Morihei Ueshiba

Morihei Ueshiba 植芝 盛平 Ueshiba Morihei
Morihei Ueshiba in Ayabe in 1921
Born	December 14, 1883 Tanabe, Wakayama, Japan
Died	April 26, 1969 (aged 85) Iwama, Ibaraki, Japan due to cancer of the liver
Native name	植芝 盛平 Ueshiba Morihei
Nationality	Japanese
Style	Aikido
Teacher(s)	Takeda Sōkaku
Children	Matsuko Ueshiba Takemori Ueshiba (died in infancy) Kuneharu (died in infancy) Kisshomaru Ueshiba
Notable students	See below

Morihei Ueshiba (植芝 盛平 Ueshiba Morihei, December 14, 1883 – April 26, 1969) was a martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art of Aikido.^[1] He is often referred to as "the founder" Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生), "Great Teacher".

The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba studied a number of martial arts in his youth, and served in the Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War. After being discharged in 1907, he moved to Hokkaidō as the head of a pioneer settlement; here he met and studied with Takeda Sokaku, the founder of Daitō-ryū aiki-jūjutsu. On leaving Hokkaido in 1919, Ueshiba joined the Ōmoto-kyō movement, a Shinto sect, in Ayabe, where he served as a martial arts instructor and opened his first dojo. He accompanied the head of the Ōmoto-kyō group, Onisaburo Deguchi, on an expedition to Mongolia in 1924, where they were captured by Chinese troops and returned to Japan. The following year, he experienced a great spiritual enlightenment, stating that, "a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one." After this experience, his martial arts skill appeared to be greatly increased.

Ueshiba moved to Tokyo in 1926, where he set up the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. In the aftermath of World War II the dojo was closed, but Ueshiba continued training at another dojo he had set up in Iwama. From the end of the war until the 1960s, he worked to promote aikido throughout Japan and abroad. He died from liver cancer in 1969.

Early years

Morihei Ueshiba was born in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan on December 14, 1883, the fourth child (and only son) born to Yoroku Ueshiba and his wife Yuki.^{[2][3]:5–10}

The young Ueshiba was raised in a somewhat privileged setting. His father was a rich landowner who also traded in lumber and fishing and was politically active. Ueshiba was a rather weak, sickly child and bookish in his inclinations. At a young age his father encouraged him to take up sumo wrestling and swimming and entertained him with stories of his great-grandfather Kichiemon, who was considered a very strong samurai in his era. The need for such strength was further emphasized when the young Ueshiba witnessed his father being attacked by followers of a competing politician.^[4]

At the age of six Ueshiba was sent to study at the Jizōderu Temple, but had little interest in the rote learning of Confucian education. However, his schoolmaster was also a priest of Shingon Buddhism, and taught the young Ueshiba some of the esoteric chants and ritual observances of the sect, which Ueshiba found intriguing. He went to Tanage Higher Elementary School and then to Tanabe Prefectural Middle School, but left formal education in his early teens, enrolling instead at the a private abacus academy, the Yoshida Institute, to study accountancy. On graduating from the academy, he worked at a local tax office for a few months, but the job did not suit him and in 1901 he left for Tokyo, funded by his father. Ueshiba Trading, the stationery business which he opened there was short-lived; unhappy with life in the capital, he returned to Tanabe less than a year later after suffering a bout of beri-beri. Shortly thereafter he married his childhood acquaintance Hatsu Itokawa.^[5][6]

In 1903, Ueshiba was called up for military service. He failed the initial physical examination, being shorter than the regulation 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m). To overcome this, he stretched his spine by attaching heavy weights to his legs and suspending himself from tree branches; when he re-took the physical exam he had increased his height by the necessary half-inch to pass.^[5] He was assigned to the Osaka Fourth Division, 37th Regiment, and was a corporal by the following year; after serving on the front lines during the Russo-Japanese War he was promoted to sergeant. He was discharged in 1907, and again returned to his father's farm in Tanabe.^[6] Here he befriended the writer and philosopher Minakata Kumagusu, becoming involved with Minakata's opposition to the Meiji government's Shrine Consolidation Policy.^[5] He and his wife had their first child, a daughter named Matsuko, in 1911.^[7]

