These include the teaching poems of Ueshiba, as well as the writings of many of his students, and a brief look at a collection of interviews with American practitioners of Aikido. Chapter IV will present data collected from individual interviews with American Aikido practitioners. This data will show why Americans are practicing Aikido, and what Aikido practice means to them. Within the popular literature and urban mythology of the Japanese martial arts, all aspects of spirituality and religion in the modern martial arts are attributed to the influence Zen Buddhism.
This represents a tremendous over-emphasis on only one of the traditions involved in the development of the Japanese martial arts or budo.
During the Muromachi era , Zen meditation became popular with many of the regional warlords in Japan as means of preparing their soldiers minds for battle. It is a mistake, however, to assume that the benefits sought from this meditation included achieving satori.
The monks that teach meditation consider the improved concentration, mental balance, and the ability to maintain a calm mind under the most trying of circumstances to be side effects of the practices used to approach satori.
For the samurai warriors who studied Zen from the Muromachi period on, these were often the primary goals. However, other Japanese religious ideas were influential in the development of budo as well. One of the most important of these was the Shinto idea that enduring physical hardship purifies the spirit. This idea contributed greatly to the way in which budo have been, and are, practiced.
Shugendo monks and other groups have long had the practice of meditating and chanting sutras under waterfalls in the dead of winter as a means of purifying themselves, drawing closer to the kami, and developing super-human powers of knowing and healing Blacker A story common to the origin of many of the classical martial arts in Japan is that the secrets of the art were revealed to the founder by a kami after an extended period of immersion in ascetic practice. The ideas about purification in Shugendo and the Japanese martial arts come from Shinto, the indigenous religious tradition of Japan.
In Shinto, the kami, or gods and spirits, are pure, and humans are impure. By purifying oneself, one can draw nearer to the kami. The first verifiable martial arts in Japan, those connected with the Katori and Kashima Shrines,2 were founded sometime in the 15th century, though precisely when is not known. Amazingly, these arts are still extant. However, it was with the introduction of firearms in the 16th century, and the enforced peace of the Tokugawa era beginning in the 17th century, that martial arts started to become vehicles for spiritual practice and development as much as a means of achieving victory in armed conflict.
The writings of three men from the beginning of the 17th century have provided the philosophical and spiritual foundations of Japanese martial arts for nearly four hundred years.
The Heiho Kaden Sho or, Family War Secrets Book by Yagyu Munenori is also fundamental in the history of Japanese martial arts, partly because its author was head of what was at that time the most influential school of martial arts in Japan, Shin Kage Yagyu Ryu, and the official instructor for three generations of Shoguns. Here also is the first strong connection between the martial arts and Zen, with Yagyu strongly recommending the practice of zazen as a means of developing one's mind Miyamoto , The third leg of the philosophical stool of the martial arts is provided not by a martial artist, but by Takuan Soho, a Zen priest, Sado Tea Ceremony Master and correspondent with Yagyu Munenori.
The three letters translated in The Unfettered Mind contain a great deal that is simply mystifying for most people, both Japanese and Westerner alike, yet they remain a tremendous source of inspiration. I have seen calligraphy of fudo myo ryoku chi immovable wisdom in numerous dojos in the United States and Japan. Over the plus years of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan, the martial arts moved farther and farther from their roots as battlefield arts. The arts of the sword were technically denied to those not of the samurai class.
However, as the Shogunate continued, the stipends of the samurai continued to be paid in rice while the economy expanded and converted to a monetary base. Under these new conditions, wealthy merchants and farmers found that they could purchase that which was technically forbidden them. The non-sword arts grew in practice as well, and these were much more useful for a populace that was barred from carrying swords.
The arts of the staff, truncheon, and jujutsu unarmed combat techniques came to be practiced by a more and more diverse group. As the possibility of war diminished, and the memories of the battlefield faded and died with the generations, the techniques and the way they were practiced changed also.
