Aikido Journal offers some of the most important aikido pedagogical materials available anywhere. The crown jewel of our collection is the 7-DVD set of instructional seminars by the famous Morihiro Saito Sensei, 9th dan.

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.

Morihei was in Engaru on business, staying at the Hisada ryokan (inn), when he happened to encounter Sokaku Takeda of Daito-ryu jujutsu, in what was to be a strange turn of the wheel of fortune. Morihei first heard of Sokaku Takeda from a sumo wrestler of ozeki rank he met at the Kitami pass en route to Asahikawa and with whom he stayed at an inn in Shirushibe.

How many times do you find people who say, Aikido has everything you need in a martial art? Obviously, looking at the history of aikido, and various training that the highest teachers of aikido practice might have experienced, this is not true. In their youth, all students try different martial arts, and gain a variety of skills, if not from training in martial arts, then from experiences of their life, and their everyday humdrum lives. Everything you do while being alive is some sort of training, more or less.

Training is the adaptation of techniques to a specific task. From the time your headlights come on as a child, and your memory clicks on, you have those memories the rest of your life until the time you die. You are continually adapting and training your body and mind to function in the world around you.

We have recently released the last installment of the Morihei Ueshiba video series titled “Divine Techniques,” which completes the set of six DVDs on the life and technique of the Founder of Aikido.

Click here for information on ordering the complete 6-volume set of DVDs at more than 30% off.

This is possibly the most ancient of battles and it’s still raging. In a sense it’s not a battle at all, but a seeking of balance. However, by the time human beings appeared, it defined our existence from the core, and it still does.

Externally we can not live without either fire or water. Nor the earth and air. The planet is carbon based minerals surrounded by a thin later of air which modifies their changes, at the surface at least. The vast bulk of the planet is water. All this is cooled and heated by the cycles of the sun. These primaries, identified by the ancients as the original ancestors: fire, water, air and earth, are not entirely separate entities. The each exist in each other. They intersperse each other. At the surface, the atmosphere is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% other stuff (carbon dioxide, water vapour, argon, etc.); the oceans, water: 2 hydrogen, 1 oxygen; the solid crust, 62% oxygen (by number of atoms), 22% silicon, 6.5% aluminium, bits of iron, calcium, potassium, sodium, etc.

The ancients noticed this from day one; and our scientists are still analysing details. Some are lost in the details often drowning in too many details and miss the underlying principles. The great universe, put in the simplest way, sources these basics from the plenum which compose it, hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen and so on. These originate from one.

We would like to bring to your attention the availability of a DVD by Shoji Nishio Sensei that features the long-awaited final videos of the outstanding instructional series he produced in the late 1990s. The fourth DVD of this series features Volumes 7, 8 and 9 that correspond to Katadori Menuchi, and Aikido Toho Iai, Parts 1 & 2.

Click here to take advantage of the special offer of all 4 DVDs of this series plus Nishio Sensei famous technical tome titled Yurusu Budo, his only book publication.

“I cross train in karate and have a background in escrima. As a result, I frequently get chastised by the upper kyu and Dan Nages because:

1. they get offended because I block the strike, (block my face) while taking ukemi
2. throw a real punch (not hard, but a proper fist in the actual direction of the nage, without relenting. In other words, although I move slowly, if you don’t move, you will get hit). How can a person work on a technique when the attack is poor?

Can someone tell me why this is? I truly don’t get it.”

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“Aikido is a Budo (martial art) created by Morihei Ueshiba. After the Founder’s passing in 1969, his son Kisshomaru Ueshiba was inaugurated as Aikido Doshu. At present, Moriteru Ueshiba, grandson of the Founder, has succeeded his father as Aikido Doshu. The Aikikai Foundation, officially recognized by the Japanese government in 1940, was founded in order to preserve and promote the ideals of the true Aikido created by the Founder. As the Aikido World Headquarters, it is the parent organization for the development and expansion of Aikido throughout the world.”

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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Without doubt, one of the finest reference sources on Aikido technique is the six-volume series titled Takemusu Aikido authored by Morihiro Saito, 9th dan, in the last decade of his life.

The Takemusu Aikido series contain hundreds of techniques that encapsulize the teachings of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba in Iwama in the years following World War II. These wonderful reference manuals feature thousands of technical photos including historical shots of O-Sensei and Saito Sensei.

“There are martial artists every day who achieve their 1st Dan grade. This is usually the time where one is given the “magical black belt”. Does it all stop here? Is there more to do after this point, or can one quit, thinking to themselves that they are now masters of their art.”

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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.

I was attracted to Japanese culture in general as a result of practicing aikido, but I was attracted to direct, hands-on experience of Japanese culture by actually living in Japan, as a result of practicing aikido under the direction of Japanese teachers, who often talked of their experiences as direct deshi of the Founder. They talked of a world that I wanted to experience directly, for myself.

“One of the salient points that I emphasise is that our bodies (spine) should ideally be centered between our two feet. This creates an equilateral triangle. This in an ideal position in which our bodies can receive and channel forces without having to compensate by moving our bodies. However, we sometimes look to create other types of triangles for specific purposes. The basic body movement in funakogi undo and ikkyo undo teaches us to shift our bodies forwards and backwards while learning how to equalize force as though our bodies are in an equilateral triangle position.”

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