Director Akira Kurosawa observes Yoshio Sugino and Toshiro Mifune
on the set of “Yojimbo”, around 1961

Sometimes called “the Last Swordsman”, Yoshio Sugino (杉野嘉男 / 1904–1998) began his martial arts training in Kodokan Judo around 1918.

Becoming dissatisfied with Judo he began to train in traditional Yoshin Koryu jujutsu. Around the same time, in 1927, he also began to train in Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu with the four Katori Shinto-ryu shihan dispatched to the Kodokan at the request of Judo Founder Jigoro Kano.

Around 1932 or 1933 he began training with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, and received a teaching license directly from the Founder in 1935. After the war his Aikido dojo in Kawasaki was the second official branch dojo of the Aikikai (Kuwamori Dojo was the first).  Below he talks about his time with O-Sensei and with O-Sensei’s instructor Sokaku Takeda:

I didn’t consider aikido to be just an ordinary art…..Those practicing aikido today say that Ueshiba Sensei was really amazing but also wonder if what he did was actually true or not. They say such a thing because they have never seen his technique directly….I am lucky because I saw Ueshiba Sensei directly.
……………
Although Sokaku Takeda Sensei seemed to have the type of body which could be easily knocked over, his demonstration was extraordinary. He was capable of easily throwing 4th and 5th dan holders of the Kodokan.
 – From “Interview with Yoshio Sugino” by Stanley Pranin

Sugino Sensei would later become well known for his work as a choreographer of fight scenes for many famous movies and plays, including Akira Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai” and “Yojimbo”.

What follows is an interview with Yoshio Sugino (杉野嘉男) and his son Shigeo Sugino (杉野茂男) that originally appeared in Japanese in “Kengo Retsuden-shu” (Biographies of Kendo Masters) number 67 Futabasha Publishers Ltd. (剣豪列伝集 67号 双葉社 1961年), 1961. This is the same year that the movie “Yojimbo” was released.

Yoshio Sugino (杉野嘉男)

Interview with Yoshio Sugino of Katori Shinto-ryu, 1961

A visit to the “Gyaku Nuki no Tachi” (“Reverse sword draw”)

Morikawa: You showed us a variety of Ken-jutsu. That list of techniques, starting with Gyaku Nuki no Tachi (逆抜きの太刀), Torii no Kamae (鳥居の構え), Ko-gasumi (小霞), O-gasumi (大霞), Shin no Kamae (心の構え) and others, are completely distinct from other schools, aren’t they? They eliminate the two steps of deflecting a sword coming to strike and then counter-attacking – you feint a reception and then the opponent is stabbed or cut directly in that same movement.

“In one startling early scene in Yojimbo, for example, Mifune’s samurai character provokes three local rogues into drawing their weapons, whereupon he explodes into action and cuts all three down, using movements so swift that the eye can barely follow. The technique Mifune used in this scene (called gyakunuki no tachi) is a particularly difficult one in which the blade is drawn with the right hand using a reverse grip, brought over the head, reversed and brought down again in another cutting motion. But Mifune carried it off with such explosive precision that even Sugino could not help but be impressed.”
– The Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story, by Tsukasa Matsuzaki

Gyaku Nuki no Tachi /  逆抜きの太刀

Yoshio Sugino: That’s right. That is a specialty of Katori Shinto-ryu, one of the inner teachings. One feints a reception and the sword of the receiver cuts the attacking sword directly with that same movement. In actual combat the attacker is controlled that much faster, with that little waste.

Morikawa: Ken, yari, kodachi, bo, shuriken – you use many different things, are they all from Katori Shinto-ryu?

Shigeo Sugino: That’s right. In all Shinto-ryu there is only one foundation, that just changes depending upon the weapon being used.

Morikawa: Previously I met Shimizu Shihan (Translator’s Note: Takaji Shimizu, the 25th Soke of Shinto Muso-ryu) of the Tokyo Police Department. Shimizu Shihan did many different things, such as jo, kusari-gama (鎖鎌), and hojo-jutsu (捕縄術 – police techniques for tying with rope), but they all came from different schools.

Yoshio Sugino: That’s right, in the case of Mr. Shimizu. He has already been an acquaintance of mine for more than thirty years, and he has mastered each school. In my case the difference is just in Judo, Aikido and kusari-gama. Judo was with the Kodokan, and of course Aikido was with Ueshiba Shihan – when I was studying it was still called Daito-ryu Aiki-jutsu.

Morikawa: I was astonished that you could learn so many really different things at one time. If we studied for a lifetime it’s likely that we wouldn’t be able to do it. Does your family have a heritage of generations of Katori Shinto-ryu swordsmen?

Yoshio Sugino: No, sword is something that I just built in my generation. I have heard that there was a master of the sword some generations ago, but my family were farmers from Naruto-machi Sanbu-gun (武郡成東町) in Chiba Prefecture. We had a large estate and were given the right to a take a surname and bear a sword (苗字帯刀), so we took the name Sugino.

Torii no Kamae / 鳥居の構え

Iizasa Choisai Ienao (飯篠長威斎), Founder of Japanese Kendo

Morikawa: What kind of Shihan did they have in Katori Shinto-ryu?

Yoshio Sugino: They were all top class famous swordsmen. I was trained by four Shihan named Ichizo Shiina (椎名市蔵), Narimichi Tamai (玉井済道), Tanekichi Ito (伊藤種吉) and Sozaemon Kobuki (久保木惚左衛門) (Translator’s Note: these were the four Shihan dispatched to the Kodokan at the request of Jigoro Kano). I went to the dojo in Chiba myself or had them come to my home, I also learned Shinto-ryu bo-jutsu at the Kodokan. After I opened a Judo dojo in Kawasaki I had them come there and trained seriously. For generations the Soke took the name Iizasa Shuri-no-Suke, but at that time Shuri-no-Suke Kinjiro had passed away in his youth and there was no other Shihan. Now the son of Mr. Kinjiro has succeeded him, but he is still a youth in his twenties. However, in the end breeding will tell, so I believe that he will become a top class swordsman worthy of being called a master.

Morikawa: Speaking of Iizasa Choisai, he is someone who left behind achievements great enough to call him the founder of Japanese Kendo, you must think that he was a great swordsman.

Yoshio Sugino: Of course, that’s so. Any historian would call him the founder of Japanese Kendo. Correctly he was Iizasa Iga-no-Kami Ienao (飯篠伊賀守家直), Choisai is the name that took after he secluded himself in the mountains and became a Buddhist monk. He was born in Shimo Katori-gun Iizasa Mura (下総香取郡飯篠 – currently Tako-machi in Chiba Prefecture). In the beginning he served the Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimasa, but his opinions were ignored so he resigned and went to Kanto. There he served the Chiba family, but after they declined he rejected the world, retreated to the mountains and set his sights on Buddhist training. While he was serving the Chiba family he built a small castle in Katori and became its lord. There were only around a hundred retainers, it was a very tiny lordship. At that time he divided all of his lands, assets and monies among the retainers and, penniless, left on his religious training. He was already past 60 years old. He prayed in Katori for one thousand days and one thousand nights, around three years, and then mastered the Way of the Sword.

