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"Whenever I move, that's Aikido" O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba
(1883-1969)
The Art of Peace is an ideal, but it developed in real life on many
fronts. Morihei in his youth served as an infantryman in the Russo-Japanese War, later battled pirates and bandits during
an adventure in Mongolia, and then, after mastering a number of martial arts, served as an instructor at japan's elite military
acadamies. Throughout his life, however, Morihei was sorely troubled by the contention and strife that plagued his world:
his father's battles with corrupt politicans and their hired goons, the devastation of war, and the brutality of his country's
military leaders. Morihei was on a spiritual quest and was transformed by three visions. The first occurred in 1925, when Morihei
was forty-two years old. After defeating a high-ranking swordsman by avoiding all his cuts and thrusts (Morihei was unarmed),
Morihei went into his garden. "Suddenly the earth trembled. Golden vapor welled up from the ground and engulfed me. I felt
transformed into a golden image, and my body seemed as light as a feather. All at once I understood the nature of creation:
the Way of a Warrior is to manifest Divine Love, a spirit that embraces and nurtures all things. Tears of gratitude and joy
streamed down my cheeks. I saw the entire earth as my home, and the sun, moon, and stars as my intimate friends. All attachment
to material things vanished."
The second vision took place in December of 1940. "Around two o'clock
in the morning as I was performing ritual purification, I suddenly forgot every martial art technique I ever learned. All
of the techniques handed down from my teachers appeared completely anew. Now they were vehicles for the cultivation of life,
knowledge, virtue, and good sense, not devices to throw and pin people."
The third vision was in 1942, during the worst of the fighting of
World War II and in one of the darkest periods of human history. Morihei had a vision of the Great Spirit of Peace, a path
that could lead to the elimination of all strife and the reconciliation of humankind. "The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood
as a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek competition are making a grave mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy
is the worst sin a human being can commit. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent slaughter - it is the Art of Peace, the
power of love." Morihei secluded himself in the country and devoted every minute of his life thereafter to refining and spreading
Aikido, the Art of Peace.
Unlike the authors of old-time warrior classics such as The
Art of War and The Book of Five Rings, which accept the inevitability of war and emphasize cunning strategy
as a means to victory, Morihei understood that continued fighting - with others, with ourselves, and with the environment
- will ruin the earth. "The world will continue to change dramatically, but fighting and war can destroy us utterly. What
we need now are techniques of harmony, not those of contention. The Art of Peace is required, not the Art of War." Morihei
taught the Art of Peace as a creative mind-body discipline, as a practical means of handling aggression, and as a way of life
that fosters fearlessness, wisdom, love, and friendship. He interpreted the Art of Peace in the broadest possible sense and
believed that its principles of reconciliation, harmony, cooperation, and empathy could be applied bravely to all the challenges
we face in life - in personal relationships, as we interact with society, at work and in business, when dealing with nature.
Everyone can be a warrior for peace.
Although Aikido originated with Morihei in Japan, it was intended
to be a gift for all humankind. Some have chosen, or will select in the future, Aikido as their own particular Way, practicing
it on the mats and applying it to their daily lives. Many more have been and will be inspired by the universal message of
the Art of Peace and its implications for our world. The divine beauty
Ai=
Rendezvous, unity, consistency, harmony
Ki= Energy, power, principle of life, principle of spirituality
Aiki= To be together with the energy of life, unity
Do= Road
What is Aikido?
This is a frequent question which is asked by those who are about to start, those who have already started Aikido or those
Aikidokas, to themselves and those who are around and reform the answers according to themselves. Those who were able to find
the answer achieve a long distance in this road. "Aiki is not the
technique to fight or to beat with the enemy. It is, to have peace
in the world and to unite the people". O'Sensei Morehei Ueshiba
Many
people believe that Aikido is a sport or art of war. Many of these people have read the history of the achievement of Aikido
and they believe that they understood it. As indicated before it is a matter of interpretation, which brings different ideas. We believe that this is a must in a physical manner but in a philosophical manner there should be a way, which
is the teachings of O’Sensei Morehei Ueshiba. "Your mind should be in harmony with the way universe is functioning. Your body should be in harmony with
the movements of the universe. Mind and body should be in tune in connection with the activity of the universe". O'Sensei Morehei
Ueshiba Yes what we want to
explain in reality is the Bushin, which is to have a “War mentality” Aikido does not mean to brake, to
cut, or to destroy the person. We should be more persuasive. Doing so we should force but not destroy. When there is a resistance
we should not force. This way of thinking is the first principle thought in Aikido. To force can result with more resistance
from other side and suffering from injury. This is a situation, which we definitely do not want in our teachings.
