History of Aikido
Ueshiba Morihei was born in Tanabe on the 14th of December, 1883. His
father, Yoroku, was a skilled martial artist in his own right. Yoroku was
overjoyed with the birth of Morihei, as he was the only son after having three
daughters. As a boy, Morihei was a sickly child and was encouraged by his father
to build up his frail body.
At age 17, Ueshiba Morihei left home to become a merchant in Tokyo with the
assistance of wealthy relatives and worked in a stationery business. It was in
Tokyo, that he had his first formal martial arts training at a Tenjin Shinyo-ryu
Jujutsu school, however, he was forced to leave Tokyo after less than a year
when he fell ill with beriberi. Morihei returned to Tanabe, where he recovered
fully. It was his experience in Tokyo that made him realise he was not cut out
to be a merchant. During that time, Japan was building up it's military might
prior to the Russo-Japanese war, and being an adventurous type, Morihei joined
the army in 1903. His affinity for martial arts became clear when he proved to
be one of the most adept of the soldiers.
After Morihei was discharged from the army, he returned to Tanabe, but he did
not intend to remain there forever. At the time, the Japanese government was
providing incentives to encourage the settlement of the underdeveloped island of
Hokkaido. So, again being the adventurous type, Morihei organized a party of 54
families to Hokkaido in 1912. The group eventually settled in the remote area of
northern Hokkaido that was to become the village of Shirataki.
It was in Hokkaido, where Ueshiba Morihei met with an eccentric, but highly
skilled jujutsu teacher, Takeda Sokaku in 1915. At the time, 32 year old Morihei
was already quite skilled as a martial artist, but was no match for Sokaku.
Morihei was so fascinated by Sokaku's art called Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu, that he
even invited Sokaku to live with him so he could receive personal instruction.
Morihei became one of Sokaku's top students and sometimes accompanied him on
teaching tours around the island and eventually received a first-level
transmission scroll from Sokaku. However, Morihei's life in Shirataki came to an
end when he received a telegram with the news that his father was gravely ill
back in Tanabe. He hastily set his affairs in order and left his home and
furnishings to Sokaku and rushed back to Tanabe, never to return.
On his way back, Morihei had a chat with a fellow traveler who spoke
enthusiastically about the healing powers of an extraordinary religious leader
named Onisaburo Deguchi. Swayed by a desire to meet Onisaburo to have him pray
for the recovery of his father, Morihei detoured to a small town called Ayabe,
the centre of the Omoto religion. The charismatic Onisaburo left a lasting
impression on Morihei, who ended up spending several days in Ayabe before
resuming his journey.
Morihei's father, Yoroku, had already passed away when Morihei finally reached
home. Morihei was psychologically shattered by the death of his father and for
several months, his behavior was abnormal. Unable to forget his encounter with
Onisaburo, Morihei decided to relocate to Ayabe a few months later to seek inner
peace in an ascetic life within the Omoto religion.
Ueshiba Morihei began life anew in Ayabe within the community of Omoto
believers. He enthusiastically embraced the simple life of the sect members and
soon became part of Onisaburo's inner circle of supporters. Onisaburo was also
very impressed with Morihei's martial arts skills and encouraged him to instruct
interested members of the Omoto religion. This led to the opening of the 'Ueshiba
private school' in his home, where he taught Daito-ryu jujutsu.
In 1922, Morihei received a visit from his teacher Sokaku, who arrived with his
family and stayed for nearly six months. However, Onisaburo disliked the
eccentric and suspicious Sokaku and Morihei was placed in an uncomfortable
position between them. Although Sokaku's character was scarcely compatible with
the community of religious believers, he did teach many members of the sect in
Morihei's home and awarded formal teaching certification to Morihei at the end
of his stay.
