Reza Samadi Sensei

Reza Samadi Sensei was born in January 1970 in southern Tehran, Iran. He was interested in sports from very young age and did lots of outdoor and indoor football. After that he became familiar with wrestling and started practicing with Coach Rezayi and Coach Roozbeh in Tehran. Around the same time that Iranian wrestling icons Saeed Inanloo and Toopchi brothers, started wrestling. His other hobby as a kid was painting. Although he never followed that up professionally, he still has a habit of doing gouache and oil paintings from time to time.

In 1990, Samadi Sensei went to India to study Business Management. In order to complete his education, he went to Hokkaido, Japan, in 1993. Later he became familiar with acupuncture and medical massage and received his certificate from Foot One Institute.

It was at those times when Samadi Sensei, still having his old love for martial arts, went to a dojo (martial arts gym) near his home in Isesaki called Shimin Plaza and as he mentioned himself, it was his lucky day because Arai Shihan was also there at that day to check up on the dojo. Arai Shihan used to teach there once a week and all the other days, the classes were taught by Fuji Sensei. In fact, Fuji Sensei who was the student of Fujita Shihan, one of Hombu Dojo’s instructors, were Samadi’s first official instructor. Samadi Sensei started practicing Aikido with exemplary enthusiasm and after 2 years, he moved to Takasaki to continue his practice directly under Toshiyuki Arai Shihan who learned Aikido from O’Sensei himself and is the head of Gunma Prefecture Aikido and is one of the main members of Hombu Dojo.

Samadi Sensei practiced every day and taught Aikido to children on Saturdays and Sundays for free. With practice and perseverance, he managed to become Arai Shihan’s Uchi Deshi (live-in student) and accompanied him, the Doshu, Kobayashi Shihan, and others to 14 of their travels around the world. As well as Aikido, Samadi practiced Tai Chi for 2 years and Kyudo for 3 years and came second in Kanto’s Kyudo competitions. (Kanto region encompasses Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo, Tochigi, Kangawa, Saitama and Gunma.) Later, Aisawa Sensei introduced Masuda Shihan as his Iaido teacher so Samadi Sensei also started learning Iaido from Masuda Shihan and now holds a 4th Dan in Iaido. Shihan Arai has supported Samadi Sensei like a kind father all these years and gave him the title of Seilan (Blue Thunder). He wrote that title in Kanji and from then on, everyone knows him as Seilan.

Samadi Sensei has kept in touch with Iranian aikidokas all these years and has traveled to Iran several times. He also brought along Arai Shihan and Kobayashi Shihan to Iran in 2009, as per the invitation of Aikido Iran group. Samadi Sensei was once asked by Arai Shihan to share his experience with his Iranian compatriots, therefore, he officially opened his own dojo in Iran in 2015 and unlike what other Aikido groups usually do, he chose the name of Arai Shihan for his dojo as a sign of his immense gratitude for his master. Arai Dojo has been one of the most active aikido dojos in Iran ever since and has been supported all along by Samadi Sensei. Every year, this group invites famous Aikido instructors to Iran which helps other Iranian aikidokas to become interested in Japan too which has been very helpful in their Aikido progress.