Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei, the founder of aikido, was born in 1883.
He was a frail, weak-bodied person and had been insulted many times during his
youth, which certainly helped him to the decision of starting to practise martial
arts. He learnt jujitsu, swordsmanship in the famous Yagyu and Ito Schools,
and spear fighting in the Hozoin School.
Religion also played an important role in his life: despite having a family
he spent long years by the side of Onisaburo Deguchi, a shintoist religious
group leader of extraordinary spiritual knowledge, with the air of scandal and
mystery accompanying his whole life.
The way Morihei Ueshiba sought his path in the realm of mental and martial arts
was also significantly affected by Sokaku Takeda, master of daito-ryu swordsmanship
with outstanding spiritual skills, who led him into the secrets of the style.
Later on, as a consequence of the afflictions and losses he had undergone, Ueshiba
O-Sensei passed into solitude and started to work out his own martial system,
the aikido style, first called aiki-budo.
His techniques, like any ingenious novelty in the human history, were received
with disbelief. However, after that many famous martial artists of his time
had challenged him to duel and he surpassingly defeated all of them, and what
is more, he did it without causing any serious injury, the fame of the new school
began to spread fast, attracting more and more followers.
To support the martial art which by its nature promoted international peace
and justice, Ueshiba O-Sensei established the Aiki Foundation with the permission
of the Japanese Ministry of Education after the World War II. From the 1950s
on he had opened more and more dojos all over Japan with the help of his son
Kisshomaru. By this time aikido had become quite well known abroad as well and
foreign students started flowing. O-Sensei found it important to spread aikido
all over the world. He sent six masters to distant countries to teach the new
martial art and advocate its spirit.
At the sunset of his life he handed over the direction of Hombu Dojo in Tokyo
to his son Kisshomaru and it became the international centre of aikido. The
Doshu title which has belonged to the leader, the Successor, Kisshomaru had
held from his father's death in 1969 to the year of 1999. Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei
passed away at the age of 86 with the following words: 'Aikido is for everybody'.
Today this martial art has millions of followers all over the world.
Futher documents:
CHARACTERISTICS OF AIKIDO AS A MARTIAL ART