Morihei Ueshiba is rightly known as one of the
world's greatest martial artists for his creation of
aikido, the synthesis of his superb technique and his
profound spiritual insight into the nature of the
universe. Aikido is much more than just another fighting
style, it is a holistic approach to life that Morihei
described as "a divine path inspired by the gods that
leads to truth, goodness, and beauty." Sadly, Morihei
left few writings to explain his martial arts
philosophy, preferring to teach his disciples by direct
example. Aikido students will be familiar with
photographs and film footage of Morihei as an old man,
effortlessly defeating his much younger opponents, but
very little has been published about Morihei's prewar
years, when he was perfecting aiki-budo, as aikido was
then known. In 1938 Morihei wrote Budo (Martial Way) as
an instruction manual and a statement of the aims and
spirit of his martial arts philosophy. Budo, however,
was never made available to the general public, and it
even contains the injunction that "these techniques ...
should not be disclosed indiscriminately to the public."
Now with the worldwide popularity of aikido rivaling
that of judo and karate-do, the Aikikai Foundation and
the Ueshiba family have decided that it is time for this
historic treatise of the martial arts to be translated
into English, and made available to general readers and
students of aikido all over the world. Reproduced
faithfully from the original, this seminal work contains
one of the founder's few personal statements of his
basic principles, expressed both in prose and mystical
poetry. The text is accompanied by photographs of
Morihei illustrating the aikido techniques he describes.
This martial arts classic is preceded by an introductory
biographical essay on Morihei by his son Kisshomaru
Ueshiba, the present chairman of the Aikikai Foundation.
This enlightening work recounts the founder's early
life, his inspirational 'encounter with the religious
mystic Onisaburo Deguchi, and the spiritual revelations
that led him to develop the art of aikido. The volume
concludes with a series of action photographs of the
founder demonstrating aikido techniques, taken at a
private dojo in Tokyo in 1936. This section also
includes selected photographs of Morihei in action in
1951. The more than 400 historic photographs shown here
provide an unequalled opportunity to observe the
lifelong devotion to aikido and the continuity of
performance that characterized Morihei's approach to his
art.
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