Bouquets   Mejia   Aikikai   -   Aikido    

The only male child among four sisters, Master Ueshiba Morihei was born on December 14, 1883 in the city of Wakayama, into a very believing family that embraced the Buddhist religion 'Bukio-Shim-Gom-Shiu'.
Small and weak in build, to the point that her growth came to worry her parents a lot. He attended from an early age to play in a temple very close to his home, cultivating the friendship of the monks and facilitating that he already knew at the age of seven; the sacred texts of his creed to perfection.
With the help of his parents, he opens a Sumo (Traditional Japanese Art) dojo and teaches the practice of Yu Ken Jutsu there. In 1908 he received the title of Yagyu Ryu Jiu Jutsu; He is then 25 years old. He is called again by the army superiors to continue the training of the soldiers, but envisioning a new goal in his life, he decides not to return to a permanent job, but to dedicate himself to what will be his great dream from then on: to perfect the skills. fighting arts. The task that is proposed to be carried out is taken with total impetus, being so, for example, that every time a Master came to his town, he entertained him in his own home and invited him to his dojo to receive the experiences and teachings that he received. will leave.
He receives the teaching of several teachers, one of them the Master Takeda Sokaku of Daito Ryu; teaching that will help the origin of the birth of Aikido. The great master Sokaku sees a great future in Ueshiba Morihei Sensei and is thus invited by the master of Daito Ryu to his dojo, where he also receives knowledge of his techniques, which had deeply captivated him.
As Ueshiba Morihei developed his work, there were many who doubted its effectiveness, even going as far as challenging the master. Far from accepting provocations, Ueshiba Sensei preferred to ignore enemies to fight them, which won him new disciples. Only on one occasion, and due to the real impossibility of avoiding the challenge, does he accept to fight with a military man, an expert in the art of Kendo. At the precise moment of combat, when the challenger is about to attack with the bokken (wooden sword), Ueshiba Morihei senses where he will receive the attack. He gets ahead of the blow, cuts off the opponent's advance and enters in turn towards the center of the opponent's body, whom he knocks down without causing any physical damage; with this he shows his clear superiority before the adversary, who chooses to retire defeated. This event allowed him to understand that the root of martial art is the love of God and the love of others. "For this reason, the martial art is not to forcefully hurt a fellow man, or with weapons, but on the contrary, it is love for himself, it is not to defeat the world with wars, but to build a better world." The experience we mentioned occurred on a spring day in 1925, when the teacher was 42 years old. This is how Aiki (Principle of union, harmony) mentions then as a result of the experiences lived, the techniques learned in those last years and the evolution that he achieved on the plane of the spirit.
In 1927 he opened a dojo in Tokyo; four years later he founded the Kobukan dojo, famous for the intensity of the practices. It was said that martial artists who were not very sure of themselves were not allowed to pass his forehead.
In 1939, at the age of 56, his art was recognized by the government of Japan. The Kobukan Hombu Dojo Federation is formed.
In 1942 he moved to lwama, in lbaraki, remaining as an instructor in Tokyo his son, the teacher Kisshomaru Ueshiba. In Iwama he built the Aikido temple, Aiki-Jinja, the following year.
In 1948 he transformed the Kobukan Federation into the Aikikai Federation, currently chaired by his grandson Moriteru Ueshiba, current authority of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo Federation, based in Tokyo and both a national and international art center.
On April 26, 1969, having been awarded five times by the Japanese government, the teacher Ueshiba Morihei passed away. His remains rest in Tanabe Wakayama, his homeland, leaving his belongings at the Aiki-Jinja and at Hombu Dojo.