John Stevens (scholar)
John William Stevens was an American Buddhist priest, author, professor of Buddhist studies and Aikido teacher.
Stevens lived in Sendai, Japan, from 1973 to around 2008, where he taught Eastern philosophy and Aikido at Tohoku Fukushi University. His Aikido rank was 7th dan Aikikai.
After leaving Japan, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he resided until his death on July 21, 2025.
Biography
Stevens was born in Chicago but grew up in Evanston, Illinois. He moved to Sendai in 1973 in order to study Buddhism and began practicing Aikido soon afterwards. He trained with many teachers throughout his career, but his main teacher was Shirata Rinjiro, about whom he wrote the book Aikido: The Way of Harmony.He created his own system, which he called Classical Aikido, which is a complete system emphasizing misogi, kotodama, and the unity of aiki-ken, aiki-jo, and taijutsu. He taught it at numerous seminars all over the world.
Translations and collections
The Art of Peace Best Aikido: The Fundamentals The Aikido Master Course: Best Aikido 2 Budo Secrets Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu Lotus Moon: The Poetry of Rengetsu Rengetsu: Life and Poetry of Lotus Moon Mountain Tasting: Zen Haiku by Santoka Taneda The Heart of Aikido: The Philosophy of Takemusu Aiki by Morihei Ueshiba- ''The Essence of Aikido: The Teachings of Morihei Ueshiba''