Morihei Ueshiba
|
|
O'Sensei_jodan_kamae.JPG
Morihei Ueshiba (植芝盛平 Ueshiba Morihei, December 14th, 1883 - April 26, 1969) was a famous martial artist and founder of Aikido. Known as O Sensei ("Great Teacher" or simply "Older Teacher" relative to his son) by Aikidoka.
| Contents |
Biography
Morihei was born in Wakayama Prefecture (now Tanabe), Japan.
During his childhood, the Ueshiba family lived in Maizuru (Kyoto Prefecture). O-Sensei also spent time as a farmer on the northern island of Hokkaido with his wife, as part of a settlement effort. This was followed by a trip to China and Mongolia.
Morihei Ueshiba's art of Aikido is heavily influenced by his study of Daito-ryu Aiki-jutsu which he was instructed in by Sokaku Takeda. On the spiritual side he was influenced by Onisaburo Deguchi, founder of the pacifistic Omoto-kyo sect.
In 1927 Ueshiba moved to Tokyo where he founded his first dojo, which still exists today under the name Hombu Dojo. (He had also instructed certain members of the Oomoto-kyo movement.) In 1942 he left Tokyo and moved to the prefecture of Iwama where the term Aikido was first used as a name for his art. In 1946 Morihiro Saito began studying under O-Sensei in Iwama which he did until Ueshiba’s passing in 1969. Saito became keeper of the Aiki Shrine in Iwama after O-Sensei's death. Many others studied under O-Sensei during his lifetime, and several of them have since become prominent martial artists in their own right.
His son Kisshomaru Ueshiba became the second Doshu, the official heir and maintainer of Aikido, until his death in January 4th, 1999; the current Aikido Doshu is Kisshomaru Ueshiba's son Moriteru Ueshiba.
Legacy
Ueshiba-sensei is remembered as a master of the martial arts whose studies transcended technical matters to include a moral and philosophical view of the world based around harmony in the face of aggression. The many branches of aikido in existence today virtually all trace their lineage back to him.
Many stories exist about O-Sensei's martial skill. It is said for example that he was able to escape a tight ring of students that surrounded him with swords. Many of these students would later say they had not even seen O-Sensei go by them.
There is debate in the aikido world over some of these sensational stories; some dismiss them as myth generated around a genuinely brilliant but human martial artist, whereas others believe that O-sensei truly achieved such superhuman feats.
Oomoto priests oversee a ceremony in Ueshiba's honor every April 29th at the Aiki Shrine at Iwama.
Personal Traits
O-sensei regularly practiced cold water misogi, as well as other spiritual and religious rites. He viewed his studies of aikido in this light.
As a young man, O-sensei was reknowned for his incredible physical strength. He would later lose much of this muscle, which some believe changed the way he performed aikido technique.
O-sensei was said to be a simple but wise man, and a gifted farmer. In his later years, he was regarded as very kind and gentle as a rule, but there are also stories of terrifying scoldings delivered to his students. For instance, he once thoroughly chastised students for practicing jo strikes on trees without first covering them in protective padding. Another time, as students snuck back into the dojo after a night of drinking and brawling, he smashed the first one through the door over the head with a bokken, and proceeded to scold them.
External links
- "The Art of Peace", by Morihei Ueshiba (http://www.cs.ucsd.edu/users/paloma/Aikido/artpeace.html)
- A Day in the Life of the Founder Morihei Ueshiba, April 1968 (http://www.nippon-kan.org/senseis_articles/day-in-the-life.html) - By Gaku Homma Sensei, Nippon Kan Kancho
Template:Wikiquotebg:Морихей Уешиба ca:Morihei Ueshiba de:Morihei Ueshiba es:Morihei Ueshiba fr:Morihei Ueshiba ja:植芝盛平 nl:Morihei Ueshiba pt:Morihei Ueshiba fi:Morihei Ueshiba