O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba.
Morihei Ueshiba (O-Sensei) was born on December 14, 1883, in
Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, in Japan. He was the fourth child and eldest son of Yoroku
Ueshiba, a
farmer who owned two hectares of land, and Yuki Itokawa, descendant of a noble family
(Takeda clan). With his father, Morihei learned some of the secret art of Aioi-ryu,
a martial art with tai-jitsu and kendo techniques.
Morihei was apparently born prematurely and was thus rather frail and sickly as a child.
Around the age of seven, Morihei studied the Buddhist scriptures, sumo and
swimming. As he
spent most of his youth outdoors, he increased his strength and stamina by working on
fishing boats and wrestling with powerful young fishermen. He also worked on the docks and
whenever there was a Sumo contest, he was the first to enter. Morihei wanted to be
strong,
strong enough to vanquish the thugs who harassed his father, strong enough to defeat
anyone who challenged him.
Later he graduated from the Yoshida Abacus Institute and worked at the Tanabe Tax Office
until 1902. He then went to Tokyo and founded the Ueshiba Trading Company, specialized in
the distribution of school supplies. It was during this first stay in Tokyo that Morihei
began his study of the martial arts, learning traditional Tenshin Shinyo jujutsu
from the Kito school (Tokusaburo Tojawa Sensei) and Shinkage kenjustsu. Returning
to Tanabe the same year, he married Hatsu Itokawa (born 1881), a distant relative who he
had known since childhood.
O-Sensei with his wife Hatsu
Itokawa in 1937.
In 1903, Morihei was among the thousands of recruits called up to
fortify the nation's reserve force. He looked forward to the challenge of military
life. However, he failed the initial induction examination because he was shorter than the
required minimum height of five feet two inches. Mortified by this rejection, Morihei
attached heavy weights to his legs and hung from tree branches for hours to stretch his
spine the necessary half inch. Much to his relief, he passed the physical the following
year.
Morihei was attached to the 37th regiment of the fourth Division in Osaka, where he was
nicknamed "the King of Soldiers" because of his skills with the bayonet, the
juken-jutsu.
He was sent to the front during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, and returned having been
promoted sergeant for outstanding bravery in the field. He also studied the Goto-ha
Yagyu-ryu jujutsu style (Masakatsu Nakai Sensei) in Sakai during this
period. He was
discharged from the army in 1907 and returned to Tanabe where he worked on the family
farm. During this period, Morihei studied the Kodokan style of judo (Kiyoichi
Takagi Sensei) in a barn he converted into a dojo.
Caporal Ueshiba 1903-1906.
In 1910, Matsuko his eldest daughter was born. Morihei became
interested in a government plan to settle the northern island of Hokkaido. He became the
leader of a group of more than eighty people and they left for Shirataki in Hokkaido in
1912.
In
1917, Takemori his eldest son was born.
Shirataki village in Hokkaido.
- O-Sensei as the village leader.
During this period, Morihei made the acquaintance of Sokaku
Takeda Sensei, a well known master of Daito-ryu jujutsu. This was to be the
first of two significant encounters in the life of O-Sensei that would
change it forever. He became his student
and gained a certificate in Daito-ryu jujutsu after an intensive training.
The techniques he learned then with Sokaku Takeda were to be an
inspiration for the foundation of Aikido.
Sokaku Takeda Sensei.
In 1919, Morihei received the news that his father was seriously hill. He
gave all of his possessions, including his house, to Sokaku Takeda and left Hokkaido
never to return. On his trip home to Tanabe, he met the leader of a flourishing new religion,
the Omoto-kyo, named Onisaburo Deguchi. This man made such an impression on Morihei
that he decided to delay his return home and stay with him. His father died
without him being at his side. Morihei visited the grave of his father
later, only to return to Ayabe in search of a
more spiritual life under the guidance of Onisaburo Deguchi. He lived there for eight
years and took part in various spiritual practices, he also converted part of his house in
an eighteen-mat dojo, and opened the Ueshiba Academy of martial arts. This
was to be the second very important encounter in the life of Morihei Ueshiba
and the teachings of Onisaburo Deguchi were to influence the spiritual
aspect of the Aikido to come.
