I've ordered The Art Of Peace by Morihei Ushiba, it's a philosophy book on Bushido and Martial Arts philisophy by a legendary Aikido practitioner who lived his life by the ideals of Bushido, such an interesting guy! Sounds like some kind of movie, but it's all real.
I hope to read this in order to gain a better understanding of Bushido and philosophy, as this product range will most likely be aimed towards enthusiasts and practitioners, I don't want to go down the route of putting in weapons and fight wraps, I want to make it inspiration and meditative, as a an enthusiast and (sometimes) martial arts practitioner too I find this the most valuable and something I'd keep, read and enjoy for inspiration and perspective on life and others.
Morihei Ueshiba is referred to by the practitioners of Aikido as O-Sensei, "The Great Teacher". The following quotations from the Art of Peace have been compiled from O-Sensei's collected talks, poems, and calligraphy, and from oral tradition.
Quotes from the book:
"The Art of Peace begins with you. Work on yourself and your appointed task in the Art of Peace. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment. Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter."
"When life is victorious, there is birth; when it is thwarted, there is death. A warrior is always engaged in a life-and-death struggle for Peace."
"The Art of Peace is medicine for a sick world. There is evil and disorder in the world because people have forgotten that all things emanate from one source. Return to that source and leave behind all self-centered thoughts, petty desires, and anger. Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything."
"Now and again, it is necessary to seclude yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to the source of life. Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe; breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside. Next, breathe up all fecundity and vibrancy of the earth. Finally, blend the breath of heaven and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself."
"Those who are enlightened never stop forging themselves. The realizations of such masters cannot be expressed well in words or by theories. The most perfect actions echo the patterns found in nature."
The book will be full of this stuff and I'm excited to get my hands on hopefully by the end of this week, it should help me lay the foundations for what I want to say.
##More about Morihei Ushiba
Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969)
Ushiba is the founder of the Japanese Martial Arts discipline of Aikido.
He is often referred to as "the founder" Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生), "Great Teacher"
Growing up Ueshiba actually grew up in quite a priveleged environment, but he was quite weak and frail. His father urged him to take up Sumo wrestling and swimming and shared stories of his great-grandfather Kichiemon who was considered a very strong samurai in his era.
The need for strength was reinforced when he witnessed his dad being attacked by followers of a rival politician.
Morihei trained in a wide variety of martial arts growing up but not extensively - including learning his art at the Yagyū Shingan-ryū (柳生心眼流), a traditional martial-arts school. Ueshiba trained in Judo, under Kiyoichi Tagaka in 1911.
Only after moving to the northern island of Hokkaido, with his wife in 1912 did his martial arts training really begin to evolve and gain importance in his life.
"At about the age of 14 or 15. First I learned Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū Jujutsu from Tokusaburo Tozawa Sensei, then Kito-ryu, Yagyu-ryu, Aioi-ryu, Shinkage-ryu, all of those jujutsu forms. However, I thought there might be a true form of budo elsewhere. I tried Hozoin-ryu sojitsu and kendo. But all of these arts are concerned with one-to-one combat forms and they could not satisfy me. So I visited many parts of the country seeking the Way and training, but all in vain. ... I went to many places seeking the true budo. Then, when I was about 30 years old, I settled in Hokkaido. On one occasion, while staying at Hisada Inn in Engaru, Kitami Province, I met a certain Sokaku Takeda Sensei of the Aizu clan. He taught Daito-ryu jujutsu. During the 30 days in which I learned from him I felt something like an inspiration. Later, I invited this teacher to my home and together with 15 or 16 of my employees became a student seeking the essence of budo.
Did you discover aikido while you were learning Daito-ryu under Sokaku Takeda?
No. It would be more accurate to say that Takeda Sensei opened my eyes to budo."
Ueshiba searched the country to find the "Way" and not interested in one-to-one combat and a bit disillusioned.
Met Sokaku Takeda Sensei of the Aizu clan, who taught Daito-ryu Jujutsu, in 30 days he was inspired.
'Budo' is a japanese term of Martial Ways. Or Martial Arts. Translated literally it means The Way of The Spirit or Spirit of The Warrior.
Budo
Sensei Takeda had a huge influence on Ueshiba and together they formed the basis of Aikido, an art based off Takeda's discipline of Daito-ryu Jujutsu.
Although disputed by some, the ledger books of Takeda clearly show that Ueshiba spent a great deal of time training in Daitō-ryū between 1915 and 1937. He received the majority of the important scrolls awarded by Takeda at this time including the Hiden Mokuroko, the Hiden Ogi and the Goshin'yo te. Ueshiba received his kyoju dairi certificate, or teaching license, for the system from Takeda in 1922.
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The real birth of Aikido came as the result of three instances of spiritual awakening that Ueshiba experienced. The first happened in 1925, after Ueshiba had defeated a naval officer's bokken (wooden katana) attacks unarmed and without hurting the officer. Ueshiba then walked to his garden and had a spiritual awakening.
I felt the universe suddenly quake, and that a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one. At the same time my body became light. I was able to understand the whispering of the birds, and was clearly aware of the mind of God, the creator of the universe.
At that moment I was enlightened: the source of budo is God's love – the spirit of loving protection for all beings ...
Budo is not the felling of an opponent by force; nor is it a tool to lead the world to destruction with arms. True Budo is to accept the spirit of the universe, keep the peace of the world, correctly produce, protect and cultivate all beings in nature.
His third experience was in 1942 during the worst fighting of WWII, Ueshiba had a vision of the "Great Spirit of Peace
"The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter – it is the Art of Peace, the power of love."
##LEGACY
In an interview Shoji Nishio, a Japanese Aikido teacher reported : "At that time, a former Karate sensei of the Butokukai named Toyosaku Sodeyama who was running Konishi Sensei’s dojo and also teaching there came up to me and said: “I met someone who is like a ‘phantom’. I couldn’t strike him even once.” I was amazed that there was someone that even Sodeyama Sensei couldn’t strike. It was O-Sensei." (Ushiba)
To this day, Ōmoto-kyō priests oversee a ceremony in Ueshiba's honor every April 29 at the Aiki Shrine in Iwama. Omoto-Kyo.
Ueshiba has taught hundreds of notable Aikido practitioners in 4 generations, some of them were Uchideshi - live-in students:
First (pre-WW2) generation:
Second (WW2) generation:
Third (Post-WW2) generation:
Fourth (last) generation:
##PERSONAL TRAITS
Morihei Ueshiba regularly practiced cold water misogi, as well as other spiritual and religious rites. He viewed his studies of aikido in this light.
Misogi -Ritual purification. It varies from medication, to fasting, to exhuastive periods without sleep, food etc, almost as a form of detox. Ueshiba was into bathing in ridiculously cold water.
As a young man, Ueshiba was renowned for his incredible physical strength. He would later lose much of this muscle, which some believe changed the way he performed aikido technique.
Ueshiba 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 jō (staff) strikes on trees without first covering them in protective padding. Another time, as students sneaked 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 (wooden practice sword), and proceeded to scold them.
Morihei Ueshiba played the game of Go often. During one game with Sokaku Takeda, Takeda utilized the Goban as a weapon against a man he mistook for an assassin. The "assassin" was actually a friend of Ueshiba, and had arrived in a scarf due to bad weather. The scarf hid the man's identity, triggering Takeda's paranoia as, at the time, many people actually were trying to kill him.
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