Katori Jingu / 香取神宮

During this time he experienced a miracle in a dream, a divine message from the Kami “You must become a house for swordsmen, the Interim Reviver (中興の祖 / “Chuku-no-so”) of Japanese Kendo.”. His eyes opened to the secrets of the sword, he developed many students until he passed away in Chokyo year 2 (長享二年 / 1488) at the age of 102 years.

Among those students appeared many master swordsmen, such as Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami (松本備前守), Tsukahara Tosa-no-kami (塚原土佐守 – father of Tsukahara Bokuden), Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami (上泉伊勢守), Morooka Ippa (諸岡一羽斎), Iba Zesuiken (伊庭是水軒), and Itori Kyoun (井鳥巨雲). These each became top class pioneers, and that is why he became, literally, the Interim Reviver of Japanese Kendo.

He moved his residence to Baibokuzan Fudansho (梅木山不断所), on the grounds of Katori Jingu (香取神宮) and prayed earnestly for the divine protection of the great diety. Practicing sword day and night with the plum trees as opponents and shouting vigorously, he devoted himself single-mindedly to his training.

The correct name is Tenshin Shoden Shinto-ryu (天真正伝神道流). Because it began in Katori it is called Katori Shinto-ryu (香取神道流).

Morikawa: It is said that Choisai’s teacher was Kabuto Gyobu-no-sho (鹿伏兎刑部少輔), also there is a legend that his teacher was a Kappa (goblin) who lived in the ocean and was known as Tenshinsho (天真正). This is a kind of legend, but it goes to show just how strong Choisai was.

Shigeo Sugino: In any case, the schools that came from Shinto-ryu dominate most of the Kanto area, it was called the “one wing of Kanto” (関東一羽). In Kansai there was Chujo-ryu (中条流) and others that had formed separate schools.

Morikawa: Is that so? When looking at the line-up of students, Tsukahara Tosa-no-kami was succeeded by his child Bokuden, and from Bokuden-ryu Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami founded Shinkage-ryu (神影流). Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami Naokatsu founded Jikishinkage-ryu (直心影流), Morooka Ippa learned Shinto-ryu, and famous swordsmen like Iwama Oguma (岩間小熊), Tsuchiko Doronosuke (土子泥之助) and Negishi Tokaku (根岸兎角) came from among his students.

In any case, among the schools started after the middle of the Ashikaga period it can be said that there were none that escaped the influence of the three founders Chujo, Iizasa and Matsumoto.

Katori Shinto-ryu’s Lineage

Sugino Ko-tengu

Morikawa: Watching your son’s skills with the sword previously, I see that his sharpness is in no way inferior to yours. You must have trained him hard from the time of his childhood. How old is he now?

Shigeo Sugino: I was born in Showa year 6 (1931). I picked up the sword from the time I was around four or five years old. I trained with my father.

It was certainly difficult and strict, ferocious training. I would be awakened every morning while it was still dark, and doused with water in the winter. Sword, bo, naginata, kodachi, jujutsu, iai, shuriken, kusari-gama, I received training in it all. For that reason, before I entered elementary school I swung my sword in front of Prince Nashimoto-no-miya, and after that gave a demonstration of Katori Shinto-ryu to the Governor of Nara Prefecture. When the Hitler Youth group came a Nazi film crew recorded my presentation of Shinto-ryu kata in detail and took it home with them. That was when I wasn’t even yet ten years old. The pictures in this Katori Shinto-ryu manual come from that time.

Morikawa: Is that so? It’s truly a beautiful, wonderful kata. The kata of Budo are truly beautiful, aren’t they?

Part of a Kata in Katori-Shinto-ryu

Yoshio Sugino: Yes, they are. In ancient jujutsu they would say “Three years of randori, three months of kata”. It may be that a beginner who knows nothing will become strong after three months of randori. However, in the end that is no more than being the strongest of the beginners. Rather than that, they were saying that someone who does kata diligently for three months will be much stronger.

One can understand this if they consider the case of Go or Shogi, no matter how much a complete beginner can win at Go without studying tactics at all, a person who has researched a little bit of tactics will quickly become much stronger.

That’s how strong the tactics, or kata, of our predecessors are in absolute terms.

Etiquette (礼儀作法), flowers, tea, these were all the fruits of the study of the geniuses of the past, born from kata that seek the perfection of skill.

Life is all like that. If one doesn’t study this kata than nothing will develop. Even in baseball, tennis or golf I think that it is the same. In the end, the secret is to concentrate on one basic kata.

For that reason, those who disdain the kata of Budo, saying that they are old, that they have no meaning, are not qualified to discuss Budo. In that vein, art, sports, poetry, literature – all of these things require some qualifications to discuss them, don’t they?

Study the kata completely, and the move freely without being hindered by the kata. However, all of that is kata. This is perfection.

Morikawa: Perhaps this can be understood as Confucius’ “I follow all the desires of my heart without breaking any rule.”.

It may be that Confucius also arrived at that state of mind through intense life studies. In the end fencers must begin from Kata and pass through hard training in order to reach the perfection, beauty and flow of sword that is free of impediment.

Shigeo Sugino: That’s right. In sword as in life, if one is not serious then there will be no way that they can master the Gokui (“secret teachings”) that surpass life and death.

Katori Shinto-ryu Training

Yoshio Sugino: If we put it another way, tactics and Kata are the shortest route to reaching the Gokui. In order to learn and master this “mystic law” or “occult method” I had to go through very hard training in the past.

It is because Kendo is something psychological that those of the past who were called “Kensei” (“sword saints”), whether it was Tsukahara Bokuden, Isobata Banzo or Ito Ittosai, they all spent time alone in the mountains. Those swordsmen seeking to learn this all went to the mountains, first hauling water and gathering firewood. Serving their teacher earnestly they purified themselves and united their body and minds before becoming enlightened to the Okugi (“secrets”), inheriting them and passing them on to later generations as Kata.

Because there are profound depths inside each of these Kata they must not be neglected. They are absolutely something that should be cherished and passed on to future generations.

Next in importance is how one masters those Kata inside of oneself, in other words, how to digest them and make them your own.

Morikawa: In the end there is an individual personality within oneself, so one could say that the foundation is digested into one’s personality, or that one manifests their personality standing upon that foundation, couldn’t you?

Katori Shinto-ryu Kodachi (short sword)

Modern Budo is Sports

Morikawa: Speaking of the kind of Budo training upon which one stakes life and death, the spirit, mindset, and composition of the Budo of the past and the Budo of the present are completely different, aren’t they?

Yoshio Sugino: That is what I am trying to say! As far as I am concerned, Judo and Kendo are not Budo. They are sports. They have gone far away from the most important spirit of Budo.

Dan ranks, competitions, championship – the very existence of terms like these is ridiculous. They are clear proof that these are sports.

When one began to train in the past competitions were strictly prohibited, a violation meant that one would be expelled immediately. Further, the absolute secrecy of the methods extended even to brothers, fellow students. There was a Sempai/Kohai order among fellow students, the Sempai treating the Kohai with kindness, connected by humanity and justice (仁義), and by etiquette.

I wonder how it is today? One often sees XXX 7th Dan or 8th Dan written even on people’s business cards. Then, when they receive a higher Dan rank by recommendation – from that day they puff up their chests and put on a teacher’s face towards others. Things like that are not Budo.