Ueshiba studied several martial arts during his early life, and was renowned for his physical strength during his youth.^[8] His training in Gotō-ha Yagyū-ryu under Masakatsu Nakai was sporadic due to his military service, although he was granted a diploma in the art within a few years.^[5] In 1901 he received some instruction from Tozawa Tokusaburōin in Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū jujutsu and he studied judo with Kiyoichi Takagi in Tanabe in 1911.^[2][6]

Hokkaidō

In 1912, Ueshiba and his wife left Tanabe and moved to Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaidō.^[6] At the time, Hokkaidō was still largely unsettled by the Japanese, being occupied primarily by the indigenous Ainu. Ueshiba was the leader of the Kishū Settlement Group, a collective of eighty-five pioneers who intended to settle in the Shirataki district and live as farmers. Poor soil conditions and bad weather led to crop failures during the first three years of the project, but the group still managed to cultivate mint and farm livestock. The burgeoning timber industry provided a boost to the settlement's economy, but a fire in 1917 razed the entire village, leading to the departure of around twenty families. Ueshiba, elected to the village council that year, led the reconstruction efforts. In the summer of 1918, Hatsu gave birth to their first son, Takemori.^[5][6]

In Hokkaidō, the young Ueshiba met Takeda Sokaku, the founder of Daitō-ryū aiki-jūjutsu at the Hisada Inn in Engaru, in March 1915. Ueshiba was deeply impressed with Takeda's martial art. He requested formal instruction and began studying Takeda's style of jūjutsu in earnest, going so far as to construct a dojo at his home and inviting his new teacher to be a permanent house guest.^{[2][9]:22[10]} He received a kyoju dairi certificate, or teaching license, for the system from Takeda in 1922, when Takeda visited him in Ayabe.^[9]:36 He also received a Yagyū Shinkage-ryū sword transmission scroll from Takeda.^[11] Ueshiba then became a representative of Daitō-ryū, toured with Takeda as a teaching assistant and taught the system to others.^[2]

Onisaburo Deguchi and Ōmoto-kyō

Onisaburo Deguchi

In November 1919, Ueshiba learned that his father Yoroku was ill, and was not expected to survive. Leaving most of his possessions to Sokaku, Ueshiba left Shirataki with the apparent intention returning to Tanabe to visit his ailing parent. En route, however, he made a detour to Ayabe, near Kyoto, intending to visit Onisaburo Deguchi, the spiritual leader of the Ōmoto-kyō religion in Ayabe. Having met Deguchi, Ueshiba stayed at the Ōmoto-kyō headquarters for several days. On his return to Tanabe, he found that his father had died. Within a few months, he was back in Ayabe, having decided to become a full-time student of Ōmoto-kyō. In 1920 Deguchi asked Ueshiba to become the group's martial arts instructor, and a dojo—the first of several that Ueshiba was to lead—was constructed on the centre's grounds. Ueshiba also taught Takeda's Daitō-ryū in neighbouring Hyōgo Prefecture during this period.^[12] His second son, Kuniharu, was born in 1920 in Ayabe, but died from illness the same year, along with three-year-old Takemori.^[9]:32–34

Ueshiba in his Ayabe dojo, circa 1922

In 1921, in an event known as the First Ōmoto-kyō Incident (Ōmoto jiken), the Japanese authorities raided the compound, destroying the main buildings on the site and arresting Deguchi on charges of lèse-majesté.^[13] Ueshiba's dojo was undamaged, however, and over the following two years he worked closely with Deguchi to reconstruct the group's centre, becoming heavily involved in farming work. His son Kisshomaru Ueshiba was born in the summer of 1921.^{[6][9]:32–34}

Three years later, in 1924, Onisaburo Deguchi led a small group of Ōmoto-kyō disciples, including Ueshiba, on a journey to Mongolia at the invitation of retired naval captain Yutaro Yano and his associates within the ultra-nationalist Black Dragon Society. Deguchi's intent was to establish a new religious kingdom in Mongolia, and to this end he had distributed propaganda suggesting that he was the reincarnation of Genghis Khan.^[14] Allied with the Mongolian bandit Lu Zhankui, Deguchi's group were arrested in Tongliao by the Chinese authorities—fortunately for Ueshiba, whilst Lu and his men were executed by firing squad, the Japanese group were released into the custody of the Japanese consul. They were returned under guard to Japan, where Deguchi was imprisoned for breaking the terms of his bail.^[9]:37–45

