The Samurai in the Service of Peace O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba 1883-1969

by Bartosz Ciechanowicz

2020

Description

Morihei Ueshiba was an original artist and an exceptional master of budo. What he was doing was more than just passion. He involved finesse and sensitivity into war craft. Today it is difficult to undermine the thesis that he devoted his whole life searching for a method of combining the martial art with the ideas of justice and peace. Devoting to budo, he entered a difficult and winding road. Initially, he did not meet the enthusiasm of the scene, and moreover, many contradictions of fate emerged. However, his persistence, determination and exceptional genius led his art to the heights of popularity. He became a valued person not only in budo, but also in the world of culture and art. Morihei Ueshiba was a frequent visitor in various social circles, and extensive contacts, among others between the high officers of the army made him attract the attention of government officials and the imperial court. The West also became interested in aikido. In the last years of the master's life there were numerous invitations from the western world, asking for the presentation of his art...… (more)

Library's review

Morihei Ueshiba was an original artist and an exceptional master of budo. What he was doing was more than just passion. He involved fintess and sensitivity into war craft. Today it is dificult to undermine the thesis that he devoted his whole life searching for a method of combining the martial art

with the ideas of justice and peace Devoting to budo, he entered a difficult and winding road. Initially, he did not meet the enthusiasm of the scene, and moreover, many contradictions of fate emerged. However, his persistence, determination and exceptional genius lead his art to the heights of popularity. He became a valued person not only in budo, but also in the world of culture and art. Morihei Ueshiba was a frequent visitor in various social circles, and extensive contacts, among others between the high officers of the army made him attract the attention of government offficials and the imperial court. The West also became intrested in aikido. In the last years of the master's life there were mnumerous invitations from the western world, aksking for the presentation of his art.

Morihei Ueshiba developed his art thoughtout his life. Even on his deathbed, he did not se its final shape. By giving his art the name aikido, he wanted tounerstand it as a way of life that allows finding a universal harmony with the world. On the basis of raditonal martial schools and his inner experiences, he created principles and rules for seeking ki energy and the harmony of the so-called aiki. through aikido he set a new and extremely original direction for human development through marital arts. He created that his original solutions of aikido techniques are awe-inspriting alover the world today.

Morihei Ueahiba opened a new chapter in budo. He shaped many masters who gave birth to several aikido organizations operating today in Europe, Asia, both Americas, Australia, and also in Africa. Morihei Ueshiba's life was extremely rich in events. Unfortunately, not being the witness of these events, I can only present a probable story about his life. Writing it, I based mainly on information collected over twenty years of personal involvement in aikido. They come from various sources: media, read books and-most importantly for me-information heard from O'Sensei by his close student Hirokazu Kobayashi, and in the further lline assed on by master Giampietro Savegnago and my master Jacek Wysocki. The latter verbally passed on stories confirm many of the commonly known information, but also add some news to the master's biography.

Despite many facts and documents collected, it is currently difficult to rule out controversy over some details about the life of Morihei Ueshiba. To the extent that even the stories from his direct students often differ in details. Therefore, all of the following information should be treated as a collection of the most frequently presented information found in various dojos around the world...

Contents

From the author
O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba. The samurai in the service of peace
The Ueshiba family and Morihei's childhood
Adolescent years
Time in Tokyo
Illness and return to Tanabe
Service in the army
Return to Tanabe
Time on Hokkaido
Meeting master Sokaku Takeda
Meeting Onisaburo Deguchi
Moving to Ayabe
Leaving for Mongolia
Return to Ayabe
Moving to Tokyo
Opeinig of the Kobukan Dojo
Visits to Manchuria
The foundation of Kobukai and the creation of the aikido name
World War II and time in Iwama
The period after the end of the Second World War
Morihei in films
State decorations of Morihei
Morihei and shodo
The last years of O'Sensei's life
Profiles of O'Sensei's students
Main schools of aikido
Evolution in the message of aikido
Students of master Morihei Ueshiba
Shogo-master classifications
Seikyo Asano
Wasaburo Asano
Makoto Miura
Isamu Takeshita
Kenji Tomiki
Aritoshi Murashige
Yoichiro Inoue
Minoru Mochizuki
Hisao Kamada
Ikkusai, Hajime Iwata
Takuma Hisa
Kenji Tomita
Kenzo Futaki
Minoru Hirai
Saburo Wakuta
Yoshio Sugino
Shigemi Yonekawa
Kiyoshi Nakakura
Yasuhiro Konishi
Kaoru Funahashi
Tsutomu Yukawa
Rinjiro Shirata
Takako Kunigoshi
Bansen Tanaka
Gozo Shioda
Itsuo Tsuda
Zenzaburo Akazawa
Koichi Tohei
Shigenobu Okumura
Kisshomaru Ueshiba
Kisaburo Osawa
Kanshu Sunadomari
Tadashi Ab
Morihiro Saito
Hiroshi Tada
Sadatru Arikawa
Hirokazu Kobayashi
Hiroshi Isoyama
Fukiko Sunadomari
Seiseki Abe
Mutsuro Nakazono
Kenshiro Abbe
Hiroshi Kato
Reishin Kawai
Anno Motomichi
Yasunari Kitaura
Kenneth Cottier
Iwao Tamura
Andre Nocquet
Michio Hikitsuchi
Seigo Yamaguchi
AkiraTohei
Shoji Nishio
Masando Sasaki
Yoshio Kuroiwa
Masamichi Noro
Nobuyoshi Tamura
Yasuo Kobayashi
Masatake Fujita
Katsuaki Asai
Yoshimitsu Yamada
Seijuro Masuda
Kazuo Chiba
Nobuyuki Watanabe
Seichi Sugano
Mitsunari Kanai
Yutaka Kurita
Shuji Maruyama
Koretoshi Maruyama
Mitsugi Saotome
Terry Dobson
Shizuo Imaizumi
Kenji Shimizu
Norihiko Ichihashi
Seishiro Endo
Morito Suganuma
Minoru Kurita
Robert Nadeau
Tomio Ishimoto
Roy Suenaka
Takeji Tomita
Fumio Toyoda
Virginia Mayhew
Robert Frager
Alan Ruddock
Henry Kono
Gaku Homma
Shodo by O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba
Epilogue

Show Less