Seiichi Sugano 菅野誠一 (17 December 1939 – 29 August 2010) was a Japanese Aikido instructor and one of the important figures in the international development of Aikido during the second half of the twentieth century. A direct student of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba 植芝盛平, Sugano spent more than four decades teaching outside Japan, particularly in Australia, Europe and the United States. He eventually attained the rank of 8th Dan and the title of Shihan 師範 within the Aikikai organization. Sugano was born in Otaru 小樽市, Hokkaido 北海道, Japan, in 1939. Before taking up Aikido, he had studied Judo for approximately six years. At around the age of eighteen, he encountered…