Thinking of it from the fundamentals, in competition rules are defined in order to eliminate threats to one’s life. In Kendo one wears protective gear. Face, hands, torso, however much one strikes outside of the specified areas – in other words, in the areas with no protective gear, one can never score a point. For that reason one can fight freely, with complete freedom, safely and without feeling fear for one’s life. In Judo one wears a Judo-gi and engages in matches limited to a single form. One cannot hold a weapon. What is limited by rules is already a sport. In the end, because there is no danger to one’s life, any cowards can relax and throw each other at ease.

But the true nature of Budo is different. Keeping in mind crossing live sword against live sword, this is the foundation from which it was born, originally one’s life was in danger. For that reason, one was always confronting life and death. In that instant one leaps to grasp a mental state in which the mind is completely focused on one point. In religious terms one reaches a mental state of release from the bonds of birth and death (生死解脱), and one can swing the sword free of impediment. For that reason, competitions were not encouraged, or possible. If one did then there were no alternatives other than taking the other person’s life or dying oneself. At best, one would be crippled. Fights with live swords from this period, with the exception of cases with an extreme difference in skill, usually ended in a single breath. It was certainly nothing like what is seen in movies or on the stage. There is no doubt that it was simple, with very little movement.

Shigeo Sugino: That must be true. For example – even if one wears protective gear on their face and hands like Kendo, when they face off with a bokuto they will suddenly become unable to move. That is because they feel the danger to their life. Further, the final deciding fact in Shinto-ryu is kesagake (“diagonal cut from the shoulder”). Under the rules of Kendo one cannot score a point with kesagake. There are these kinds of absurdities. Everyone aims for the head, and in order to aim for the hachigane (“forehead protector”) they lift their heels. Doing this they will be unable to seat their hips at all, it is unusable in a real fight. In other words, when one imposes the limitations of rules they become captive to them. One becomes obsessed with scoring points, and the root of Budo technique is destroyed. Actually, rather than aiming at the hachigane, aiming for the face guard is far and away more effective.

Yoshio Sugino: As I said before, in Shinto-ryu one does not receive the other’s sword, the moment of receiving is left out and one just cuts directly. If one thinks of facing off in a real fight with live swords then perhaps they may understand. If one actually draws a live sword and thrusts it in front of the eyes the tip of the blade is very frightening. There one discovers how to get through this. In an actual fight there is no time to receive. One does not know how the opponent will change and come at you next. Therefore, we cut the opponent directly from a receiving posture. I taught it just like that in “Yojimbo”. If you observe the flash of the sword when Toshiro Mifune (三船敏郎) cuts Jerry Fujio (ジェリー藤尾) you will understand. I think that it is because he cut without receiving that it has the impact and flavor of an actual confrontation.

Training in Katori Shinto-ryu

Great Actors (名優) and Sword Saints (剣聖)

Morikawa: It came back to me with Yojimbo, but I heard that you have taught sword techniques for many movies and plays.

Yoshio Sugino: Yes, the first time was at the Zenshinza (Translator’s Note: 前進座 a Kabuki theater in Tokyo, built in 1935), when they were performing “”Bansuiin Chobee”” (幡随院長兵衛). Kanemon (翫右衛門) was playing Jurou Zaemon (十郎左衛門) in the scene when Chobee was stabbed and killed in the bath, and I taught them their stances. Next was in “Takadanobaba no Adauchi” (高田の馬場の仇討) at the Zenshinza, with Kanaemon playing Nakayama Yasubee (中山安兵衛). By the way, their sword techniques were exactly the same as those performed by Shodai Danjuro (初代団十郎) and Kikugoro (菊五郎), not even a little bit close to real sword. The Shodai Danjuro of that time felt that preserving the sense of the past was what he wanted, preserving the spirit of the first Danjuro. But if the spirit is not there, then no matter how much you watch all that is left is the old form. That was no good, so I taught them an actual Kata. Then their own style of fighting must have emerged. Not just sword Kata, their own individual spirit was infused wonderfully. As one would expect, I admired them as great actors. At that time I also taught the Naginata of Nagatsugawa Yuhan (中津川祐範) to Bando Choemon (坂東調右衛門). More recently, I taught the sword techniques for the cutting of Sakamoto Ryoma (坂本龍馬) at the Zenshinza.

Morikawa: Did you have a difficult time with the movies?

Yoshio Sugino: During the time of “The Seven Samurai” (七人の侍). At the time there were no fight scene choreographers, so the Director Kurosawa did it all by himself. I thought that was really difficult. Especially, Seiji Miyaguchi (宮口精二) was doing a period drama (時代劇) for the first time, and didn’t even know how to hold a bamboo sword, so he came to my dojo by himself. I taught him specially, and Miyaguchi-san’s sword technique ended up receiving the best reviews. In “The Last Princess” (隠し砦の三悪人), Susumu Fujita also came to visit me, and here you can see his enthusiasm.

Morikawa: Many of them were from the Kurosawa group, weren’t they?

Yoshio Sugino: Yes. Inagaki Sensei’s “Ganryujima” (巌流島), “Duel at Ichijoji Temple” (一乗寺決闘) and “Yagyu Secret Scrolls” (柳生武芸帳) were as well.

Morikawa: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Interview with Yoshio Sugino of Katori Shinto-ryu, 1961 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Aiki Budo is de Weg van Menselijke Ontwikkeling

*This is a Dutch translation of the article “Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development – The philosophy of Aikido…maybe?“, courtesy of Ernesto Lemke of Seikokan Aikido.

De filosofie van Aikido….wellicht?

Ik was door Kisshomaru Ueshiba’s boeken aan het spitten, ‘The Spirit of Aikido’ en ‘De Kunst van Aikido’ en het viel me op dat er in beide boeken nagenoeg geen vermelding stond van Daito-ryu. Uiteraard zijn beide geen historische werken maar ik vond het opvallend vreemd dat er geen melding werd gemaakt van de kunst die Morihei Ueshiba langer dan 20 jaar bestudeerde; de enige kunst waarin hij licentie had om les in te geven; de enige kunst waar hij (naast zijn eigen kunst) ooit certificaten van bekwaamheid in uitgaf.

Ok, laten we doorgaan naar ‘Best Aikido, geschreven door Kisshomaru Ueshiba en Moriteru Ueshiba. Hierin wordt Daito-ryu kort vermeld als een van de vele kunsten die Morihei Ueshiba bestudeerde maar er wordt niets verteld over de diepgang van de studie van die andere kunsten. De tweede editie meld het feit dat, met uitzondering van Daito-ryu, al die kunsten uitermate kort bestudeerd werden al helemaal niet meer.

De tweede editie eindigt met te impliceren dat Morihei zelf ook maar enige wezenlijk verband met Daito-ryu ontkende. Dit is een veel voorkomend thema. Bekijk dit artikel maar eens voor een ander voorbeeld van het verdoezelen van de geschiedenis van Aikido.

Ik weet het, dit is een oud verhaal. De meeste mensen zijn tegenwoordig op de hoogte van de grote technische erfenis die Aikido Daito-ryu schuldig is, hoofdzakelijk door de inspanningen van Stan Pranin van Aikido Journal.