Many arts, including the arts of the sword, came to be practiced exclusively indoors, on smooth, hardwood floors. This inevitably led to changes within the arts, and with how they were practiced. Many of the martial arts lost elements such as footwork which were essential for use outdoors on uneven terrain, and developed traits such as sliding footsteps which are useful only on smooth, polished floors. Accompanying these changes in the techniques was a shift in what was primarily sought in the martial arts, as many practitioners began to prize mental and spiritual development rather than combat skills.
It is undeniable that much of what is taught remains effective in a fight, however, or modern police and militaries would not continue to practice them. These changes were neither instantaneous nor universal.
Many schools retained their combat orientation and sneered at those that sought to develop the total person. This shift in focus to the spiritual rather than the practical, however, was present in many areas of Japanese culture, with spiritual ways developing in many disciplines, including sado tea ceremony , kado flower arranging , and shodo calligraphy , among others.
The martial arts were just one thread of a larger tapestry. These changes in the arts of the warrior were, and are, but a minor thread in the tapestry of Japanese social and religious life.
The goal of the martial arts is to train the body and the kokoro. It is easy to see the physical aspects of the martial arts, as they are celebrated in the movies and on television. These, however, are merely outer skills, and it is the goal of martial artist to not need them.
Being able to defeat an enemy through skill is the lowest level of the martial arts, one that is idealized by the mass media, and looked down upon by masters of the martial arts. The next level is to be so advanced that you can defeat your opponent without using your skills. There is a classic story about Bokuden, the founder of Kage-ryu school of martial arts. Draeger b, Bokuden was on a ferry, and one of the other passengers was a rough warrior who was bragging about his skills and intimidating the other passengers.
Finally, he asked Bokuden what style he practiced. Bokuden said, "The style of 'Winning-without-using-my-hands. Bokuden agreed, but recommended that they take a small boat that was attached to the ferry and go to a nearby island, so they wouldn't hurt anyone else.
The warrior agreed and they set out for the island. When they got close to shore, the warrior leaped out of the boat and waded ashore. Bokuden gathered himself up as if he was going to get out of the boat, but instead he grabbed an oar and pushed the boat back out into the sea. He called back, "This is called winning without using your hands.
It is the level at which one doesn't need his skills, because he can transform the situation so that there is no conflict. The highest level of mastery is described by Takuan. At this level, your physical skills are not needed, because no one could even conceive of attacking you. He who uses the sword, but not to kill others means that even though he does not use the sword to cut others down, when others are confronted by this principle, they cower down and become as dead men of their own accord.
There is no need to kill them. Soho , 81 The first level is the level of physical skill. It is easily seen, and is what most often initially attracts people to the martial arts. The second level is reached by very few of those who begin practicing the martial arts, and the third level exists mainly as a legend and unreachable goal for martial artists. The level of physical skill, and more precisely the practices that are required to achieve any degree of proficiency in the martial arts are the means by which a martial artist achieves the higher levels of development, and develops his kokoro.
The most basic form of development comes from just surviving the rigors of practice and coming back for more. As described by Carmen Blacker , enduring hardship has been seen as purifying the individual in Japan and drawing closer to the kami. The hard practices of the martial arts have much the same goal, to purify the individual, and awaken greater abilities and powers within him. In Japan there are often special, especially rigorous, practices held at what are traditionally the hottest and coldest times of the year, and to celebrate the new year.
It is not uncommon to see reports of groups training in a river or in the ocean on the TV news at New Year's, especially if there is snow falling for added visual effect. The hot summer training is not as visually enticing for TV news crews, but it is at least as trying for those who take part in it.
These intensive practices last for a week to ten days, and are meant to burn out any impurities in body, mind, or spirit. If nothing else, after surviving one of these practices, day-to-day problems seem much smaller than they did before.
Aikido is a modern part of this tradition. All of the spiritual practices that have been mentioned were a part of the life of Aikido's founder, Ueshiba Morihei, and modern Aikido practice preserves many of these and other traditional religious practices. Ueshiba's father was a prosperous farmer and merchant, as well as being a local councilman. Reportedly, Ueshiba was a weak child. However, encouraged by his father he took up sumo, running and swimming to build up his body.
