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It is our pleasure to announce the availability of one of the most important books on Aikido history ever published, Aikido Pioneers-Prewar Era by Stanley Pranin. This new title weighs in at a hefty 364 pages and contains in-depth interviews with twenty of the most important early students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. These early disciples of the art witnessed and participated in the process that culminated in the birth of modern Aikido. Their testimonies constitute an invaluable source of information for those seeking an understanding of the roots of aikido.

The article below has been selected from the extensive archives of the Online Aikido Journal. We believe that an informed readership with knowledge of the history, techniques and philosophy of aikido is essential to the growth of the art and its adherence to the principles espoused by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.

Until his death in 1979, Kenji Tomiki Sensei was one of the most articulate and respected spokesman for martial arts in Japan. A professor of physical education at Waseda University for many years, he developed a competitive system of aikido based on a point system where one opponent attacks the other with a rubber knife with the other defending. The two then reverse roles and points are totaled and a winner determined.

“Burpees - I understand that these are favored among convicts in the California penal system due to the fact that one can get a total body workout with a minimum of space. Currently I don’t do them, but these were my favorite exercise about 3 to 4 years ago. Start in a standing position with feet close together. Now, squat down and put the plams of your hands outside and slightly forward of your feet. With your weight supported by your hands, thrust your feet backward so that you are in the traditional ‘up position’ for a standard pushup. Do a pushup and return to the up position. Immediately after the pushup, pull your feet up to your hands in one movement, and stand back up to the original position. This is one ‘rep’. These will flat wear you out in short order, and are a good overall body conditioner.”

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Aikido Journal, and its predecessor Aiki News, have been published continuously since 1974. We have a great number of loyal readers who have blessed us with their support over the years. Some of these customers already have many of the products we offer.

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The article below has been selected from the extensive archives of the Online Aikido Journal. We believe that an informed readership with knowledge of the history, techniques and philosophy of aikido is essential to the growth of the art and its adherence to the principles espoused by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.

The title of this essay has been chosen mainly for aesthetic reasons and does not really give an accurate indication of the contents. I propose to consider aikido in opposition to religion and philosophy only in a very broad sense and do not imply that they are mutually exclusive. However, there are some issues here. Many claims have been made for the efficacy of aikido and not just as a system of self-defence. Practice is supposed to have a dimension that can be called spiritual. But some questions have to be posed. Can the practice of aikido help one to be a good Christian, or Muslim, or agnostic, or even atheist, and if so, how? In what sense can aikido practice be said to ‘complete’ the spiritual and moral life of a practising Christian, for example. Are there any relationships between aikido as a spiritual pursuit and mysticism? In what sense could aikido be called ‘sacramental’? In other words, does aikido practice automatically lead to desirable spiritual results? Does it make sense to talk of aikido as a philosophy, or philosophical system? If not, what is the difference?

“Sonja, a black belt, began her Aikido practice in 1995 with Robert Nadeau, Sensei. At that time she was in her second year of Feldenkrais* training, and writes, “…I started Aikido to see how Aikido would inform my Feldenkrais practice. I knew that without an embodied understanding of these dynamic relationships, my Feldenkrais practice could not fully develop.”

Brian Kagen is an avid web researcher with a particular interest in martial arts. His training background includes both judo and aikido. He has contributed hundreds of article links over the years for AJ readers.

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“Many years ago I had the good fortune to meet and train under Professor Bata Milosevic of the Belgrade University, a researcher of medieval Balkan fighting methods and the founder of ‘Svebor’ - an attempt to collate these fighting methods into a modern system.”

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We would like to remind you of the availability of a special set consisting of a book (Takemusu Aikido Special Edition) and DVD (Budo) by Morihiro Saito Sensei, that presents in great detail the famous 1938 technical manual titled Budo of O-Sensei. By purchasing the book and DVD on Budo together, you will realize a savings of 20% off the retail price of these companion products purchased separately.

Saito Sensei does a masterful job of demonstrating and explaining all of the techniques of Budo in his book and DVD that comprise this Special Set. There are several reasons why the manual Budo is of great importance to aikido history. It is the only source of organized technical sequences demonstrated by Morihei Ueshiba replete with explanations.

“Nakayama [Hakudo] was highly influential in the Butokukai and therefore the kendo community at large. He practised around the country and many of his students went on to become kendo leaders in their own right. Quite a few of the innovations he came up with at Yushinkan (and promoted by him and his students) are currently taken for granted in the kendo community now, including parts of the reiho we use, and even the method many of us tie our men-himo. This article deals only with one such thing: the origin of the use of white dogi (hakama in particular). I’ve heard a lot of explanations for its use, from the ordinary to the mystical, with people sometimes even arbitrarily defining rules for wearing white. This occurs even in Japan. However, the reason for its initial introduction is as mundane as it can be, despite what connotations people may or may not give it now.

Brian Kagen is an avid web researcher with a particular interest in martial arts. His training background includes both judo and aikido. He has contributed hundreds of article links over the years for AJ readers.

Click here to read entire article.

“In the martial arts, a ‘joint lock’ is a technique that targets a joint in an opponent’s body, holding it near or outside its normal range of motion. The purpose of a joint lock is not to inflict harm, but to issue a credible threat of harm. The recipient of a joint lock is expected to submit: to move, or to stop moving, as directed by the applicant.”
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We have been notified of the passing of Seiichi Sugano Shihan in New York City on August 29. A notice has been posted on the Australian Aikikai site announcing his death:

“Sugano Shihan has passed away in New York. He challenged illness with great courage, then passed away peacefully, in the arms of his family. Sensei touched and changed the lives of generations of aikido students around the world. We were privileged to know him.”

Sugano Sensei was among the last generation of uchideshi at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo to have studied directly under Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. He was dispatched to Australia in 1965, later taught in Belgium and Europe, and beginning in 1988, at the New York Aikikai until his passing.

An Aikido Journal interview with Sugano Sensei is available here.

Further information is available in French and English here.

We would like to acknowledge Christiaan Zandt and Clark Bateman for notifying us of this sad news.

The interview linked here is a rare conversation with Koichi Tohei Sensei, 10th dan, conducted during the summer of 1965 in Los Angeles during his USA tour. At that time, the publisher of Black Belt magazine was its founder, Mito Uyehara, a practitioner at the Los Angeles Aikikai.

“I definitely keep my one point at all times. If you do it only in the dojo, you cannot develop your ki because the training you receive in the dojo is too short. Only an hour or two a day is not enough. You must do it until it becomes a part of you and you do it naturally - unconsciously like breathing. Too many beginners do not really understand and keep concentrating on the one point (a point 2 inches below your navel) almost in a physical manner. They look at their expanded bellies and think they are doing it right. They do not understand they must concentrate, not intensively, but calmly.”

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Click here to view information on new DVD featuring Koichi Tohei, 10th dan.