Ter aanvulling, in twee voorgaande Blogs, ‘Kiichi Hogen en het Geheim van Aikido’ en ‘Morihei Ueshiba, Budo en Kamae’ heb ik de mogelijkheden van een verband tussen de kern trainingsmethodes van Morihei Ueshiba en traditionele Chinese krijgskunst paradigma’s verkend.

Maar hoe zit het met de andere helft van de kunst? De grote filosofische en spirituele herbestemming van de krijgskunsten die zogenaamd door Morihei Ueshiba werd geïmplementeerd? 

Aikido is wel ‘De Weg van Harmonie’ en ‘Vredeskunst’ genoemd, een vertrek van het hieraan voorafgaande paradigma van brute destructieve Japanse Budo.

Volgens de Aikikai Hombu dojo website is ‘Het doel van Aikido is niet het perfectioneren van een vaardigheid of het maken van stappen, maar eerder het verbeteren van iemands karakter volgens de wetten der natuur.’ Onthoud dat, we komen daar later op terug.

Maar eerst terug naar de 15e eeuw, naar oud Japan en Iizasa ‘Choisai’ Ienaoko, stichter van Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu.

De rollen van de school openen met dit beroemde spreekwoord van Choisai:

「兵法は平法なり」

‘Methodes van Oorlog worden Methodes van Vrede’.

Er is nog een ander bekend spreekwoord van Choisai:

「太刀を抜かず人に勝つこと神道流の建立なり」

‘Winnen zonder het zwaard te trekken is de basis van Shinto-Ryu.

Klinkt het bekend?

Laten we snel vooruit spoelen naar de 17e eeuw en het Levens Gevende Zwaard van Yagyu Munenori (van ‘The Life-Giving Sword: The Secret Teachings From the House of the Shogun’).

‘Aan dit werk ligt het idee ten grondslag dat het zwaard dat mensen kan doden, daarentegen, een zwaard kan worden dat leven schenkt. In een chaotische samenleving worden vele mensen gedood zonder reden. Het Dood-toebrengende zwaard wordt gebruikt om een chaotische samenleving onder controle te brengen; maar zodra dat gebeurt is, kan datzelfde zwaard niet een Levens-schenkend Zwaard worden?’

En uiteraard kunnen we ook het Judo principe van “自他共栄” (‘wederzijds welzijn en voordeel’) wat best veel lijkt (vind ik) op het Aikid principe van “万有愛護” (‘universele liefhebbende bescherming’).

Sommige mensen, zoals de historicus Karl Friday, beweren zelfs dat de traditionele Japanse scholen vanaf het allereerste begin gericht waren op persoonlijke ontwikkeling (‘Off the Warpath’ van ‘Budo Perspectives’).
We zien dus een patroon ontstaan…

Terwijl we dat in gedachten houden gaan we terug naar ‘Het doel van Aikido is niet het perfectioneren van een vaardigheid of het maken van stappen, maar eerder het verbeteren van iemands karakter volgens de wetten der natuur.’ (weet je nog?)

Hier is een interessante passage, eerst in het Japans, dan in het Nederlands:

合気之武道即ち人間修養の道

合気は気を合はす事である。
宇宙天地森羅万象のすべては融和調和により
て円満に滞りなく動じているのである。その
調和が合気なのである。
合気は自然の気なれば少しの蟠りもなく抗ひもなく合一融和するものである。
人類社会形成においても合気即ち融和調和が
基調でなければならない。
これは合気の大円和という。
暴を奮う者に対しては合気の理に依りこれを
なだめ融和致させ、また敵の既発に対しては
全しく合ひ気の理により敵の攻撃に随い転化
または変更して融和致さすのである。
悟人は流祖新羅三郎源義光公より傳承したる
合気之術を基本と躰術（柔）太力之術創術棒
術等の武術を修行して合気之武道即ち人間修
養の道に迄至達せねばならね。

‘Aiki Budo is de Weg van Menselijke Ontwikkeling’

Aiki is het passend maken van Ki.
Door deze harmonieuze verzoening bewegen alle verschijnselen zich vredig en ongestoord onder hemel en aarde in het universum. Deze harmonisatie is Aiki.
Aangezien de Ki van Aiki natuurlijk is unificeert en verzoent deze zich zonder de minste weerstand of negatief gevoel.
De harmonieuze verzoening die Aiki os moet de basis vormen voor de formatie van de menselijke samenleving.
Dit is de Grote Cirkel van Harmonie (Daienwa) van Aiki.
Pacificeer en verzoen hen die met geweld dreigen met behulp van de principes van Aiki. Als de vijand al heeft aangevallen, verander en transformeer de aanval van de vijand en verzoen volledig door de principes van het passend maken van Ki.
Verlichte mensen hebben deze transmissie ontvangen van de Grondlegger, Shinra Saburo Minamoto Yoshimitsu en moeten vroom trainen in de basis van Aiki no Jutsu alsmede Taijutsu (Yawara), Tachi no Jutsu, Sojutsu en Bojutsu om de staat te bereiken waar Aiki Budo de Weg van Menselijke Ontwikkeling is.

Deze erg interessante passage is van een rol geschreven door Yukiyoshi Sagawa die hing aan de muur van zijn Dojo. Een foto van de rol is boven dit artikel te zien en verschijnt in Kimura Tatsuo’s boek ‘Discovering Aiki’ (“合気修得への道“) maar in tegenstelling tot de rest van het boek was dit niet vertaald in het Engels.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa was een interessant figuur. Hij was daadwerkelijk aanwezig in de kamer toen Morihei Ueshiba aan Sokaku Takeda werd voorgesteld in de Hisada Herberg in Hokkaido in 1915. Het respect voor hem binnen de Daito-ryu gemeenschap was zo groot dat de Takeda familie hem in 1954 vroeg of hij het leiderschap op zich wou nemen, hetgeen hij afsloeg.

Sagawa had niet echt contact met Ueshiba na 1915. Hij behoorde niet tot een ‘Aikido’ organisatie of de lijn van Morihei Ueshiba, behalve dan dat beide onder dezelfde leraar trainden.

Hij stond erom bekend openlijk kritisch te zijn op zowel Aikido en Aikido Grondlegger Morihei Ueshiba.

En toch kon de rol die aan de muur in zijn Dojo hing en die zijn kunst beschreef net zo makkelijk geschreven zijn door Morihei Ueshiba als een beschrijving van diens kunst Aikido.

Misschien is Aikido niet de enige kunst met een hoger moreel bereik. Dat andere kunsten, honderden jaren lang, ook dezelfde of soortgelijke doelen en ethiek hebben verkondigd.

Is dit belangrijk?

Verandert het ook maar iets aan wat Morihei Ueshiba tijdens zijn leven deed?

Doet het ertoe als hij de erfgenaam was van een technische en filosofische traditie en niet diens schepper?

Niet echt. Morihei Ueshiba deed alles wat hij deed zelfs als zijn ideeën niet uniek waren.

Niets wat hier gezegd is doet afbreuk aan zijn vaardigheid of prestaties.

Is het niet zo dat de voortdurende poging om de legende van de Grondlegger te ‘vergroten’ hem eigenlijk meer kwaad doet dan goed? Erger zelfs, heeft het niet de neiging om de inspanningen van hen die hem volgen te belemmeren? Wie kan er immers in de voetstappen treden van een god – en is dat niet waar de verafgoding van de Grondlegger eigenlijk naar toe leidt?