Ueshiba's education was not unusual. Although the new Japanese government had recently established a national education system, it had not yet built the schools necessary to teach every student in Japan. Thus Ueshiba started his education at the local terako, or temple school, transferring to the public elementary school when that was completed.
Although he started junior high school, he soon transferred to an abacus school. Here he proved to be an especially adept student, rising from student to assistant instructor after only a year. Ueshiba soon left this post for a position in the local tax office. He held this post until he became involved in a dispute between the government and local fishermen who were being squeezed by new government regulations and large scale-fishing operations.
His involvement on the side of the local fishermen led to his resignation. Following this, in late , Ueshiba's father provided him with money with which Ueshiba went to Tokyo and opened a stationery store. The only notable thing about this trip is that this was Ueshiba's first real encounter with the classic martial arts of Japan.
This episode did not last long though. Ueshiba soon became sick with beriberi and he closed the store and returned to Tanabe. In , Ueshiba enlisted in the army and was assigned to the 37th regiment of the Fourth Division, in Osaka.
What is most important about this is that it was during this period that Ueshiba began to study martial arts seriously. While in the army, Ueshiba was also stationed in Manchuria for a year-and-a-half.
Following his discharge from the army in , Ueshiba returned to Tanabe. Ueshiba was reportedly moody and depressed while living in Tanabe, often taking his sword and disappearing into the mountains to fast and train. He also performed mizugori daily. Mizugori is a traditional ascetic practice in Japan, involving pouring buckets of cold water over one's head and body to purify oneself and draw closer to the kami.
Ueshiba's father had a dojo built on the family property and invited a prominent judoka, Kiyoichi Takagi, to train Ueshiba. Ueshiba also continued his training in Yagyu Ryu jujutsu, commuting to Osaka periodically to train there.
Eventually he received a teaching license from the Yagyu Ryu in In Ueshiba became interested in a government project to settle the northern island of Hokkaido. After making a tour of Hokkaido, he arranged for recruiting in Tanabe, eventually gathering over eighty people to settle the area of Shiratake, in Hokkaido. On March 29, , Ueshiba and his party set out for Hokkaido, leaving his wife and young daughter behind in Tanabe until appropriate accommodations could be constructed Ueshiba had married in The pioneers worked hard, and by the third year the fields were producing a decent yield, and their timber business was showing a profit.
What was most important about this adventure was not the success of the pioneers however, but the fact that it was here that Ueshiba first encountered Takeda Sokaku, the founder of Daito Ryu aiki-jutsu. Initially, Ueshiba had little opportunity to practice martial arts in Hokkaido, but he was obsessed with physical strength, felling trees by himself, uprooting stumps with his bare hands, and playing tug-of-war with draft horses.
He also continued to meditate alone on the mountains, and he didn't stop his practice of performing mizugori daily, which in northern Hokkaido in the winter would be an extreme ascetic practice indeed!
Takeda Sokaku was famous in Japan as an unrivaled jujutsu master, and he was invited to Hokkaido by the prefectural police to train them to deal with the gangsters and highwaymen who were running wild in this frontier. Ueshiba met Takeda on a trip to the town of Engaru, and after being easily defeated by Takeda in a demonstration, Ueshiba, who, partly because of his great physical strength, was unaccustomed to losing to anyone, asked for admission to Takeda's Daito Ryu.
Ueshiba immediately became a student of Takeda's, spending the next thirty days training with him. At the end of this time, Ueshiba was awarded a first level teaching license in Daito Ryu. His absence caused some concern in Shiratake, since he didn't tell anyone there what he was doing, and it was concluded that he must have died in a blizzard.
When he returned to Shiratake, Ueshiba constructed a dojo on his own property and invited Takeda to live with him and teach there. This was a martial arts apprenticeship in the traditional mode.
Ueshiba was expected to personally take care of all of Takeda's needs, including the preparation of his food and bath. In the course of his career, Takeda had killed several people and so was suspicious of everyone, suspecting his food of being poisoned, and there being an assassin around every corner.