"There is no resistance in Aikido. As there is no resistance it is always the winner". The most important issue that separates Aikido from other Martial Arts is the mysticism that is coming from
the past without any change to today. When deep investigation is done Aikido has mysticism in its roots. When examined carefully
you can see that this mystic approach is valid in our beliefs. The most important issue in Aikido is self-education that is
“getting over one’s self" Those who are able to do this thing is believed to reach "Do".
What is important is not having someone improving himself in body but to improve mentally. This will lead that person to real
happiness that is the basis.
Aikido is the newest and most unknown defense sport. At the same time Aikido can be called as the defense sport which does
not carry violence. This might sound as a
contradiction to those who are involved with martial arts. Because Aikido does not have those yelling’s, painful hits
which is valid in Kung-Fu karate etc.
There
is no fight in Aikido. The basic principal is to avoid the fight between
two sides. The defense sport, which
focuses on disabling the opponent without any harm done, is hard to think about. On the contrary the biggest harm is the mistake
of the opponent who wants to attack an Aikidoka. Aikido is not only a defense
sport. It helps person to keep away from the struggle with others. Aikido
has more than 10.000 techniques and has a process, which makes one learn
the whole lifetime Aikido
is a Japanese art of war developed by Morihei Ueshiba O’Sensei (Big teacher) O’sensei focused on the moral, ethical, unity and peaceful sides of this art. It
is possible to call Aikido as the "Road of Spiritual Conformity".
Steven Seagal Shihan (7.Dan Aikidoka) is the person who made Aikido popular worldwide. "The real Aikido is affection. It
is to give life to all living creatures not to kill or beat them. Affection is the protection of everything.
Without it nothing can exist. Aikido is the realization of affection". O'Sensei Morehei
Ueshiba According to O’Sensei Ueshiba the five principals
of Aikido are:
"Don’t look
at the eyes of your opponent or your mind will escape to his eyes. Don’t look at the sword of your opponent for your
eyes might get stuck with it. Don’t look at him or your spirit may spread. The real Budo is to form the affinity, which
will bring the whole of your opponent to you. The only thing to do is to stand this way throughout". O'Sensei
Morehei Ueshiba "Be content with
evil persons or defeats. These are the major parts of studying the peace art".
"Dojo”
is the name of the place where Aikido is studied. Before starting Aikido a salutation called “Kamiza”
is done towards a holly place. There is a big sword called “Katana”
and candles lit for the honor of those died. At the back the portrait of Morihei Ueshiba is displayed. Tatami is the cushion
where the Aikido performance is done. The only way to sit there is called “Seiza” If
no other command is give one can move from one place to the other on their knees and this is called “Sikko”.
The sides stand next to each other and one of the sides makes
the move. The technique is applied at that time. The attacking position is called “Uke“
and defense is called “Tori“. "When the opponent
is coming from the front, go towards and salute him. If he wants to pull you back send him to his way".
Those who start Aikido wear
loose white pants and white jackets with belt, which has no buttons or
pockets. Those who have black belts and “dan“ wear "hakama",
pants which are very loose and does not show their feet moves. In the dojo, punching, kicking or to talk in a loud voice is not allowed.
"Sensei" (the teacher) is the only predominant
person. No one can add anything, any technique or
moves to those what he teaches. The
student is called “Kyu“ The degrees in Kyu are from 10 to
1 these are: Jukyu,
Kukyu, Hachikyu, Nanakyu, Rokyu, Gokyu, Yonkyu, Sankyu,
Nikkyu, Ikkyu After those
degrees “Shidoin” (sodan) comes which we can call as the
assistant of Sensei (Teacher).At the top of Shidoin is the Sensei. Those Sensei’s which receives 7th dan and over are called "Shihan"
(Master Teacher). Besides these there is another class called “Doshu“ It means
the beginning of the road. This degree is given to one person who is the head of the family. Now the grand
son of the O’Sensei is carrying this degree and his name is Moritei Ueshiba. Doshu is the biggest master and Aikikai
is the highest point, which one can reach. "In the real Budo there is no winning
or loosing. The real Budo does not
know loosing. Never Lost means there was no fight. Winning means is the winning against your mind, which is far away from
unity". There is no tournament in Aikido. Because tournaments has rules that effect
the integrity of the art and brings in feelings like competition and winning ambition.This is against the harmony of the art.
Shortly the wide range,
flexibility and methods of the Aikido Art will bring you new techniques, concepts, competence and
new courses, which you can test yourself. ONEGAISHIMASU ! "Aikido is neither a fighting art not a technique to beat up an enemy. It exists to bring harmony to the world
and to form a family out of human beings". Morehei Ueshiba "Winning means to overcome the maladjusted mind.
To be successful in your dedicated mission". O'Sensei Morehei Ueshiba
"The biggest victory is the one that you achieve against yourself" O'Sensei Morehei Ueshiba
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