Aikido history

A Brief Description of Aikido History
Budo (The martial way to personal development) is the collective name for martial arts that developed foremost in Japan. Budo or Bushido (The warriors way) is the name of the codex, or toolbox of strategies and attitudes, that was developed by the samurai for survival in a world of conflict. In the world of today Budo remains mainly as a number of sports (often with competitions), self defense systems or martial arts.

The present day Budo-forms - judo, karate, kendo, aikido, etc, have common roots. The great differences came about when competitions were introduced, partly because rules limited the number of techniques (in judo you may not strike, in karate you may not take hold), and partly because competitions themselves are foreign to traditional Budo.

An important aim with Budo is that the practitioner through practice in the martial arts develops awareness and mental capacity. The samurai had learnt that physical strength and proficiency at wielding weapons was not enough.

Through increased awareness and mental serenity under stress and ability to fight ones inner enemies (such as fear, anger and arrogance) the warrior becomes more efficient in fights as well as in daily chores. The more complex the situation, the stronger this statement holds. How aware one is in modern Budo-arts of this, and how well one utilizes this understanding varies from Budo-art to Budo-art and from dojo to dojo.

Ai-ki, forces in harmony, is an age-old principle in jujutsu traditions, where also other Budo-arts than Aikido have their roots.

Based mainly on Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu, which allegedly dates back to the 900´s, and traditional weapons systems (chiefly sword and spear/staff) Morihei Ueshiba (1883 -1969) created Aikido, which got its present form and name at the time of WW2. In traditional Aikido the practice with bokken (wooden sword) and jo (wooden staff) are vital complements to tai-jutsu (unarmed technique) since all movements originates from the sword and spear/staff.

O-sensei (great teacher), as Morihei Ueshiba is often called, was a legend in Budo. Although Aikido is a new Budo form, it is perhaps the one that most faithfully has preserved the aim and purpose of Budo. Here is no competition. Practically all techniques are accepted - but are packed in a strict pedagogical system.

That Budo is the title of O-sensei´s book is natural, since Morihei Ueshiba saw himself as a Budo practitioner in the widest sense of the word. Up until very late he called his art Aiki-Budo, which he ceaselessly kept on developing.

Through the years Aikido has proliferated into different styles that mirror how O-sensei´s students, each in his way have interpret their lessons. The largest organization is Aiki-kai, which we belong to. Aiki-kai is governed by descendants to O-sensei. Presently by Moriteru Ueshiba, grandson of O-sensei.

Morihiro Saito was one of founder O-sensei´s closest pupils. For 23 years he lived and trained with Morihei Ueshiba in Iwama. O-sensei moved to Iwama in the time of the outbreak of WW2 and he remained there for the rest of his life. Saito-sensei took it as his mission in life to faithfully and accurately preserve the aikido that O-sensei had taught him. It is the same style that we practice at Aikido Shuren Dojo Göteborg.

Takeji Tomita, one of Saito-sensei´s most talented pupils, came to Göteborg (Gothenburg) in 1970. It was under his guidance that the aikido section of Göteborgs Judoklubb (Gothenburg Judo Club) (club newsletter Dec -71) grew and became Göteborgs Aikidoklubb (Gothenburg Aikido Club), where so many aikido veterans have started.

Of decisive importance for the development of aikido in Sweden was the fact that Tomita-sensei bridged over to his teacher Saito-sensei, who practically every year visited us here in Sweden up until his demise in 2002. Tomita-sensei is now leader of his own organization, Tomita Academy, seated in Stockholm.