Aikido

Our Aikido group is in the process of finding a new location.  We will post our new location shortly.  ~ June 2012

History of Aikido
by Hiroshi Takeuchi

Since the end of the war, and particularly during the last decade, the ancient Japanese martial art of Aikido has enjoyed a rapidly expanding popularity, not only in the country of its origin but also abroad, especially in America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Originally, the martial arts were simply methods of defense and attack used in serious combat that consisted of primitive hand-to-hand and stick fighting techniques. At times a small and comparatively weak man would overcome a bigger opponent; and when the reason for his victory was appreciated a new method would be formulated. Thus, over the years, teachers and practitioners of the arts-sometimes at considerable risk to themselves-have refined and developed these techniques which today stand up to scientific scrutiny. However, as the martial arts became influenced by Buddhist concepts they were transformed from mere collections of techniques to philosophical ''ways". Their dimensions grew until they went beyond the simple objective of killing the enemy to embrace many elements concerned with day to day living. In other words they changed from ways of killing to ways of life. Particularly after the demise of the samurai class, the martial "arts'' became martial "ways,'' and great value was placed upon them as a means of generating the moral strength necessary to build a sound society.

Nevertheless, in the last analysis the martial arts are the arts of the fighting men-of the samurai-and if the basic objective of defeating the enemy is lost sight of, then as martial arts they must cease to exist. Accordingly, they must not become mere intellectual exercises, the fundamental Budo "conduct'' must not be treated lightly and the "way of technique'' must not be neglected as a form of spiritual and physical training.

There are still insufficient data available concerning the history of Aikido, and while no doubt more will be discovered the following is an outline of what has been learned so far.

Present day Aikido has its origin in Daito Aikijutsu which is said to have been founded by Prince Teijun, the sixth son of the Emperor Seiwa (850-880 A. D.). Through the prince's son, Tsunemoto, it was passed on to succeeding generations of the Minamoto family. By the time the art had reached Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu, the younger brother of Yoshiie Minamoto, it would appear that the foundations of the present Aikido had already been laid. Yoshimitsu was apparently a man of exceptional skill and learning and it is said that he devised much of his technique after watching a spider skillfully trap a large insect in its fine web. It is recorded that Yoshimitsu studied anatomy by dissecting the bodies of war dead and criminals; and his house, "Daito Mansion" has given its name to his system of Aikijutsu.

Yoshimitsu's second son, Yoshikiyo, lived in Takeda, in the province of Kai, and he eventually became known by this name. Subsequently the techniques were passed on to successive generations as the secret art of the Takeda house and made known only to members and retainers of the family. In 1574, Takeda Kunitsugu moved to Aizu and the techniques passed on to his descendants came to be known as the Aizu-todome techniques.

Thereafter the art remained an exclusively samurai practice and was handed down within the family until Japan emerged from isolation into the Meiji period in 1868. At that time Sokaku Takeda Sensei, then head of the family, began to teach the art outside the Takeda household, traveling widely throughout Japan and finally settling in Hokkaido. His son, Tokimune Takeda Sensei, opened the Daitokan Dojo in Abashiri, Hokkaido, and continues to further the development of Aikido as the head of the Daito school .

The most outstanding of Sokaku Takeda's pupils was Morihei Ueshiba. Ueshiba Sensei, a man of rare ability, brought to the Daito school the essentials of other ancient schools of the martial arts and added techniques of his own devising to found modern Aikido. For many years Ueshiba Sensei has taught and guided from his Dojo in Wakamatsu-cho in Tokyo. He is now over eighty years old and is still very active. Ueshiba's Dojo, Aikido Honbu, is now supervised by his son Kisshomaru Ueshiba, who has devoted himself to the dissemination of Aikido throughout Japan and overseas with great success.

A distinguished pupil of Ueshiba Sensei, Kenji Tomiki of Waseda University, is very active in the field of physical education and had concentrated on developing Aikido as a sport. One of Ueshiba's most outstanding pupils was Gozo Shioda (9th Dan), the founder of the Aikido Yoshinkan, who has contributed much to bring about the popularity that Aikido has enjoyed since the war. Shioda entered Ueshiba Sensei's Dojo at the age of eighteen and lived there for eight years and even as a student he displayed the clear cut, graceful technique and extraordinary vigor we see today. Like Sokaku Takeda and Morihei Ueshiba, Shioda Sensei is small, weighing only 108 pounds, and the fact that in spite of this he has become so formidable is, I feel, the rationale of Aikido.

The tremendous interest shown in Aikido since the war probably dates back to 1954 when, under the auspices of the Life Extension Society, an exhibition of Japanese martial arts was organized in Tokyo. Shioda Sensei took part and his demonstration attracted a great deal of attention and favorable comment. From then on, Aikido gained popularity so rapidly that within a year a group of financiers established the Aikido Yoshinkan (President Shoshiro Kudo) and placed Shioda Sensei in charge.