Aikido - The Greenwood Center

Aikido - A Brief History
From Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujitsu to Aikido

Morihei Ueshiba

Aikido was developed in Japan through the early 20th century under Morihei Ueshiba, a man of extraordinary martial art skill and experience. The majority of the original aikido technical repertoire developed from Ueshiba's extensive training in Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu under the legendary Sokaku Takeda. The Takeda clan were sword masters who instructed the samurai of the Aizu clan for many generations. It is true to say that Takeda was one of the real "last samurai." Takeda was a ruthless fighter of impressive skill. He also had an terrible temper. Once he rousted an entire crew of fifty construction workers to attack him so he could test his technique, an incident that ended in the death of several workers. This was apparently not an isolated event in the life of Takeda.

With the age of the samurai drawing to an end, Takeda's own teacher instructed him that he must now focus on the techniques of Aiki-jujutsu. Aiki (eye-key) is the principle of joining or becoming one (ai) with the spirit (ki) of the enemy.

Takeda's teacher presented him with this verse:

All people, know this

When you strike

a flowing river

no trace remains

in the water

After this Takeda traveled around Japan giving demonstrations and taking on all challengers to test his exceptional skills. Around this same time Ueshiba had moved to Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, as a pioneer in the growing lumber and farming industries there.

Sokaku Takeda

Takeda arrived in Hokkaido in February of 1915 and gave a demonstration at a local inn. This is where Ueshiba met Takeda for the first time. Ueshiba was so impressed by Takeda's skill that he stayed at the inn for an entire month and trained with him night and day. He got so consumed with training that he even forgot to notify his family who had already assumed he had died in a blizzard. Morihei continued as a pupil of Sokaku for about 20 years.

Morihei was an extremely driven person who was equally passionate in his pursuit of martial art skill and his quest for spiritual insight. The events of his life brought him into contact with Onisaburo Deguchi, a highly charismatic spiritual leader of early 20th century Japan and co-founder of the Oomoto religion. Onisaburo would prove to be a key influence in the life of Morihei and the development of Aikido.

More about Oomoto >