After returning to Ayabe, Ueshiba began a regimen of spiritual training, regularly retreating by himself to the mountains or performing misogi in the Nachi Falls. As his prowess as a martial artist increased, his fame began to spread. He was challenged by many established martial artists, some of whom subsequently became his students after being defeated by him. In the autumn of 1925 he was asked to give a demonstration of his art in Tokyo, at the behest of Admiral Isamu Takeshita; one of the spectators was Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, who requested that Ueshiba stay in the capital to instruct the Imperial Guard in his martial art. After a couple of weeks, however, Ueshiba took issue with several government officials who voiced concerns about his connections to Deguchi; he cancelled the training and returned to Ayabe.^[9]:45–49

Ōmoto-kyō priests still oversee the Aiki-jinja Taisai ceremony in Ueshiba's honor every April 29 at the Aiki Shrine in Iwama.^[15]

Tokyo

Ueshiba in Tokyo in 1939

In 1926 Takeshita invited Ueshiba to visit Tokyo again. Ueshiba relented and returned to the capital, but while residing there was stricken with a serious illness. Deguchi visited his ailing student and, concerned for his health, commanded Ueshiba to return to Ayabe. The appeal of returning increased after Ueshiba was questioned by the police following his meeting with Deguchi; the authorities were keeping the Ōmoto-kyō leader under close surveillance. Angered at the treatment he had received, Ueshiba went back to Ayabe again. Six months later, however, and this time with Deguchi's blessing, he and his family moved permanently to Tokyo. Arriving in October 1927, they set up home in the Shirokane district. The building, however, was too small to house the growing number of aikido students, and so the Ueshibas moved to larger premises, first in Mita district, then in Takanawa, and finally to a purpose-built hall in Shinjuku. This last location, originally named the Kobukan 皇武館, would eventually become the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. During its construction, Ueshiba rented a property nearby, where he was visited by Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo.^[9]:50–53

In 1932, Ueshiba's daughter Matsuko was married to the swordsman Kiyoshi Nakakura, who was adopted as Ueshiba's heir under the name Morihiro Ueshiba. The marriage ended after a few years, and Nakakura left the family in 1937.^[16][17]

Between 1940 and 1942 he made several visits to Manchukuo (Japanese occupied Manchuria) where he was the principal martial arts instructor at Kenkoku University.^[9]:63

Iwama

From 1935 onwards, Ueshiba had been purchasing land in Iwama in Ibaraki Prefecture. In 1942, having acquired around 17 acres (6.9 ha; 0.027 sq mi) of farmland there, he left Tokyo and moved to Iwama permanently, settling in a small farmer's cottage. Here he founded the Aiki Shuren Dojo, also known as the Iwama dojo.^[6] During all this time he traveled extensively in Japan, particularly in the Kansai region teaching his aikido. Despite the prohibition on the teaching of martial arts after World War II, Ueshiba and his students continued to practice in secret at the Iwama dojo; the Hombu dojo in Tokyo was in any case being used as a refugee centre for citizens displaced by the severe firebombing.

The prohibition (on aikido, at least) was lifted in 1948 with the creation of the Aiki Foundation, established by the Japanese Ministry of Education with permission from the Occupation forces. The Hombu dojo re-opened the following year. After the war, however, Ueshiba delegated most of the work of running the Hombu dojo and the Aiki Federation to his son Kisshomaru, choosing to spend much of his time in prayer, meditation, calligraphy and farming.^[9]:66–69 He still travelled extensively to promote aikido, however, even visiting Hawaii in 1961.^[5]:xix He also appeared in a television documentary on aikido: NTV's The Master of Aikido, broadcast in January 1960.^[6]

In his later years, he was regarded as very kind and gentle as a rule, but there are also stories of terrifying scoldings delivered to his students. For instance, he once thoroughly chastised students for practicing jō (staff) strikes on trees without first covering them in protective padding.^[18]

Death

In 1969, Ueshiba became ill. He led his last training session on March 10, and was subsequently taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. He died suddenly on April 26, 1969.^[9]:72[19] Two months later, his wife Hatsu also died.(植芝 はつ; Ueshiba Hatsu, née Itokawa Hatsu; 1881–1969)^[7]

Development of aikido

Aikido—usually translated as the Way of Unifying Spirit or the Way of Spiritual Harmony—is a fighting system that focuses on throws, pins and joint locks together with some striking techniques. It is unusual among the martial arts for its heavy emphasis on protecting the opponent and on spiritual and social development.^[20]

Ueshiba developed aikido after experiencing three instances of spiritual awakening. The first happened in 1925, after Ueshiba had defeated a naval officer's bokken (wooden katana) attacks unarmed and without hurting the officer. Ueshiba then walked to his garden and had a spiritual awakening.