Onisaburo had many grandiose schemes in his efforts to expand the influence of
the Omoto religion. One of the most extraordinary plans was to establish a
utopian religious nation in Mongolia. Accompanied by a small group of close
companions including Morihei, Onisaburo set out for the continent in 1924. To
accomplish his goal, Onisaburo cast his lot with a rebel military commander
active in the region. This turned out to be a disastrous decision as he and his
Japanese cohorts were soon captured and arrested by the Chinese authorities. All
the members of Onisaburo's party were sentenced to death including Morihei. They
only survived when the Japanese consulate miraculously intervened at the last
moment.
After returning to Japan, Ueshiba Morihei settled back into life in Ayabe. His
Daito-ryu students included a number of naval officers, the most prominent of
whom was Admiral Seikyo Asano. Asano spoke highly of Morihei to his navy
colleagues and soon arrangements were made for Morihei to conduct demonstrations
and seminars in Tokyo. Eventually, after discussing the situation with Onisaburo
and with an approval from him, Morihei decided to move his family to Tokyo to
pursue teaching full time.
In the early years after establishing himself in Tokyo, Morihei taught in the
private residences of several of his patrons. His students at that time
consisted mainly of persons of high social standing, military officers,
politicians and members of the business elite. Admiral Isamu Takeshita, who was
a devotee of the martial art and at one time served as the president of the Sumo
Association, was a particularly active supporter. He went to great lengths to
introduce Morihei in the appropriate social circles and it was unlikely that the
founder would have succeeded to the extent he did in Tokyo without the Admiral's
backing.
In 1931, through the efforts of Takeshita and others, sufficient funds were
collected to open a permanent training facility, the Kobukan Dojo. It was
situated in Shinjuku, a bustling commercial district in Tokyo. Among several
live-in disciples and students during the Kobukan period were such well-known
practitioners as Yoichiro Inoue, Kenji Tomiki, Minoru Mochizuki, Tsutomu Yukawa,
Shigemi Yonekawa, Rinjiro Shirata and Gozo Shioda.
For a part of this period, Ueshiba Morihei actively taught the techniques of
Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu, as Takeda Sokaku's art was sometimes referred to.
However, Morihei's relationship with the demanding Sokaku had become strained
and he gradually distanced himself from his former teacher. He seems to have had
no further contact with Sokaku after about 1935.
During all this time, Morihei maintained close ties with the Omoto religion and
Onisaburo. In fact, the Omoto's 'Society for the Promotion of Martial Arts', was
specifically created to promote Morihei's martial arts activities, however, in
1935, the Omoto church was brutally suppressed by the Japanese government.
By the late 1930s, Japan's military had become heavily involved in China and
many parts of Southeast Asia. Most of Morihei's finest young instructors and
students had been conscripted into service. By the time the pacific war had
begun, there was little activity at the dojo. In 1942, after falling ill with a
serious intestinal disorder, Morihei retired to the village of Iwama in Ibaragi
Prefecture where he had purchased some land a few years earlier. Away from the
frenzied life in war-torn Tokyo, he engaged in farming, training and meditation.
These years in Iwama was critical to the development of modern aikido as Morihei
had free time to pursue his budo studies with full concentration. Morihei
immersed himself in intensive training and prayer in an effort to further
perfect the martial art. After spending several years in Iwama, the founder
began a serious study of the sword and staff, known as Aikiken and Aikijo. He
regarded an understanding of the use of these weapons as fundemantal to the
proper execution of open handed techniques. Morihei also formulated the concept
of Takemusu Aiki, which is the spontaneous execution of infinite techniques in a
manner completely appropriate to the specific circumstance.
In his last years, as his health began to gradually decline, Ueshiba Morihei
spent much of his time in Tokyo. No longer able to move about freely as he could
when he was younger, Morihei's aikido underwent a transformation that came
naturally as a result of decades of training. Morihei gave his last public
demonstration in January 1969. In the same year, April 26, he also breathed his
last. He was succeeded by his son, Ueshiba Kisshomaru. The Aikikai Foundation,
the postwar continuation of Morihei's Kobukai Foundation, today enjoys a
preeminent position in the world of aikido. More than half of the national and
regional aikido organizations maintain affiliations with the Tokyo-based
headquarters, which operates abroad as the International Aikido Federation.