Mijn echte hoop is dat deze, en andere conversaties zoals deze, mensen zal aanmoedigen om de legende te onderzoeken die rond de Grondlegger en zijn kunst is opgebouwd, al realiserend dat hem geen kwaad kan worden toegebracht door een meer accurate weergave van de geschiedenis en zijn plek daarin.

Om af te ronden, een aantal notities op de vertaling van bovenstaande passage.

Als je kijkt naar de eerste zin ‘Aiki is het passend maken van Ki’, valt het je misschien op dat ik in het bijzonder ‘awasu’ niet heb vertaald als ‘harmoniseer’.

‘Awasu’ is dezelfde Kanji als ‘Ai’ in ‘Aiki’en zoals we allemaal weten wordt dit meestal (doorgaans?) vertaald met ‘harmonie.’

Hoewel er zeker enige elementen van ‘harmonie’ in dat karakter zitten is de eigenlijke betekenis er een van ‘samenkomen’, ‘koppeling’ of ‘passend maken.’

Het verschil is naar mijn mening belangrijk voor bepaalde manieren van trainen.

Ten tweede vertaalde ik “融和” als ‘verzoening’. Het gevoel hierbij, in mijn lezing, is het bij elkaar brengen van twee tegengestelden en het is in dat opzicht dat ik ‘verzoening’ hanteer.

Aanhangers van een bepaald type trainen zouden de implicaties van beide keuzes in de vertaling onmiddellijk moeten herkennen.

(Vertaald door Ernesto Lemke)

Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI      

The post Aiki Budo is de Weg van Menselijke Ontwikkeling [Dutch Version] appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

From left to right: Lujian Xing, Moriteru Ueshiba, Kisshomaru Ueshiba,
Yucai Qiu (All China Sports Federation), Tetsutaka Sugawara
from “Aikido and Chinese Martial Arts: Its Fundamental Relations”
by Tetsutaka Sugawara and Lujian Xing

“At the master level, all boxing becomes one. All is moving with the tanden.”

“Internal Strength” magazine was published by Mike Sigman in 1993 and 1994. Only six issues were ever published, and it is no longer generally available, but some of the articles have been archived on the “Internal Strength” website.

A friend of Mike’s, Mike Jones, later started “Internal Martial Arts” magazine using the same formatting as the old “Internal Strength” magazine.

Mike (Sigman) sent me this article about Tetsutaka Sugawara (菅原鉄孝) by Jason Chung from issue 6 of “Internal Martial Arts” and suggested that I post it here so that it would remain available to the general public. It was relevant to discussions that were going on in April 2000, and I hope that it you will find that it is still relevant to discussions ongoing today.

While I was living in Japan I met Tetsutaka Sugawara through one of my instructors, Hiroyuki Hasegawa (長谷川弘幸), who trained with him in Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū (天真正伝香取神道流) , and I have always been impressed by the variety and depth of his research projects.

Here is a short biography from the Sugawara Budo website (also known as the Sugawara Martial Arts Institute / 菅原総合武道研究所):

Tetsutaka Sugawara was born in Hokkaido in 1941. In 1960, he began Aikido at the Hombu Dojo, Tokyo, under O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido. In 1961, he became uchideshi under O-Sensei at the Ibaraki Dojo.

In 1964, he returned to Tokyo and entered Chuo University. In 1973, he established Minato Research and Publishing Co. (currently Sugawara Martial Arts Institute, Inc.) In 1975, he entered the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu receiving the ‘kyoshi’ instructor’s license in 1986.

April 1992, introduced Aikido to Shanghai Institute of Physical Education, Beijing University of Medical Science. November 1992, received Kyoshi-license of Okinawan Goju-ryu Karatedo by Yasuichi Miyagi. June 1993, introduced Aikido to Wuhan Institute of Physical Education, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medical Science in China. May 1995, received Aikido 7th Dan by Kisshomaru Ueshiba. Introduced Aikido to Chengdu Institute of Physical Education in China. Received the Lecturer’s License of Shanghai Institute of P.E. He is currently visiting 12 countries teaching Aikido and Katori Shinto Ryu. 

Tetsutaka Sugawara: Aikido and Taiji

by Jayson Chung – © Six Harmonies Press, Michael W. Jones, Editor/Publisher
from Internal Martial Arts magazine, Issue 6 (April 2000)

It is a given in Aikido that the many spiraling movements of one’s arms and hands as one performs throws, take-downs and controls should be an integrated component of some seamless, whole body movement. We are told that power should emanate from the center through a relaxed body, a quality easier to discuss enthusiastically over a beer after practice, of course, than to exhibit on the mat.

My brief initial exposure to Taiji through a Zheng Manqing (Ch’eng Man-ching) style class had impressed me regarding how I could improve my Aikido posture and leg work by using Taiji methods. Later, when I first began to make progress in “solving” Chen style Taijiquan silk-reeling exercises, I realized that here was a key to the spiraling coordinations that I was trying to work out on the Aikido mat.

Tetsutaka Sugawara’s visit to Madison, Wisconsin gave me an opportunity to speak to another Aikidoist in depth with similar enthusiasm for Taijiquan — but, unlike me, deep experience and formidable skill, to boot — about the influence of Taijiquan on his Aikido. I should point out that this article is a one-way look at the relationship between Taiji practice and Aikido practice. That is, my conversation with Sugawara Sensei focused on his constructive criticism of various aspects of Aikido training that Taijiquan practice could possibly help to address.

At one point, I asked Sugawara Sensei what Aikido practices or ideas could help improve Taijiquan training. Sugawara’s straightforward answer was that since he was only learning Taijiquan and was not accomplished at it, he could not offer any opinions on that.

Crossover Interests

Tetsutaka Sugawara was first introduced to Taijiquan during a trip to China to research the background of Gojuryu Karatedo with a colleague who is an instructor in that art. Sugawara Sensei has traveled to China a number of times to establish cross-cultural relationships and conduct research into martial arts, especially sword arts.

In Fuzhou, Sugawara met Xing Yanling, who taught Chinese martial arts at Fujian Medical College. Xing Yanling had studied Taijiquan at Fujian Teachers College and Wuhan Institute of Physical Culture. Eager to learn Taiji, Sugawara invited Xing Yanling, who wanted to go to Japan to study the Japanese language, to teach Taiji at his Aikido dojo in Tokyo. For ten years now, she has taught Taiji in Tokyo and studied Aikido with Sugarawara.

Sugawara Sensei’s Taiji practice is based on simplified forms. He first learned the 24- and 48-movement simplified forms and then studied the Chen style 36-movement simplified form based on the Laojia Yilu. Tetsutaka Sugawara, Xing Yanling and Xing Lujian (no relation to Yanling), another Chinese martial artist who studies and teaches at Sugawara’s dojo, collaboratively explore the possibilities of combining ideas and techniques of Aikido, Taijiquan and other arts.

