This is Aikido

by Koichi Tohei

Book, 1968

Library's review

(from the dust jacket)

Countless people have attempted to define the absolute power of the world of nature. Some praise it as god, some call it the Buddha, others call it truth. Still others convert nature into a philosophy by which they attempt to sound its deepest truths. Such attempts to define
Show More
the power of nature are no more than strivings to escape its effects.

All of the forces of science have been unable to conquer nature because it is too mystic, too vast, too mighty. It too intensely pervades everything around us. Like the fish that, though in the water, is unaware of the water, we are so thoroughly engulfed in the blessings of nature that we tend to forget its very existence.

We would cease to exist if removed from the laws of nature. For instance, we would be totally unable to maintain stability on the surface of the earth without the force of gravity. Only those with their eyes open to the world of nature are capable of uncovering its truths. Everything springs from a sense of gratitude toward nature. Aikido, though praised as a healthful system of self-defense techniques, would be nothing apart from the laws of the great Universal. The martial way begins and ends with courtesy, itself an attitude of thankfulness to and reverence for nature. To be mistaken on this basic point is to make of the martial arts no more than weapons of injury and death.

The very name 'aikido'indicates its dependence on the laws of nature, which we term ki. Aikido means the way to harmony with ki. That is to say, aikido is a discipline to make the heart of nature our own heart, to understand love for all things, and to become one with nature. Techniques and physical strength have limits; the great way of the universal stretches to infinity.

Contents

Chapter 1 Fundamentals (The Spirit of Love for All Things, The Principle of Passitivity, The Principle of Ki, Unification of Body and Spirit, Relationship between the Body and the Spirit, The Single Spot in the Lower Abdomen, Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido)
Aikido Calisthenics
Glossary of Aikido Terms
Chapter 2 Techniques
Chapter 3 Applicatons
Show Less

User reviews

LibraryThing member scottsensei
I was seeing my family Aikido family heritage in this book. This is a great reference book.

Publication

Japan Publications, Inc. San Francisco, & Tokyo
Page: 0.3371 seconds