trained with numerous original students of Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei — the practitioners who received the art directly from its founder. Among the most significant of these experiences was a period as a live-in student with the late Morihiro Saito Sensei in Iwama, Japan. Saito Sensei was among the closest and longest-tenured students of O-Sensei, and the Iwama tradition he carried is notable for its rigorous attention to technical principles and weapons practice. Training under Saito Sensei in Iwama — not as a visitor, but as an uchi-deshi — represents one of the deepest available transmissions of traditional Aikido.

Teaching History

Graves Sensei began teaching Aikido in 1985 and assumed the role of chief instructor at Mount Pleasant Aikido before relocating to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, he served as assistant instructor at Aikido Center of Los Angeles. In 1991, he co-founded City Aikido of Los Angeles, where he held the position of senior instructor until 2014 — building one of the more active Aikido communities in the city over more than two decades. In 2015, he re-established Southland Aikido — a dojo he originally founded in the early 1990s — and has served as its chief instructor for Aikido and Iaido since then. In 2024, he was awarded the title of Shihan by Aikikai World Headquarters in Japan, recognizing master-level instruction and lifelong commitment to the transmission of traditional Aikido. —

Teaching Philosophy

In Graves Sensei’s own words:

“I believe that Aikido students need to practice in harmony with each other for the benefit of each student’s development. I teach with a positive, enthusiastic spirit conveying a balance of self-development and self-defense, while fostering a sense of the dojo as a community of martial artists. I focus on basic principles in the development of effective technique while also developing students’ ukemi skills. Weekly weapons classes with kyu test weapons requirements ensure a foundation of weapons principles as they apply to taijutsu. This philosophy shapes every class at Southland Aikido — from how beginners are introduced to ukemi to how senior students approach weapons practice. The emphasis on harmony in training is not incidental to the art; in Aikido, mutual respect and cooperative practice are the method by which technique becomes real.”

Affiliation & Certification

Graves Sensei’s teaching authority flows through a clear institutional line:

• Aikikai World Headquarters — Hombu Dojo, Tokyo, Japan
• United States Aikido Federation — founded under Yoshimitsu Yamada Shihan
• Shihan designation — awarded by Aikikai, 2024
• 6th Dan — rank registered with USAF and Hombu Dojo

Students at Southland Aikido test for rank through the USAF, with results registered at USAF headquarters and, at appropriate levels, with Hombu Dojo in Japan. This is the same registration structure used by Aikikai dojos worldwide.

Train Under Graves Sensei

Classes are open to beginners, returning practitioners, and experienced students from other dojos. There is no enrollment period — new students are welcome year-round.

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