Evidence of this showed up as Sugawara taught an Aikido seminar in Madison. On a more visible level, his techniques were liberally sprinkled with joint locks and pins that were as likely to be drawn from Chinese qinna as from the orthodox vocabulary of Aikido controlling techniques. He said that the typical position of an Aikidoist in hanmi (Aikido’s basic triangle stance) was “not so perfect,” and he favored lowering the hips more in the “sunk” style of Taiji.

Also, he taught a modified form of the open posture and stance used in the foundational exercise tai no tenkan. In the traditional stance, the arms are extended with palms facing skyward. In Sugawara Sensei’s variation, the arms are somewhat less open and held with more curvature and the palms are turned inward. The arm posture bears a similarity to a “holding ball” arm position of Taiji standing practice. Sugawara favors this variation because he feels it strengthens the body posture and makes the arms more stable against forces from various angles.

Warm-up routines included separate exercises focusing on hip rotations and waist rotations. This emphasis on delineating hip and waist movements is not commonly seen in Aikido and reflects Sugawara’s Chen style Taiji interests. Some whole-body exercises he taught consisted of soft, spiraling movements that reminded me of Chen style silk reeling exercises. Sugawara was not familiar with the term English term “silk reeling” or my rendition of the Chinese equivalent. However, he explained to me that the point of the exercises was to use all of the body’s joints together. He showed how the exercise could be done in, outwardly, a similar manner by just using “hand work,” and then showed proper whole body usage employing all the joints to produce movements alternating between forward and back, up and down.

Tanden (Dantian) Usage

On a subtler level, as Sugawara Sensei performed some techniques, I noticed that his midsection appeared more mobile than customarily seeen among Aikido practitioners. In Aikido, upper body movements generally are driven by the twisting of hips and, to a lesser extent, waist and the folding or unfolding of the hip joints, which is matched by an overall closing or opening along the spine.

In some of Sugawara’s movements, however, a more pronounced use of the waist was evident. For example, in a kokyu nage throw directed to the rear, a subtle vertical rolling of the midsection led the sweeping movements of the arms.

In seated kokyu tanden ho (an exercise wherein one practitioner tries to connect with, then un-center his partner who grabs him by the wrists), Sugawara’s midsection rolled to the side and forward as he directed his power through his partner’s center and toppled the partner to one side.

Sugawara Sensei did not make much of these torso habits during the seminar classes, but when I asked about them privately, he showed how their purpose was to direct his power in particular directions. He said that Aikidoists need much more tanden (equivalent to Chinese dantian) training. Evidently, for Sugawara, Chinese internal exercises address this need quite well.

“Lots of times,” he said, “we use too much arm, not enough tanden.” The power should always come from the tanden and then be transferred through the body, through the arm, to the tip of the weapon, or the hand and fingers.

Circles and Spirals

When I asked him what Taiji principle he felt was the most important, he replied, “Spirals,” and when I asked what Taiji skills could help improve Aikidoists’ proficiency, he replied that Aikido students’ movements could be more circular. In many Aikido students’ technique, he explained, only the stepping is circular. (Interestingly, as I alluded in the Spotlight article in Internal Martial Arts, Issue 5, February, 2000), on the level of stepping, many of Sugawara’s movements seem assertively linear.)

Sugawara said that in Taiji, all parts of the body are circling. The wrist circles, the shoulder circles; ankles, knees and hips circle. The whole body, in addition to the stepping, is turning and spiraling. Although spiral movements are expressed in many, many Aikido techniques, the current Aikido student, he felt, did not have a good understanding of that principle. “We need to look at different styles,” he said, to improve our Aikido learning.

He also talked about spirals in terms of the tactical benefit of three-dimensional movements. Movement in all three dimensions is contained within the spiral. Sugawara said the Founder of Aikido taught the importance of that idea. Sugawara is careful to build that idea into his practice and teaching, both with regard to empty-hand and weapons training. He showed how spiral movements enabled one to be “very changeable,” how one could continuously adjust one’s attack using a spiral course, and how a partner’s attack along one dimension would suggest, through spiral movement, a counterattack along one of the other dimensions. During the seminar, he had students practice sequences that demonstrated spiral adjustments to one’s partner’s changes in direction.

Sugawara Sensei said his Taiji studies have helped him to better use twisting in his body and to keep the legs and knees flexible. He has developed new sword training routines, both for Katori and for Aikido, to emphasize these body skills and take advantage of spiraling, three-dimensional tactics. As he showed examples, the vertical dimension was sometimes given great emphasis by his extending a technique smoothly through standing and kneeling positions. “Sure, sure, because it (i.e., kneeling seiza) is Japanese custom,” he explained with a laugh.

Softness and Relaxation

To Sugawara Sensei, Taiji practice also can enhance Aikido competence in the area of developing proper softness and relaxation. In his eyes, softness and “warmth” in the quality of contact are more present, and clutching and grabbing less so, in Taiji practice than in Aikido practice.

Sugawara said the Founder tried to explain about harmonizing ki; and that was the goal of the Founder’s Aikido. “To feel partner’s feeling and spirit, then to change and flow . . . to catch partner’s spirit, this is the aiki situation,” he said. Modern martial arts are too stiff, Sugawara feels, and, unfortunately, Aikido is not an exception.

As an example, many Aikido teachers focus on the use of the hand as a blade (the familiar concept of tegatana, meaning hand-sword, reflects the derivation of basic Aikido techniques from sword movements), but Sugawara feels this is too limiting. “We should use all our surface in training, not only this edge,” he said. “If the hand is hard, the palm is tight, you cannot feel anything.”

Also, while taking ukemi (the role of uke, the partner who “receives” the technique being practiced), Aikidoists tend to use a very strong, hard grip to grab their partner. This kind of grip deadens one’s sensitivity and makes it difficult to detect partner’s changes and vary one’s movements accordingly. Sugawara advised Aikido students to study this point every day. “Current Aikido students, grabbing so strong. Everyone gripping, gripping, gripping. I want to change this situation. Too much grabbing. We must stop!” he said with enthusiasm.

One does need to know how to grab, however, especially when using weapons. Sugawara said the Katori technique, which he preferred, was to think of touching the thumb and middle finger together when one grabbed. Aikidoists are typically taught to grab hardest with the little and ring fingers. Sugawara believes the Katori approach gives a strong grip that is softer and warmer than the Aikido grip. It also lessens the likelihood that one will extend the index finger out in a vulnerable position, a bad habit which the Aikido grip tends to produce.

Sugawara Sensei taught a variation on the foundational exercise tai no tenkan that injected a more martial or self-defense flavor into the exercise while reflecting his concern about softness, warmth and sensitivity. The tenkan exercise involves executing a body turn to slightly redirect one’s partner’s attack and upset his equilibrium without interrupting his forward momentum.

In its basic form, the movement starts from a wrist grab and results in nage (the one “giving” the technique) standing almost in a mirror stance next to uke. The two are still connected by the wrist grab; however, the integrity of uke’s stance has been broken.

In Sugawara’s variation, nage turns slightly farther than 180 degrees, bringing his side against uke’s elbow, which already is in a weak, twisted-inward position as a result of the tenkan movement. This body contact against the vulnerable elbow provides an additional control point or can represent an attack against that joint.

During practice of this variation, nage’s body should make very full, soft contact against partner’s elbow. The body’s pressure against the elbow should be warm, as if it were a hand. Nage’s task was difficult to execute, but uke’s role was equally challenging.