I felt the universe suddenly quake, and that a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one. At the same time my body became light. I was able to understand the whispering of the birds, and was clearly aware of the mind of God, the creator of the universe.

At that moment I was enlightened: the source of budō [the martial way] is God's love – the spirit of loving protection for all beings ...

Budō is not the felling of an opponent by force; nor is it a tool to lead the world to destruction with arms. True Budō is to accept the spirit of the universe, keep the peace of the world, correctly produce, protect and cultivate all beings in nature.^[21]

His second experience occurred in 1940 when engaged in the ritual purification process of misogi.

Around 2am as I was performing misogi, I suddenly forgot all the martial techniques I had ever learned. The techniques of my teachers appeared completely new. Now they were vehicles for the cultivation of life, knowledge, and virtue, not devices to throw people with.^[22]

His third experience was in 1942 during the worst fighting of World War II, Ueshiba had a vision of the "Great Spirit of Peace".^[3]:5–10

The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter – it is the Art of Peace, the power of love.^[23]

Retouched photograph of Takeda Sokaku c.1888

The technical curriculum of aikido was undoubtedly most greatly influenced by the teachings of Takeda Sokaku.^[2] The basic techniques of aikido seem to have their basis in teachings from various points in the Daitō-ryū curriculum.^[24] In the earlier years of his teaching, from the 1920s to the mid-1930s, Ueshiba taught the Daitō-ryū aiki-jūjutsu system; his early students' documents bear the term aiki-jūjutsu.^[25] Indeed, Ueshiba trained one of the future highest grade earners in Daitō-ryū, Takuma Hisa, in the art before Takeda took charge of Hisa's training.^[26]

The early form of training under Ueshiba was noticeably different from later forms of aikido. It had a larger curriculum, increased use of strikes to vital points (atemi) and a greater use of weapons. The schools of aikido developed by Ueshiba's students from the pre-war period tend to reflect the harder style of the early training. These students included Kenji Tomiki (who founded the Shodokan Aikido sometimes called Tomiki-ryū), Noriaki Inoue (who founded Shin'ei Taidō), Minoru Mochizuki (who founded Yoseikan Budo), Gozo Shioda (who founded Yoshinkan Aikido). Many of these styles are therefore considered "pre-war styles", although some of these teachers continued to train with Ueshiba in the years after World War II.^[17]

Later, as Ueshiba seemed to slowly grow away from Takeda, he began to change his art. These changes are reflected in the differing names with which he referred to his system, first as aiki-jūjutsu,^[25] then Ueshiba-ryū,^[27] Asahi-ryū,^[28] and aiki budō.^[29] In 1942, the martial art that Ueshiba developed finally came to be known as aikido.^[30][31]

As Ueshiba grew older, more skilled, and more spiritual in his outlook, his art also changed and became softer and more circular. Striking techniques became less important and the formal curriculum became simpler. In his own expression of the art there was a greater emphasis on what is referred to as kokyū-nage, or "breath throws" which are soft and blending, utilizing the opponent's movement in order to throw them. Ueshiba regularly practiced cold water misogi, as well as other spiritual and religious rites, and viewed his studies of aikido as part of this spiritual training.^[32]

Students

Over the years, Ueshiba trained a large number of students, many of whom have grown into great teachers in their own right. Some of them were uchideshi, or live-in students. There are roughly four generations of students. A partial list follows:^[33][34]