Because of this, Takeda was an especially demanding master, requiring, among other things, that everything be taste-tested in his presence. With Takeda in residence, Ueshiba would study privately with Takeda for two hours every day, as well as seeing to all of Takeda's daily needs and tending to his own business.
It was at this time that Ueshiba learned many of the techniques which would later become Aikido. The art that Ueshiba learned from Takeda was one which employed a variety of wrist locks and throws. The emphasis was upon timing and blending with one's opponent.
This was the philosophy of love, spiritual harmony, and personal and world development that set Aikido apart from many of the classical bujutsu systems of Japan, and even from most of the more modern budo systems such as Judo. The older bujutsu system had little place for love or universal harmony. In Ueshiba abruptly and permanently left Hokkaido. The ostensible reason for this is the grave illness of his father, although this does not seem to have been the real motivation.
Before he heard of his father's illness, he had already sent his wife and children back to Tanabe. His home and land he gave to Takeda. In addition, on the way back to Tanabe, Ueshiba detoured to Ayabe, in Kyoto prefecture, to visit the headquarters of Oomoto-kyo, a newly founded religious group. He met the leader of the group, Deguchi Onisaburo. According to his various biographers, while praying in the Oomoto shrine, Suddenly an apparition of his father appeared before him.
Then another figure emerged form the darkness, saying, "What do you see? By the time he reached Tanabe, his father had died, peacefully. Stevens , 23 It seems likely that Ueshiba had heard of Oomoto-kyo while living in Hokkaido.
It is reasonable to assume that Ueshiba had been on a spiritual quest nearly his entire life, judging from his on-going habits of meditating on mountains and performing daily misogi in the traditional mizugori manner. In addition, Ueshiba could not have been ignorant of the spiritual aspect of the martial arts, since the Japanese government had been promoting the martial arts as a means of developing the spirit of the Japanese people since the Meiji Restoration.
Based on these facts, I believe that Ueshiba, having heard of Oomoto-kyo in Hokkaido, and probably having read some of their literature as Oomoto-kyo had a very active printing division, which included a national newspaper , Ueshiba left Hokkaido with the intention of investigating Oomoto-kyo for himself. It is possible he intended to join Oomoto-kyo even before he left Hokkaido. Within a few months of his father's death, Ueshiba moved his entire family to Ayabe, to live at the Oomoto compound there.
This was not a light decision, because every member of his family objected. His wife and his mother especially wondered how the family would support itself.
John Stevens quotes his wife as having complained "Why leave this place when we have productive land and fine neighbors? Are the gods that you say are calling you going to pay you a salary?
In Ayabe, Ueshiba quickly became integrated into the daily life of Oomoto-kyo. Two of the basic beliefs in Oomoto-kyo are the importance of natural food, and that art is the mother of religion. Having been a farmer his entire life, the first of these teachings was not difficult for him to put into practice in the Oomoto-kyo fields.
The second teaching led him to take up both calligraphy and poetry. After moving to Ayabe, Ueshiba continued his martial arts practice alone, but when a fire brigade was organized, he helped train them, including in basic self-defense techniques. Shortly after this, the leader of Oomoto-kyo, Deguchi Onisaburo, asked Ueshiba to teach budo to other members. A building was remodeled, and became the "Ueshiba Dojo," Ueshiba's first dojo.
There were probably two reasons for this turn of events. The first would have been to build members' strength, health and character through the practice of traditional arts.
Secondly, it was probably to train a group of bodyguards for Deguchi, since the Japanese government was beginning to look askance at some of his teachings. The martial art that Ueshiba was teaching at this time was Daito-ryu aiki-jutsu.
