09/22/2026
Aikido Schools of Ueshiba mourns the passing of Warren Little, October 16, 1929 – September 19, 2026. He died Saturday evening at his home in Missoula, Montana.
Warren was one of the first members of Aikido Shobukan Dojo, and he was instrumental in setting the organization up in those early D.C. days. He lived in a camper parked behind the dojo, and students who came in alone on Sunday mornings remember him watching from over the top of his newspaper, calling out "Train harder! Harder!" before going back to his coffee.
He had found the martial arts long before that, training in judo in Washington DC in 1952 alongside Donn Draeger. He gave decades of service to this country as a Special Agent of the FBI, and later to the State of Montana.
He was devoted to Saotome Sensei and to ASU from the beginning, and he showed it the way he showed everything, by turning up and doing the work. He once took Sensei and Patty on their honeymoon, into the backcountry of his beloved Montana, and he loved to tell how the newlyweds discovered he had packed exactly one tent, and that he fully intended to sleep in the middle of it.
What Warren gave aikido was support, and he gave it for the better part of fifty years. He worked for years to see that Montana had somewhere good to train, and he was behind Aikido of Missoula from its early days and a member of Mountain West Aikido in Livingston and Billings later on. The door of his own second floor studio carried an image of O Sensei etched in glass.
Those who knew him best remember the generosity most. Warren was always the first to pick up a shovel and start digging, and he never waited to be asked. He had a heart of gold, a real sense of humor, and opinions he was glad to share.
He was promoted to yondan in October 2016, four days after his eighty-seventh birthday.
In his last years he could no longer train. He came anyway, and he still put on his gi.
Sensei was deeply impacted by the news of his passing. With tears in his eyes, he exclaimed in Japanese:
"Warren! Warren was such a great help… oh but it's a natural thing that time passes, and isn't time passing?! We must take care of each other while we can! Warren and I shared so many fond memories..!"
Aikido of Missoula will hold a memorial class for Warren on Friday, September 25, 2026, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm.
Rest well, Warren san, we miss you already but know you lay in peace.