Uke’s natural tendency was to tense his arm, and his body, against the pressure exerted by nage’s body. However, Sugawara stressed that it was uke’s objective, as well as nage’s, to make the contact full and soft. Any response from uke must be through an adjustment or movement of his whole body, not through any resistance of the arm. This small variation on tenkan, which emphasized the importance of softness and sensitivity for the sake of safety and practical skill, greatly increased the complexity of a familiar exercise.

Kokyu and Breath Power

While Sugawara Sensei is keenly interested in the varied benefits that different martial arts can bring to his practice, he is of the mind that all martial arts depend on the same core principles when practiced at a high level. For example, he said that, “At the master level, all boxing becomes one. All is moving with the tanden.” When I asked Sugawara about kokyu (which refers to the breathing or breath energy that animates movements or technique), he also said he felt the use of breathing is the same in Aikido, Taijiquan and Karate.

Sugawara pointed out that meditation style breathing and martial arts style breathing both differ from normal breathing but in contrasting ways. In normal breathing, inhalations and exhalations follow each other continuously. In meditation style breathing, an inhalation is followed by an exhalation and then a pause. In martial arts breathing, one inhales and then pauses slightly before releasing the breath in exhalation. However, he said it was not necessary to study breathing so explicitly. He felt that if one continued to study Aikido, or Katori, or Taiji or some other art, then one would naturally master the correct breathing for martial arts.

Sugawara Sensei used the word “keep” to describe martial breathing. At the top of the inhalation, there is a “little keeping” of the breath. This is a very important juncture in the execution of a movement. Then, on the exhalation, one does not just let the breath pour out but instead “keeps” or “saves” some breath while exhaling. The breath is not emptied altogether but measured out, to some degree, even during a rapid exhalation. Sugawara demonstrated with markedly aspirated strong abdominal exhalations. He also used the example of a big sneeze to help explain the rhythm of a powerful breath cycle. According to Sugawara, this is an important aspect of kokyu, although not understood well by many Aikidoists.

Sugawara said he believed Aikido’s breath power, or kokyu-roku, was the same as the breathing used to drive powerful movements in Taijiquan, and he regarded the particular use of the breath cycle to be at the heart of the internal approach to martial arts. The function of the inhalation is to store power (he said, “keep power to the tanden”). The out-breath releases that power.

Proper timing of the breath cycle is crucial. At first, the use of kokyu-roku may be too slow to be realistically functional, but with training it becomes instantaneous, and one matches the attack of one’s partner with kokyu. Sugawara noted, however, that in Aikido, where one typically trains with a partner, power normally is regulated, and some is kept in reserve. It would be very difficult and dangerous to use sudden, hard power in this kind of practice. Aikido practice techniques allow students to develop power while working with partners, and the release of the power is measured or gradual. The power can be soft or partially hard, but is not sudden and totally hard.

Accommodations can be made, however, as Sugawara showed during his seminar with a variation of a familiar kokyu-nage. The reference for this variation is a technique performed against an uke grabbing both of nage’s wrists that involves nage sliding behind uke and throwing him to the side and rear. In Sugawara’s variation, the circular sweep of nage’s arms was replaced by a sudden double-armed thrust as nage slid in behind uke’s center. (Photo above shows TS, without partner, loading up for such a thrust.) Because the thrust was aimed across, not at, uke’s body, the result was a throw (or should have been — we students had difficulty mustering the coordination needed to adequately power the release against partner’s grab) rather than a non-Aikido-like direct hit.

Sugawara said that students also could practice the sudden release of power in a modified Aikido context if uke, by prior agreement, escaped from the technique at the proper time. This would allow nage to complete the execution of the technique using full breathing power. This is a special circumstance, however, as it requires uke to withdraw from the actively engaged role of taking ukemi, which is central to Aikido practice. Weapons kata, of course, gives Aikido students a more orthodox opportunity to practice with kokyu. The principle is the same, with the goal being to transfer body power to the tip of the sword.

Always study

Sugawara Sensei mentioned the benefit of looking at other styles and points of views so often that this article must close on that note. He said that the Founder was a good model, having studied and borrowed from many other martial arts styles himself. O-Sensei also incorporated spiritual and religious influences into his art, of course, and some Aikido instructors put a lot of emphasis on those aspects. Some even tend to deify the Founder himself. Sugawara is not fond of this approach, because it tends to keep practitioners from critically evaluating what they know and what they have been taught. He feels Aikido needs more of a scientific approach.

Sugawara takes a cautious view concerning how much one really understands of what one has been shown and taught. Many claim to faithfully represent the essence of an art as passed down from their teachers. However, that assumes that one’s grasp of the knowledge that was conveyed was complete and accurate in the first place. Sugawara seems to prefer not to make that assumption. He is very aware that a martial artist’s understanding is shaped by the specific circumstances of his exposure to teachings, his ability to grasp what is being taught, and the teacher’s level of skill and point of view at the time he was taught. Therefore, rather than project some kind of orthodoxy, he prefers to continually examine his practice for flaws and seek ideas from elsewhere in order to test what he knows.

Sugawara Sensei noted that many instructors today are very busy teaching and, therefore, have little time to study. He cautions that it is necessary to continue to be a student, and to study every day.

Afterword:

A number of interesting videos of Sugawara Sensei are available from the Traditional Aikido of Santa Rosa website, including some videos of his Taichi style Aikido 42 Forms, in which he expresses Aikido principles in a Taichi-like format. I believe that I saw the first public demonstrations of these forms in Machida, Japan, in 2003.

Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI      

The post Tetsutaka Sugawara: Aikido and Taiji appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development

The philosophy of Aikido…maybe?

I was looking through Kisshomaru Ueshiba’s books “The Spirit of Aikido” and “The Art of Aikido” and I happened to notice that there is virtually no mention of Daito-ryu in either one. Of course, neither of them are historical works, but I thought it odd that there was no mention of the art that Morihei Ueshiba has studied for over 20 years, the only art that he was ever licensed to teach, the only art (outside of his own) in which he ever issued certificates of rank.

OK, moving along to “Best Aikido“, written by Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Moriteru Ueshiba. In this one there is a short mention of Daito-ryu as one of the many arts that Morihei Ueshiba studied, but no mention is made of the relative depth of study of those arts – the section entirely fails to note the fact that, with the exception of Daito-ryu, all of those arts were studied for very brief periods of time. 

The section ends by implying that Morihei himself denied any substantial connection with Daito-ryu. This is a common theme, check out this article for another example of the sanitizing of the history of Aikido.

I know, this is kind of an old story – most people these days have been made aware of the great technical debt that Aikido owes to Daito-ryu, primarily through the efforts of Stan Pranin at Aikido Journal.

Additionally, in two previous posts, “Kiichi Hogen and the Secret of Aikido“, and “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae” I explored the possibility of ties between the core training methods of Morihei Ueshiba and traditional Chinese martial training paradigms.

But what about the other half of the art – the great philosophical and spiritual repurposing of the martial arts that was supposedly implemented by Morihei Ueshiba?

Aikido has been called “The Way of Harmony” and “The Art of Peace”, a departure from the previous paradigm of brutal and destructive Japanese Budo.