It was fundamentally the art that he had learned from Takeda. In fact, Takeda visited the dojo in Ayabe on two occasions. On February 11, , the government raided the Oomoto-kyo headquarters in what is known as "The First Oomoto-kyo Incident. Although most of the charges eventually had to be dropped, including those hoarding weapons, Deguchi was found guilty of lese majesty and given a five-year sentence. It was upon Deguchi's release from prison that Ueshiba seems to have moved into the inner circle of Oomoto-kyo activities, when Deguchi made Ueshiba his personal bodyguard.
Ueshiba had already absorbed a great deal of Oomoto-kyo's teachings, including meditation techniques and purification rites, which include a revived form of the traditional Shinto purification ritual chinkon-kishin. As Deguchi's bodyguard and confidant, Ueshiba also learned a great deal of Oomoto-kyo's kotodama4 word-spirit teachings.
In , Deguchi started to put into action his dream of founding a nation based upon his religious teachings. With Ueshiba and a few other followers, he set out on what is known as the "Mongolian Adventure. In this they became the pawns of both the Japanese, who were generally agents of Japan's Black Dragon Society seeking to gain a foothold in China for Japan, and the warlords themselves. They made it to Mongolia, but were there double-crossed by one of the warlords. They were arrested, and sentenced to execution.
Although the Chinese probably never intended to carry out the execution, no one told the prisoners that. They were released to a Japanese envoy only after they had been brought before the firing squad.
What is notable about this adventure for Ueshiba is that this is when he reportedly first developed what might be called "super-human powers. To add to the difficulties of bad or no roads, and negotiating with each successive warlord as they crossed his territory, they were frequently attacked by bandits. On one of these occasions, Ueshiba claimed to have developed the power to see the path of someone's intentions. Whenever someone was going to fire a gun, he would see a ball of light shoot out from the gun just before the trigger was pulled.
Stevens , 32 quotes Ueshiba in an oft repeated story; As we neared Baian Dalai we were trapped in a valley and showered with bullets. Miraculously, I could sense the direction of the projectiles-beams of light indicated their paths of flight-and I was able to dodge the bullets. The ability to sense an attack is what the ancient masters of the martial arts meant by "anticipation. Upon returning to Japan, Ueshiba continued his life at Ayabe, soaking up more and more of Deguchi's mystical teachings, both about kotodama, and the meanings hidden within the ancient writings of Kojiki.
These would greatly color his teachings later on, particularly after World War II. In , Ueshiba was challenged to a duel by a naval officer and high ranking kendo Japanese style swordfighting practitioner. For a martial artist to be challenged in this way was very common at this time, and Ueshiba regularly faced such challenges. Following this duel however, Ueshiba had an intense mystical experience.
Ueshiba went into his garden to wash off the sweat from the duel, and get a drink. Stevens , 32; see also Stone and Meyer , 5; and Saotome , 10 gives the most detailed account of this incident: Suddenly Morihei started to tremble and he felt immobilized. The ground beneath his feet began to shake, and he was bathed with rays of pure light streaming down from heaven.
A golden mist engulfed his body, causing his petty conceit to vanish, and he himself assumed the form of a Golden Being. Morihei perceived the inner workings of the cosmos and further perceived that "I am the Universe.
In addition, according to Stevens, Ueshiba's "sixth sense of anticipation was completely developed, and he was now invincible as a martial artist" Stevens , It is true that after this event, Ueshiba was undefeated. Of course, prior to this, the only serious defeat he had suffered was at the hands of Takeda Sokaku. Ueshiba's skill as a martial artist became more widely known, as he began training some members of the local military as well as the Oomoto-kyo members.
This drew the notice of high-ranking members of the Imperial Army and Navy. In the late s he was repeatedly invited to Tokyo to give demonstrations to high-ranking military personnel. He was also invited to move to Tokyo and open a dojo there. Finally, in , with the blessings of Deguchi, he accepted an invitation and sponsorship from Admiral Takeshita Isamu.
Deguchi felt that Ueshiba's evolving martial art would be his means of teaching peace, brotherhood, love, and the importance of art in religion. He told Ueshiba "Budo will be your yusai, a practice to manifest the divine" Stevens , This separation from Deguchi was very fortunate for Ueshiba. The number it too hard to attain. I am sure there are those out there that can try to estimate, but the number is going to be way off. Best Aikido 2: The master course states that it is estimated that the world aikido population is approaching 1.