His sons Takemori
(3) and Kuniharu (1) died through illness during this period.
O-Sensei with Onisaburo Deguchi.
In 1921, Kisshomaru Ueshiba was born. Morihei practice of the
martial arts gradually began to take on a spiritual character. This led him little by
little to break away from the conventions of Yagyu-ryu and Daito-ryu jujutsu,
and to develop his own original approach. In 1922 this approach was formally named
aiki-bujutsu.
O-Sensei in 1921.
In 1924, Morihei left Ayabe with Onisaburo for Mongolia in search
of a Holy Land where they could establish a new world government based on religious
precepts. They were victims of a plot concocted by a Chinese warlord and they were
arrested by Chinese troops and sentenced to death. Fortunately, a member of the Japanese
consular staff intervened and secured their release and safe return to Japan.
Onisaburo Deguchi and O-Sensei (2nd &
3rd from left)
brought before firing squad.
Morihei
tried to resume his former life, uniting the practice of the martial arts and farming by
teaching at the Ueshiba Academy and working on a farm. He became interested in teaching
sojutsu
(spear technique), kenjutsu and jujutsu. Morihei later told his
students, "Prior to my adventures in Mongolia, I was obsessed with physical power and
technical skills. After I returned to Japan, I began searching for the essence of Budo, its
true spirit."
In 1925, Morihei met a naval officer and master of
kendo.
He accepted the officer's challenge and defeated him without actually
fighting, because he
could sense the direction in which the attack would come before the officer would
strike.
This experience was for him a revelation. "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. "It was the birth of Aikido.
In 1930, Morihei started the construction of a new dojo in Ushigome named the
Kobukan. He
received there the visit of Jigoro Kano Sensei, founder of Judo, who was so
impressed with Morihei Aikido techniques that he recommended to his top students to
learned Aikido. The Kobukan was popularly known as the "hell dojo" because of
the extraordinarily intense training practice there.
O-Sensei in Kobukan period.
Between 1930 and 1940, Morihei traveled a lot throughout
Japan. In
addition to teaching at the Kobukan and various branch dojos, Morihei instructed
at the Toyama (Spy) Academy, the Naval Academy, the Military Staff College, and the
Military Police Academy. During this period he was invited in Mandchuria for a demonstration
of his art, and defeated easily the ex-sumo wrestler Tenryu.
O-Sensei with ex-sumo wrestler Tenryu.
In 1941, Morihei moved to
Iwama with his wife and started to build the ubuya (inner sanctum) of
Aikido: a
complex including the Aiki shrine and an outdoor dojo. It was completed in 1945.
After the war, Morihei worked hard to establish the future of
Aikido in Japan. In 1948, the Ministry of Education granted permission to reestablish the
Aikikai. The main dojo in Tokyo was renamed the Ueshiba dojo and World Headquarters of
Aikido. In 1960, Morihei received the distinction of Shijuhosho from Emperor
Hirohito. Only three other masters of martial arts had received this high distinction in the past.
In contrast to the restless, frenetic activity of his youth and middle years, Morihei's
last years were characterized by a sense of peace and deep spirituality. Morihei filled
his days with Aikido training, prayer and meditation, study of religious texts, farm work,
and calligraphy. He once said:
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"By secluding myself in Iwama and reducing my involvement in
worldly affairs, I have been able to attain a deeper sense of our oneness with nature. I
rise each morning at four, purify myself, and then step outdoors to greet the rising sun.
I link myself to the cosmos through Aiki and commune with all things - I feel as if
I am transformed into the universe itself, breathing in all phenomena. Standing before the
altar of heaven and earth, I am in perfect harmony with the divine."
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Grave of O-Sensei in Tanabe.
Morihei Ueshiba died the 26 of April 1968 at the age of 85 years.
Among his final words were, "Aikido is for the entire world. "His ashes were
buried in the cemetery of the Ueshiba family temple in Tanabe.
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