First (pre-war) generation (c.1921–c.1935)	Second (war) generation (c.1936–c.1945)	Third (post-war) generation (c.1946–c.1955)	Fourth (and last) generation (c.1956–c.1969)
Takuma Hisa (1895–1980) since 1934[35] Yasuhiro Konishi (1893–1983)[36] Noriaki Inoue (1902–1994) since c.1921, nephew of Morihei Ueshiba[37] Minoru Mochizuki (1907–2003) since 1930, 10th dan (received from the International Martial Arts Federation)[38] Gozo Shioda (1915–1994) since 1932, founder of the Yoshinkan Aikido[39] Yoshio Sugino (1904–1998) since 1934, 10th dan IMAF, 10th dan Katori Shinto-ryu[40] Isamu Takeshita (1869–1949) since c.1925[41] Kenji Tomiki (1900–1979) since 1926, was the first 8th dan awarded in aikido in 1942.[42] Tsutomu Yukawa (1911–1942) since 1931[43]	Tadashi Abe (1926–1984) since 1942, 6th dan[34] Minoru Hirai (1903–1998) since 1939, founder of the Korindo style. Kisaburo Osawa (1911–1991) since 1941, 9th dan[34] Kanshū Sunadomari (1923–2010) since 1942, 9th dan Bansen Tanaka (1912–1988) since 1936, 9th dan Koichi Tohei (1920–2011) since 1939, only 10th dan awarded by Ueshiba and approved by Aikikai Michio Hikitsuchi (1923–2004) since 1937, 10th dan (verbally awarded by Ueshiba), opened Shingu's Kumano Juku in 1951 (when he was 7th dan)	Seiseki Abe (1915–2011) since 1952, 10th dan Sadateru Arikawa (1930–2003) since 1947, 9th dan Katsuaki Asai (born 1942) since 1955, 8th dan Hiroshi Kato (1935–2012) since 1954, 8th dan Yasuo Kobayashi (born 1936) since 1954, 8th dan Mutsuro Nakazono (1918–1994) 7th dan Shoji Nishio (1927–2005) since 1951, 8th dan André Nocquet (1914–1999) since 1955, 8th dan, the first European uchideshi Masamichi Noro (1935–2013) since 1955, 6th dan, founder of Kinomichi Morihiro Saito (1928–2002) since 1946, 9th dan Hiroshi Isoyama (born 1937) since 1949, 8th dan Mitsugi Saotome (born 1937) since 1955, 8th dan Hiroshi Tada (born 1929) since 1950, 9th dan Nobuyoshi Tamura (1933–2010) since 1953, 8th dan Yoshimitsu Yamada (born 1938) since 1955, 8th dan Seigo Yamaguchi (1924–1996) since 1951, 9th dan	Kazuo Chiba (1940-2015) since 1958, 8th dan Terry Dobson (1938–1992) since 1960, 5th dan Seishiro Endo (born 1942) since 1964, 8th dan Robert Frager (born 1940) since 1964, 7th dan Gaku Homma (born 1950) Mitsunari Kanai (1939–2004) since 1959, 8th dan Yutaka Kurita (born 1940) since 1959, 7th dan founder Kurita Yuku Aiki Koretoshi Maruyama (born 1936) since 1956, 8th dan, founder Aikido Yuishinkai Shuji Maruyama (born 1940) since 1959, 6th dan, founder of Kokikai Robert Nadeau (born 1937) since 1962, 7th dan Kenji Shimizu (born 1940) since 1963, 8th dan, founder of Tendo-ryu Aikido Shizuo Imaizumi (born 1938) since 1959 7th dan founder of shin budo kai Roy Suenaka (born 1940) since 1961, 8th dan, founder Wadokai Aikido. Seiichi Sugano (1939–2010) since 1959, 8th dan Morito Suganuma (born 1942) since 1964, 8th dan Akira Tohei (1929–1999) since 1956, 8th dan Hirokazu Kobayashi (1929–1998) Kobayashi aikido Alan Ruddock (1944–2012) since 1966

Honors

• Medal of Honor (Japan), 1960.^[44]
• Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, 1964.^[44][45]
• Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japan), 1968.^[46]

Works

• Morihei Ueshiba, The Secret Teachings of Aikido (2008), Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-3030-6
• Morihei Ueshiba, Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido (1996), Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-2070-3
• Morihei Ueshiba, The Essence of Aikido: Spiritual Teachings of Morihei Ueshiba (1998), Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-2357-5

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4. Stevens, John (1984). Aikido; the Way of Harmony. Boston: Shambhala Publications.
5. Stevens, John; Krenner, Walther (2004). Training with the Master: Lessons with Morihei Ueshiba, Founder of Aikido. Boston & London: Shambhala. pp. ix–xxii. ISBN 978-1-57062-568-8.
6. Ueshiba, Kisshomaru; Ueshiba, Morihei (1996), "Introduction", Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido, Tokyo, New York, London: Kodansha International, pp. 8–23, ISBN 4-7700-2070-8
7. Phong Thong Dang; Lynn Seiser (2006). Advanced Aikido. Tuttle Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8048-3785-9.
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