According to the Aikikai Hombu dojo website “The goal of Aikido training is not perfection of a step or skill, but rather improving one’s character according to the rules of nature.”. Remember that, we’ll come back to it later.

But first, let’s go back to the 1400’s, to ancient Japan and Iizasa ‘Choisai’ Ienaoko, founder of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu.

The scrolls of the school open with this famous proverb from Choisai:

「兵法は平法なり」

“Methods of War become Methods of Peace”.

There there’s another common proverb from Choisai:

「太刀を抜かず人に勝つこと神道流の建立なり」

“Winning without drawing the sword is the foundation of Shinto-Ryu.”

Sound familiar?

There’s also Chujo-ryu, also from that same time period some six-hundred years before Morihei Ueshiba. In the secret transmission (秘伝) of Chujo-ryu “Heiho” (the “Methods of War” from above) is also written “Heiho” (平法) – “Methods of Peace”, explaining that “To love war is not the way”. This same principle is expressed in the first scroll of Itto-ryu, which would go on to become on of the major influences on modern Kendo (thanks to Itto-ryu practitioner Mark Hague for pointing that out).

Then we can fast forward to the 1600’s and the Life Giving Sword of Yagyu Munenori (from “The Life-Giving Sword: The Secret Teachings From the House of the Shogun“):

“At the heart of this work is the idea that the sword that kills people can, on the contrary, become a sword that gives them life. In a chaotic society, many people are killed for no reason. The Death-dealing sword is used to bring a chaotic society under control; but once it has been done, cannot that same sword become a Life-Giving Sword?”

And of course, we could also mention the Judo maxim of “自他共栄”（”mutual welfare and benefit”), which sounds pretty close (to me) to the Aikido maxim of “万有愛護” (“universal loving protection”).

Some people, like historian Karl Friday, have even argued that the traditional Japanese schools were, from the very beginning, focused on personal development (“Off the Warpath”, from “Budo Perspectives“).

So we see a pattern developing….

The plot thickens with these statements from Tokimune Takeda, the son of Morihei Ueshiba’s teacher Sokaku Takeda and the Soke of Daito-ryu Aiki Budo:

“The essential principles of Daito-ryu are Love and Harmony” “The goal of spreading Daito-ryu is ‘Harmony and Love’, keeping this spirit is what preserves and realizes social justice. This was Sokaku Sensei’s dying wish”

Then, we have Masao Hayashima (早島正雄), who trained with both Sokaku Takeda and Sokaku Takeda’s student Toshimi Matsuda.

“Daoist Aikijutsu – the volume of Internal Power” (道教合気術・内功の巻)
by Masao Hayashima

A teacher of Daoism and Daito-ryu, on the very first page of his book he states “Aiki-jutsu is said to be the Budo of Harmony”.

With that in mind, let’s move back to “The goal of Aikido training is not perfection of a step or skill, but rather improving one’s character according to the rules of nature.” (remember that from before?).

Here’s an interesting passage, first in Japanese, and then in English:

合気之武道即ち人間修養の道

合気は気を合はす事である。
宇宙天地森羅万象のすべては融和調和により
て円満に滞りなく動じているのである。その
調和が合気なのである。
合気は自然の気なれば少しの蟠りもなく抗ひもなく合一融和するものである。
人類社会形成においても合気即ち融和調和が
基調でなければならない。
これは合気の大円和という。
暴を奮う者に対しては合気の理に依りこれを
なだめ融和致させ、また敵の既発に対しては
同じく合い気の理により敵の攻撃に随い転化
または変更して融和致さすのである。
悟人は流祖新羅三郎源義光公より傳承したる
合気之術を基本と躰術（柔）太力之術創術棒
術等の武術を修行して合気之武道即ち人間修
養の道に迄至達せねばならね。

“Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development”

Aiki is the fitting together of Ki.
Through this harmonious reconciliation all things under heaven and earth in the universe move peacefully without disturbance. This harmonization is Aiki.
As the Ki of Aiki is natural it unifies and reconciles without the slightest ill feeling or resistance.
The harmonious reconciliation that is Aiki must be the basis for the formation of human society.
This is the Great Circle of Harmony (Daienwa) of Aiki.
Through the principles of Aiki pacify and reconcile those threatening violence. Also when the enemy has already attacked, likewise transform and change according to the attack of the enemy through the principles of fitting together Ki and achieve reconciliation.
Enlightened people have received this transmission from the Founder, Shinra Saburo Minamoto Yoshimitsu, and must train devoutly in the basics of Aiki no Jutsu as well as Taijutsu (Yawara), Tachi no Jutsu, Sojutsu, and Bojutsu to attain the state where Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development.

This very interesting passage is from a scroll written by Yukiyoshi Sagawa, that he hung on the wall of his Dojo. A picture of the actual scroll appears at the top of this article, and appears in Kimura Tatsuo’s book “Discovering Aiki” (“合気修得への道“) but, unlike most of the rest of the book, was not translated into English.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa was an interesting character. He was actually in the room when Morihei Ueshiba was introduced to Sokaku Takeda at the Hisada Inn in Hokkaido in 1915. Respect for him in the Daito Ryu community was so great that in 1954 the Takeda family actually asked him to succeed to the leadership of Daito-ryu, which he eventually refused.

Sagawa really had no contact with Ueshiba after 1915, did not belong to an “Aikido” organization or the lineage of Morihei Ueshiba, except that they both trained under the same teacher.

He was known to be openly critical of both Aikido and Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.

And yet – the scroll hanging on the wall of his Dojo and describing his art could easily have been written by Morihei Ueshiba as a description of his own art of Aikido.

Perhaps then, Aikido is not the only art with a higher moral compass. That other arts have, for hundreds of years, professed the same or similar goals and ethics.

It it important?

Does this change anything that Morihei Ueshiba did in his life?

Does it matter if he was the inheritor of a technical and philosophical tradition and not its originator?

Not really, everything that Morihei Ueshiba did he did even if he and his ideas weren’t unique.

Nothing that is said here lessens any of his skills or accomplishments.

Doesn’t the continuing effort to “enhance” the legend of the Founder actually do him more of a disservice than anything else? Worse, doesn’t it tend to stunt the efforts of those following him? Who, after all, can ever hope to follow in the footsteps of a god – and isn’t that what the deification of the Founder is really headed towards?

My real hope here is that this and other conversations like this will encourage people to examine the legend that has been built around the Founder and his art, and to realize that no harm can come to him from a more accurate rendering of history and his place in it.

Now, to finish up, a couple of notes on the translation of the above passage.

If you look at the first sentence “Aiki is the fitting together of Ki.” you may notice that I specifically did not translate “awasu” as “harmonize”。

“Awasu” is the same Kanji as “Ai” in “Aiki”, and as we all know this is often (usually?) translated as “harmonize”.

Although there are certainly some elements of “harmony” in the character, the actual meaning is one of “joining”, “matching” or “fitting together”.

The difference is important, in my opinion, to certain types of training.

Secondly, I translated “融和” as “reconciliation”. The sense of this, in my reading, is the bringing together of two opposites, and it is in this sense that I used “reconciliation”.

Advocates of a certain type of training should recognize the implications of both of these choices in translation immediately.

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

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