The Founder Of Aikido
Morihei Ueshiba
1883 - 1969
The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, was born on December 14, 1883, to
a farming family in an area of the Wakayama Prefecture now known as
Tanabe. Among five children, he was the only son. From his father Yoroku,
he inherited a samurai's determination and interest in public affairs, and
from his mother an intense interest in religion, poetry and art. In his
early childhood, Morihei was rather weak and sickly, which led to his
preference of staying indoors to read books instead of playing outside. He
loved to listen to the miraculous legends of the wonder-working saints "En no Gyoja" and "Kobo Daishi," and was fascinated by
the esoteric Buddhist riturals. Morihei had even considered becoming a
Buddhist priest at one time.
To counteract his son's daydreaming, Yoroki would recount the tales of
Morihei's great-grandfather "Kichiemon," said to be one of the
strongest samurai of his day, and encouraged him to study Sumo wrestling
and swimming. Morihei became stronger and finally realized the necessity
of being strong after his father was attacked and beaten by a gang of
thugs hired by a rival politician.
School seemed to bore Morihei as his nervous energy needed a more
practical outlet. He took on several jobs, but they too seemed to
disillusion him. During a brief stint as a merchant, he finally realized
he had an affinity for the martial arts. He greatly enjoyed his study of
Jujutsu at the Kito-ryu dojo and Swordsmanship at the Shinkage Ryu
training center. But as luck would have it, a severe case of Beri-Beri
sent him home, where he later married Itogawa Hatsu.
After regaining his health during the Russo-Japanese War period, he
decided to enlist in the army. Standing at just under five feet tall, he
failed to meet the minimum height requirements. He was so upset that he
went immediately to the forests and swung on trees trying desperately to
stretch his body out. On his next attempt to enlist, he passed his
examination and became an infantryman in 1903. During this time he
impressed his superiors so much that this commanding officer recommended
him for the National Military Academy, but for various reasons he declined
the position and resigned from active duty.
Morihei returned home to the farm. Having grown strong during his time in
the military, he was now eager to continue physical training. His father
built a dojo on his farm and invited the well-known Jujutsu instructor
Takaki Kiyoichi to tutor him. During this time, young Ueshiba became
stronger and found he possessed great skills. At the same time he became
more interested in political affairs. In the Spring of 1912, at the age of
29, he and his family moved into the wilderness of Hokkaido. After a few
years of struggle, the small village started to prosper. Ueshiba had grown
tremendously muscular, to the point that the power he possessed in his
arms became almost legendary.
It was during this time in Hokkaido that he met Sokaku
Takeda, grandmaster of Daito-ryu Aiki Jutsu. After meeting Takeda and find himself no match for his teacher, Ueshiba seemed to forget everything
else and threw himself into training. After about a month, he went back
to Shirataki, build a dojo and invited Takeda to live there, which he did.
Upon hearing of his father's serious illness, Ueshiba sold off most
of his property and left the dojo to Takeda.
He would not to return to Hokkaido. On his journey home, he impulsively
stopped in Ayabe, headquarters for the new Omoto-kyo religion. Here he
met the master of the new religion, Deguchi Onisaburo. After being enthralled
with Ayabe and Deguchi, he stayed three additional days and upon returning
home, found that he had stayed away too long. His father had passed away.
Ueshiba took his father's death very hard. He decided to sell off all
his ancestral land and move to Ayabe to study Omoto-kyo. For the next
eight years, Ueshiba studied with Deguchi Onisaburo, taught Budo, and
headed up the local fire brigade.
A pacifist, Deguchi was an advocate of non-violent resistance and
universal disarmament. He was noted to have said, "Armament and war
are the means by which the landlords and capitalists make their profit,
while the poor suffer." It is intriguing that a man of this nature
could become so close to a martial artist such as Ueshiba. However, it did
not take long for Deguchi to realize that Ueshiba's purpose on earth was
" to teach the real meaning of Budo: an end to all fighting and
contention. "
The study of Omoto-kyo and his association with Onisaburo profoundly
affected Ueshiba's life. He once stated that while Sokaku
Takeda opened his eyes to the essence of Budo, his enlightenment came
from his Omoto-kyo experiences. During his early 40s (around 1925), Ueshiba
had several spiritual experiences which so impressed him that his life
and his training were forever changed. He realized the true purpose of
Budo was love that cherishes and nourishes all beings.
For the next year, many people sought Ueshiba's teaching, among them
Tomiki Kenji (who went on to make his own style of Aikido) and the famous
Admiral Takeshita. In 1927, Deguchi Onisaburo encouraged Ueshiba to
separate from Omoto-kyo and being his own way. This he did and moved to
Tokyo. Ueshiba's following had grown to the point that he was moved to
build a formal dojo in the Ushigome district of the city (the present site
of the Aikido World Headquarters). While the dojo was being constructed,
many high-ranking instructors of other arts, such and Kano Jigoro, came to
visit. They were so impressed that they would dispatch their own students
to study under Ueshiba.
In 1931, the "Kobukan"
was finished. A "Budo Enhancement Society" was founded in 1932
with Ueshiba as Chief Instructor. It was about this time that students
such as Shioda Gozo, Shirata Rinjiro and others joined the dojo. Up to
the outbreak of World War II, Ueshiba was extremely busy teaching at the
Kobukan, as well as holding special classes for the major military and
police academies. For the next 10 years, Ueshiba became more and more
famous and many stories began to appear in writing. His only son, Kisshomaru,
being the "bookworm" that he was, did much of the writing and
documenting of the evens of his life.
In 1942, supposedly because of a divine command, he longed to return to
the farmlands. He had often said that "Budo and farming are one.
" The war had emptied the Kobukan, and he was tired of city life.
Leaving the Kobukan in the hands of his son Kisshomaru, he moved to the
Ibaraki Prefecture and the village of Iwama. Here he build an outdoor dojo
and the now famous Aiki Shrine.
Iwama is considered by many to be the birth place of modern-day Aikido,
"the Way of Harmony." Prior to this move, his system had been
called Aikijutsu, then Aiki-Budo, still primarily a martial art rather
than a spiritual path. From 1942 (when the name Aikido was first formally
used) to 1952, Ueshiba consolidated the techniques and perfected the
religious philosophy of Aikido.
After the war, Aikido grew rapidly at the Kobukan (now called Hombu
Dojo) under the direction of Kisshomaru Ueshiba. Morihei Ueshiba had become
famous as "O Sensei" or
"The Grand Teacher," the Master of Aikido. He had also received
many decorations from the Japanese government. Right up to the end of
his life, O Sensei refined and improved
his "Way", never losing his dedication for hard training.
In early Spring 1969, O Sensei fell
ill and told his son Kisshomaru that "God is calling me...."
He was returned to his home at his request to be near his dojo. On April
15th, his condition became critical. As his students made their last calls,
he gave his final instructions. "Aikido is for the entired world.
Train not for selfish reasons, but for all people everywhere."
Early on the morning of April 26th, 1969, the 86-year-old O
Sensei took his son's hand, smiled and said, "Take care of things"
and died. Two months later, Hatsu, his wife of 67 years, followed him. O Sensei's ashes were buried in the
family temple in Tanabe. Every year a memorial service is held on April
29th at the Aiki Shrine in Iwama.
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