A
History of Aikido by Eric Sotnak (from
AikiWeb.com)
Aikido's founder, Morihei Ueshiba, was born in Japan on December
14, 1883. As a boy, he often saw local thugs beat up his father for
political reasons. He set out to make himself strong so that he could
take revenge. He devoted himself to hard physical conditioning and
eventually to the practice of martial arts, receiving certificates
of mastery in several styles of jujitsu, fencing, and spear fighting.
In spite of his impressive physical and martial capabilities, however,
he felt very dissatisfied. He began delving into religions in hopes
of finding a deeper significance to life, all the while continuing
to pursue his studies of budo, or the martial arts. By combining his
martial training with his religious and political ideologies, he created
the modern martial art of aikido. Ueshiba decided on the name "aikido" in
1942 (before that he called his martial art "aikibudo" and "aikinomichi").
On the technical side, aikido is rooted in several styles of jujitsu
(from which modern judo is also derived), in particular daitoryu-(aiki)jujitsu,
as well as sword and spear fighting arts. Oversimplifying somewhat,
we may say that aikido takes the joint locks and throws from jujitsu
and combines them with the body movements of sword and spear fighting.
However, we must also realize that many aikido techniques are the result
of Master Ueshiba's own innovation.
On the religious side, Ueshiba was a devotee of one of Japan's so-called "new
religions," Omotokyo. Omotokyo was (and is) part neo-Shintoism,
and part socio-political idealism. One goal of Omotokyo has been the
unification of all humanity in a single "heavenly kingdom on earth" where
all religions would be united under the banner of Omotokyo. It is impossible
sufficiently to understand many of O-sensei's writings and sayings
without keeping the influence of Omotokyo firmly in mind.
Despite what many people think or claim, there is no unified philosophy
of aikido. What there is, instead, is a disorganized and only partially
coherent collection of religious, ethical, and metaphysical beliefs
which are only more or less shared by aikidoka, and which are either
transmitted by word of mouth or found in scattered publications about
aikido.
Some examples: "Aikido is not a way to fight with or defeat
enemies; it is a way to reconcile the world and make all human beings
one family." "The essence of aikido is the cultivation of
ki [a vital force, internal power, mental/spiritual energy]." "The
secret of aikido is to become one with the universe." "Aikido
is primarily a way to achieve physical and psychological self-mastery." "The
body is the concrete unification of the physical and spiritual created
by the universe." And so forth.
At the core of almost all philosophical interpretations of aikido, however,
we may identify at least two fundamental threads: (1) A commitment to
peaceful resolution of conflict whenever possible. (2) A commitment to
self-improvement through aikido training.
For more history of Aikido, please visit these links:
Aikido of the Blue Mountains - History Link
Aikido FAQ - History Link
Aikido Association of America (AAA) - History Link
Wikipedia - Aikido
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