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This short essay is supposed
to give the practitioner of Aikido an idea of the person
behind Aikido and how Aikido was created both physically
and mentally. If you have any questions or comments after
reading this essay, contact me on following mail address:
km@nipponconsult.dk
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INTRODUCTION
This essay is about a man called Ueshiba Morihei,
nicknamed O-sensei, and his philosophy of life;
Aikido.
When I first heard about Ueshiba Morihei I heard
stories, which were so amazing that I thought they
belonged in another age and not in this century.
They were stories about a
man who was able to disappear suddenly when he was
attacked; something which one would expect to find in
fairytales and old myths. I began to wonder who this man
was and why he has been elevated into some kind of a God;
there had to be an ordinary story behind the man Ueshiba
Morihei.
The first part of this essay
will describe Ueshiba Morihei’s Biography. The second
half will concern his philosophy of life,
and what makes it so unique. In the biography part I
will call Ueshiba Morihei by name whereas in the part on
his philosophy and religion I will call him O-sensei as it
was his religion and philosophy which gave him that
nickname. I choose to do this because the biography part
concerns a man and his achievements through his life.
The second part concerns
Ueshiba Morihei as a philosopher and a teacher and
therefore it is more suitable to call him O-sensei in this
part. The essay will give an overall look on the history
of Ueshiba Morihei, focused on the events in his life
which were the most important for creating his philosophy.
A Biography of Ueshiba Morihei.
Ueshiba Morihei was born on
Dec. 14, 1883, the fourth child and only son among five
children. He lived on a farm with his parents Yoroku and
Yuki, in an area of Wakayama Prefecture, Tanabe. His
father was a respected member of the local community and
had been a member of the village council for 20 years.
At the age of 8 Ueshiba Morihei began studying under
the direction of a Shingon priest (Shingon is a Buddhist
sect) who taught him about the Chinese Confucian classics.
However, Ueshiba Morihei was more interested in and
fascinated by the esoteric Buddhist rites. He began
daydreaming about becoming a Buddhist priest one day.
As an antidote to the constant reading and daydreaming
Ueshiba Yoroku encouraged his son to take up swimming and
Sumo- wrestling. This was Ueshiba Moriheis first contact
with physical training.
Ueshiba
Morihei graduated from Tanabe higher elementary school,
and was admitted to the newly established Tanabe
prefectural middle school. He left the school without
graduating, and instead went to the Yoshida Abacus
Institute. After getting his diploma he was employed at
the Tanabe Tax office. In 1902 he resigned from his job,
as he was obliged to administer a new tax law against
farmers and fishermen, a law which he felt was grossly
unfair. Instead he became the leader of a protest movement
against this law.
The
same year, 1902, Ueshiba Morihei went to Tokyo to become a
businessman and founded a supply store, Ueshiba trading.
More importantly, it was during this stay in Tokyo that
Ueshiba Morihei began studying traditional JuJutsu and
KenJutsu, some of the arts which should be a foundation of
his own philosophy of life, Aikido, years later. Later the
same year Ueshiba Morihei was forced to leave Tokyo and
return to Tanabe, as he had developed beriberi. (Beriberi
is a tropical disease caused by lack of B-vitamin)
Soon after
his return he married Itokawa Hatsu, a girl he had known
since his childhood..........
Full
article is available as a pdf-fil
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