– principally abridged from the writings of the second Doshu, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, and the present Doshu, Moriteru Ueshiba
Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido, was born in the town of Tanabe, Kii Province (known today as Wakayama Prefecture) in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The founder was a sickly-looking teenager at the age of 15 but he was gifted with immense strength and he was engrossed with budo (the martial way) from a very young age. His father, Yoroku, was a member of the local town council and was frequently maltreated and abused by the hooligans employed by his political opponents when they came to negotiate matters at the family home. Witnessing these events transformed the life of the Founder. He vowed then to become strong so that one day, he will be able to exact retribution on his father’s attackers.
When he was 18, the Founder travelled to Tokyo to fulfill his ambition of becoming a trader. By day, he was kept busy working and by night, he was diligently studying Kito Ryu jujutsu. After a bout of heart beriberi, the Founder returned to Tanabe. Upon his recovery, he travelled to Sakai in order to study Yagyu Ryu jujutsu.
During the Russo-Japanese war, the Founder joined the Wakayama regiment and quickly outshone his peers, gaining the attention of the regiment commander due to his exceptional physical abilities. The Founder was typically found marching at the head of the troops, carrying the heavy equipment of two or three persons. His superiors regarded him as a very valuable asset and when he was discharged, he received several visits from company to battalion commanders attempting to re-enlist the Founder.
The Founder chose not to go back to the military and instead became a pillar of his community in Tanabe, managing the activities of the district. At that time, the Founder got a group together at the Young Men’s Club and had Kiyoichi Takagi teach Judo. Although only a third kyu Judoka then, later in life, Takagi would go on to attain 9th dan in Judo. The Founder meticulously studied Judo at that time but due to severe headaches and a strange ailment, he was bedridden for about half a year. He fully recovered and in 1910, applied to be a Hokkaido settler, the frontier of Northern Japan during that period. In 1911, he was elected as a member of the village council of Kamiyubetsu Village in Shirataki. He excelled at his duties and was recommended to head the association for the establishment of the Sekihoku railroad line. By 1912, he had already won the admiration of the residents of Shirataki and earned himself the nickname “King of Shirataki”.
It was the Founder’s fervent wish to study Daito Ryu Jujutsu with Master Sokaku Takeda, who met the Founder in Engaru in the year 1915. He went on to become a student of Takeda in the illustrious art which is claimed to have been started by the sixth prince of Emperor Seiwa during the ninth century. Takeda had a violent streak and was a strict teacher, demanding much from his students. The Founder excelled however, putting all his energy and resources into his studies. Mastering a martial art at that time was an expensive affair, with the Founder paying three to five hundred yen to learn each technique, not to mention the countless chores he had to perform for his teacher. In 1916, he received the priceless certificate which acknowledged his mastery in Daito Ryu Jujutsu.
In 1919, the Founder received word that his father was seriously ill. He gave all his property to Master Takeda and left Hokkaido. On his trip home, he heard about the Rev. Deguchi, leader of the Omotokyo, a budding religion at that time. The Founder decided then to visit Rev. Deguchi at the Omotokyo headquarters in Ayabe, Kyoto, to request prayers for his ailing father. He was devastated when he arrived in Tanabe to find that his father had already passed on. His father was the person that was most dear to the Founder, and in the resulting anguish while beside his father’s grave, he vowed to fulfill his lifelong ambition, to attain the secret of budo.
Meeting Rev. Deguchi profoundly changed the Founder’s outlook on life and spirituality. Deguchi believed that human love and goodness could unite mankind, and he did not adhere to the old customs of Japan. To that end, he wished to form a Peaceful Kingdom in Mongolia and requested that the Founder travel with him. In February, 1924 the Founder joined the party and they left for Manchuria and Mongolia.
The local Chinese forces at that time viewed Deguchi’s party as the enemy, and captured them at one point, putting them into chains and keeping them in a prison. The captors sensed that the demeanour of the captured Founder was different, and that he was an extraordinary man. They cruelly treated him differently, shackling him and walking him in a pillory. The party would have been executed save for the timely intervention of the Japanese consulate. Eventually the Japanese government secured their release and they were repatriated to Japan and arrived at Port Moji on July 25, 1925.
Returning to Ayabe, the Founder returned to his studies of budo, preferring to study and practice in the mountains of Ayabe. As Ayabe was still a small rustic town, the inhabitants of Ayabe were frequently called upon to assist with the upgrading of the town’s facilities. The Founder often shocked the townsfolk with extraordinary feats of strength.
The Founder, in his studies of budo, found that he developed a form of sixth sense which allowed him to anticipate and feel the intended movements of his opponents. While travelling in Mongolia, the Founder was held up at gunpoint. He mentioned that he felt a “spiritual bullet” which went through him before the trigger was pulled. He swiftly stepped to the side a split-second before the weapon was fired, threw the adversary down, and claimed possession of the gun.
While facing off with a navy officer who was also a Kendo teacher in the spring of 1925, the Founder found that he dodged the sword strikes of the officer with great ease, anticipating when the officer would strike each and every time. After the match, an epiphany came over the founder while he was recovering from the bout. He recalls being rooted to the ground, and could neither sit nor walk. He related that at that moment, he was made clearly aware of the mind of God, the Creator of the universe. That true budo was accepting the spirit of the universe, keeping the peace of the world, and was to be found in the developing and cultivating of all beings in nature. That training of budo is taking God’s love, assimilating and utilizing it in the practitioner’s mind and body.
Although a fleeting moment, this experience was so profound that it revolutionized the Founder’s life and Aikido was born.
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