Latino to describe plural groups that contain both genders. English speakers using Latinx use the term intentionally to counter the erasure of women and their perspectives.
In an article highlighting the peril the art of Aikido faces, and that calls out the demographic disparities in who practices and benefits the art, it only makes sense to use accurate language to describe groups of people. Your reactivity to this language use suggests you may be off balance and need to recenter yourself in the knowledge that O Sensei created this art for the world, and using more accurate and inclusive language is consistent with that vision. Hi, John.
Your reply to Mathew is linguistically inaccurate. Speaking from a latin language country, the grammar that orients the gender use for plural nouns is clear and both culturally and formally accepted the implicit semanthic absortion of one gender by another.
The whole formal and informal use of it, the classical and modern literature is completely according with it. So it is a valid point what Mathew said. So this is interesting. What do you think is a better term to represent that demographic segment? Our goal is to use accurate terms that best describe a given demographic segment and are widely accepted by those within a given segment. It is understood by our community that it refers the the entire community regardless of gender.
In spanish grammar the male version of the word is used to reference a group of mixed gender. There is no need to deviate from that and creat or use terms that may have unintentional inherent political overtones.
Thanks for the feedback here. Appreciate the well articulated perspective here. Excellent report! Grateful that it has been done. One wish: number of active practitioners by country and number of active dojos.
Even if we could know the U. I am writing a book with my Shihan and this kind of data would be most helpful. Thanks for the feedback. Yes, it would be great to get data on practitioners and active dojos by country. Our survey data is self-reported from members of the community so we are unable to source the kind of data sets you outline. In terms of number of active dojos in the U. One thing we can look at though is number of dojos within the U. Aikikai affiliated orgs. We will likely include something related to this in a future report.
When I chart aikido, judo, krav maga and taekwondo in Google Trends they are all declining in parallel. The downward trend in krav maga counters the view that aikido is not sufficiently self-defense oriented. The downward trend in taekwondo seems to refute the idea that aikido is not kid oriented enough — kids classes being the primary target of the formidable taekwondo marketing machine. The downward trend in both judo and taekwondo also runs counter to the notion that just adding more aliveness, resistance or competition will provide a remedy.
It might be tempting to blame laziness, but plenty of people still enjoy BJJ, yoga, crossfit, marathons, rock climbing and other physical activities. Aikido was much more popular than BJJ in search interest up until when the trend lines crossed. BJJ has enjoyed rising popularity ever since. It might be that we did nothing wrong. We just need to find someone who loves and appreciates us for who we are. And finding that perfect relationship means we need to get really clear about and accepting of ourselves and stop trying to appeal to the wrong person.
We need to articulate a message and project an image that matches our product. But there are also many products and services that serve purely adult demographics and do very well.
In fact, these are often people with more spare time and expendable income than younger folks. If your dojo already contains a high constituency of mature students then these folks will feel right at home when they show up. That being said, you should always continue to work on improving yourself too!
Philip, You make excellent points in your post especially in regards to embracing the demographics that Aikido works for, that being said there are things the art does many things ineffectively and a strong chain of events that have led to that decline as well as ways to combat it.
Like you said with spectators dictating interest, All Martial Arts come with a sensational mysticism around them, the whole foundation of MA culture in the Western World truly comes off the back of Hollywood with the likes of Bruce Lee, Seagal, Chuck Norris, Van Damme, etc making things look cool and flashy and they kicked butt! They die off. Now BJJ No-Gi especially , Thai Boxing, Greco-Roman Wrestling, Boxing, etc these all are proven methods of combat and self defense because they are the Jutsu, they cut to the core of the matter and are sciences on the human body and effectiveness.
You cut out the dogma and train your body to grow stronger and your knowledge of how to manipulate it to an extreme and ultimately anyone who pushes themselves physically will develop mentally from these arts as a byproduct and those environments tend to be more conducive to a friendly gym based group regardless of rank rather than a hierarchal merit based system that creates a class society in traditional MA.
