Seiseki Abe discusses the role of weapons training in aikido, Steven Seagal offers a testimonial for the man who was his teacher, and the interviewer defines the terms you need to know to understand the traditional art.
Read More »
Aikido
The Japanese martial art of aikido (“way to unify with your ki”)was founded by Morihei Uyeshiba in 1942. (Ki means “life force.”) Morihei Uyeshiba practiced tenjin shinyo-ryu jujutsu with Tozawa Tokusaburo in 1901, but his true martial calling began in 1911 when he learned daito-ryu aikijujutsu under Takeda Sokaku on Hokkaido island in Japan. As Morihei Uyeshiba replaced linear approaches to techniques and striking vital points with softer, more circular movements, he developed a more spiritual outlook on life under Onisaburo Deguchi and his Omoto-kyo religion.
Three events lead to Morihei Uyeshiba’s new philosophy for aikido. In 1925, while unarmed, he defeated a navy officer who attacked him with a bokken (wooden sword). Following the fight, Morihei Uyeshiba incorporated the basic hand-guard position from kendo by mimicking the way kendo practitioners hold a sword. While practicing misogi (Shinto purification rituals, like standing under waterfalls) in 1940, his martial knowledge became vehicles for wisdom, virtue and life. In 1942 (during World War II), Morihei Uyeshiba had a vision of the “Great Spirit of Peace” prophesying that the warrior’s way is not about killing but about peace, love and preserving life, which are the spiritual and philosophical tenets of today’s aikido. It’s also essential to cultivate one’s ki (in Chinese chi or qi) and learn how to redirect your opponents’ ki against them.
.
-
The Master Who Taught Calligraphy to Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba and Actor Steven Seagal (Part 2)
– April 5, 2013
-
The Master Who Taught Calligraphy to Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba and Actor Steven Seagal (Part 1)
– April 3, 2013
Exemplifying the “balance between pen and sword,” Seiseki Abe was a master of calligraphy and aikido. In this interview, he discusses the often-overlooked facets of his martial art, as well as teaching calligraphy to Morihei Ueshiba and Steven Seagal.
Read More » -
Aikido Moves for Hand-to-Hand Combat Against Knife Attacks
– October 8, 2012
Aikido originally included strikes, but they were later eliminated to maintain the art’s philosophies of compassion and peace. Its knife defenses, however, remain and are as elegant and effective as they ever were. Learn FIVE of them from this in-depth technique article!
Read More » -
Aikido Moves: Guillermo Gomez Shows You How to Stop a Front Choke
– June 20, 2012
Guillermo Gomez has devoted the past 26 years of his life to perfecting his aikido moves. The focus of his training in aikido moves has been on what all traditional martial artists should be aspiring to: mastery of the intricacies of all the techniques he was being taught rather than
Read More » -
Modern Aikido: Moves and Meaning (Part 2)
– May 22, 2012
Editor’s Note: This article is a continuation of Modern Aikido: Moves and Meaning (Part 1) by Tom Koch.
Modern Implementation
Certainly, the celebration showed that diversity of practice. Some attendees were martially focused on aikido moves, concerned with off-balancing and atemi. Others would have been severely tested in a match with a
Read More » -
Modern Aikido: Moves and Meaning (Part 1)
– May 21, 2012
Forget the politics that have divided the founder Morihei Ueshiba’s aikido into a half-dozen communities, all calling themselves aikido. There are, in truth, only two aikido camps today: one mostly hidden, some say forgotten, and the other ascendant.
The first is a fearsome martial art cobbled together from older Japanese styles,
Read More » -
Shito-Ryu Karate Trailblazer: Fumio Demura
– November 21, 2011
Ask the average karate practitioner to name the main styles of Japan, and chances are he’ll rattle off shotokan, goju-ryu and wado-ryu with no trouble. But unless he’s really up on his art, there’s a good chance that he’ll stumble over the name of the fourth major style, snap his
Read More » -
Matt Larsen: Teaching the U.S. Army How to Fight
– November 11, 2011
Back in 1983, I heeded the call of Uncle Sam and joined the U.S. Army. Basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, was easy enough and mostly fun, what with the M16 rifles, M60 machine guns, hand grenades, Claymore mines and LAWs (light anti-tank weapons). A martial artist interested in state-of-the-art
Read More » -
Learn 3 Grappling Techniques From UFC Star Chael Sonnen
– October 11, 2011
Chael Sonnen isn’t your typical politician. For one, he actually answered our questions. But more important, the All-American wrestler from Oregon taught us some of the best tricks from his playbook.
Despite his reputation as one of the UFC’s loudest stars, he doesn’t have a bad word to say about
Read More » -
Aikido’s Morihei Ueshiba | Classic Martial Arts Profiles
– June 17, 2011
Every man, as he grows older, seeks some real or symbolic achievement with which to cap his career. If the calendar years have flown past the 80 mark, pushed upward to 85, you’re going to check your personal record books that much more. Usually, when you take the profits and
Read More »