Now Aikido does well for developing the body though especially the core and realistically if they were to either emphasize that more and make the focus about becoming in tune with your body in motion as opposed to Yogas more stationary approach dropping the notion of self defense, or adapt to becoming a true hybrid and updating their combat aspects along with it that would be the way I see a resurgence in the art coming about.
Great article! Cant wait the 2nd part. And some excellent comments!!.. As a mathematician can read the clustering with no further issues. You should get in contact with them to see if the could give you that. Thanks for the info, this is a year for change so you did well and perhaps with this article id love to read the paper when finished you set things in motion for a better in the Aikido an MA community, greetings from Argentina. Thank you Josh.
And thank you for your great work in this article. One has shown wonderful abilities in the fighting world. Another goes to the Olympics and shows great sport. Another provides a way for people to explore existential issues, to develop physically and spiritually, to understand themselves and the world in creative new ways.
Japanese martial arts are siblings. And other arts are our cousins. All have their good points and share many common attributes. We should be happy for them and celebrate each others accomplishments. We can all learn from each other and aikido has many fine points they can learn from as well. If we think we need to be like them then we betray the genius within ourselves.
Excellent point. Establishing a better understanding of, and connection with, other arts is something that can only benefit us.
It can bring us more insights, friendships, understanding, and martial skill. Always great to hear from you Greenwood Sensei. Philip — thank you for your perspective, and I appreciate your comments on the changing popularity trends in martial arts. Based on this principle, Aikikai, the mainstream faction, is dismissive about matches.
It is reputed to be the 'martial art of harmony' and the 'martial art in which there is no conflict.
Having studied jujutsu from the Kito-ryu school, Yagyushingan-ryu school, etc. He established Kobukan dojo in and Aikikai in Aikido, which had until then only been taught to a limited number of people in the wealthy class, was disclosed to the public after the war by Kisshomaru UESHIBA, the third son of Morihei, who later became the second Doshu, and subsequently the practice gained many disciples.
After the war, it greatly influenced the techniques of the combat skill of the Self-Defense Forces and taihojutsu arresting art of the police, and training continues today among riot police, etc. Most of today's 1,, domestic aikido practitioners are members of Aikikai, and are the majority or mainstream in the Aikido world.
Meanwhile, there are multiple organizations and factions that had separated from Morihei's disciples or Aikikai "major factions". Aikido is Now an Worldwide Martial Art As a result of the efforts by Morihei's disciples beginning in the s to spread it abroad, it spread globally to Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia, etc.
Some countries, such as France, have more aikido practitioners than there are in Japan. The techniques include taijutsu, the art of weaponry swordplay, Jojutsu , and is a comprehensive martial art assuming cases of multiple opponents. However, in reality the percentage of grandmasters instructing in the art of weaponry isn't high, so most training includes instruction in taijutsu only.
Aikido Techniques The unique use of power and sensation in aikido as a means to efficiently control the opponent without wasting energy is called 'breath power' or 'aiki. In aikido, there is a phrase, 'voluntarily offer what the opponent wants,' and defensive techniques and kaeshi waza returning the opponent's waza technique immediately are common forms. By warding off the opponent's direction of attack with unique body movements such as 'irimi' entering straight into a technique and 'tenkan' entering indirectly into a technique while simultaneously functioning within the opponent's blind spot, one maintains the position and posture to one's advantage.
By breathing in sync with the opponent to maintain the contact point, one leads the opponent's center of gravity and posture in the direction needed for it to collapse via the contact point.
However, in doing so, needless force will cause a reflex reaction by the opponent and will create issues such as facing resistance with force, separation of the contact point, etc. Therefore, 'datsuryoku' relaxation is especially encouraged. Additionally, by facing the opponent from a blind spot such as the side or the back, and capturing the opponent along the line extending from one's center, the opponent's center of gravity and posture can be controlled and led to collapse with minimal force.
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