History
Aiki and Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu
Aiki, the core concept of aikido, can be traced back to martial arts literature of the Edo era. According to Toka Mondo (Candlelight Discussion), written by the master of Kito-ryu Jujutsu in 1764, aiki means that two fighters come to a standstill in a martial arts bout when they have focused their attention on each other’s breathing. Many other authors in the 1800’s gave similar definitions. However, the volume entitled Budo-hiketsu Aiki no Jutsu (Secret Keys to Martial Arts Techniques) published in 1892 gave a new definition of the term. It says that aiki is the ultimate goal in the study of martial arts and may be accomplished by taking a step ahead of the enemy.
According to the volume, the prerequisites for such a preemptive move are to read the enemy’s mind and use a battle cry. Unfortunately, no details on specific exercises have been recorded.
It is no longer possible to reconstruct the precise definition of aiki in the Daito-ryu school of jujutsu. This is primarily because Takeda closely guarded his technical secrets, as earlier martial arts practitioners had done, and chose not to transcribe his teachings in written form. However, Nenokichi Sagawa, one of Takeda’s closest followers, mentions that it was mentioned sporadically in Takeda’s 1913 notebook, “Exercise aiki”. This suggests that Daito-ryu Jujutsu practitioners had used the term aiki and practiced techniques developed through this concept even before they changed the name of their school to Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu. Nevertheless, Takeda’s failure to leave a clear-cut definition of aiki led to ambiguity in Ueshiba’s interpretation, although Takeda still appointed Ueshiba to the important post of acting instructor. Later, as Ueshiba’s school grew, his disciples and followers added some new meanings to aiki to compensate for the ambiguity. Since the term is composed of a combination of two Chinese characters-ai (unification) and ki (spirit or mind: they decided that aikido is a way to become one with the universe or harmonize with the movement and rhythm of nature.
Ueshiba was only one of many Daito-ryu Jujutsu instructors who graduated from Takeda’s school. There are many outstanding practitioners who trained with him and later organized their own schools under the name Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu. Taiso Horikawa and his son Kodo Horikawa (1894-1980) are prime examples. Kodo organized Kodo-kai in 1950. Another school called Roppo-kai is a splinter group of Kodo- kai. Takuma Hisa (1895-1979) was the only person to whom Takeda granted menkyo kaiden (the highest-level teaching credentials) in Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu. This loyal student initiated Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu Takuma-kai in 1975. Toshimi Matsuda (1895-?) was another talented student of Takeda. Ryuho Okuyama, one of Matsuda’s students, later established Hakko- ryu. Yukiyoshi Sagawa (1902- ), another highly credited practitioner, is now teaching his martial arts techniques to followers under the name Daito-ryu Aiki Bujutsu. Tokimune Takeda (1916-1993), one of Sokaku Takeda’s sons, had started teaching Daito- ryu Aiki Budo in a combined form of Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu and Ono-ha Itto-ryu Kenjutsu (swordsmanship). However, after his death, the organization was split into several minor schools.
JAA (Japan Aikido Association)
Kenji Tomiki (1900-1979) founded the JAA in 1974. Tomiki, who joined Morihei Ueshiba in 1926, in 1940 became the first person to receive the eighth dan degree, the highest-level teaching credentials, from the master. Afterward, Tomiki became a professor of physical education and created a randori (training match) system of aikido. However, his new proposal caused a sharp conflict of opinions on what aikido should be.
Ki no Kenkyu-kai (Ki Society)
Koichi Tohei (1920- ) joined Kobu-kan in 1940 and later became chief instructor in Aiki-kai. Consequently, he was once seriously considered to be Morihei Ueshiba’s successor. But when hewas offered the position at Ueshiba’s death, he declined and gave it up to Kisshomaru Ueshiba. Later, however, Tohei and Kisshomaru disagreed on instruction methods and began to struggle for leadership. Tohei founded the Ki Society and left Aiki Kai in 1974. He describes aikido as a way to assimilate man into the “Ki” of the universe.
Other Aikido Schools
Noriaki Inoue (1902-1994), Morihei Ueshiba’s nephew, initiated the foundation of Shinei-Taido. He and Ueshiba were both followers of Omoto-kyo, but after a 1935 police crackdown on the practice they disagreed on how to cope with religious oppression. So, he left Ueshiba and opened anew school of aikido. Kanshu Sunadomari (1923- ) founded Mansei-kan in Kumamoto. He published several books on aikido spirit and breathing power. Minoru Hirai (1903- ), who became general manager of Kobu-kan at Ueshiba’s request in 1942 and continued to support Ueshiba until after World War II, opened Korindo. Kenji Shimizu (1940- ), a live-in disciple of Ueshiba in the latter’s twilight years, established Tendo-ryu. Technically speaking, the existence of many excellent aikido instructors with varying characteristics and backgrounds has made present-day aikido much more colorful than ever before. But, unfortunately, there is virtually no communication between the different schools.
Aikido as an Athletic Event
It is worthwhile to consider why judo and kendo have established completely unified associations, while aikido, like its forerunner, Daito-ryu Jujutsu, has been divided into many small groups. Judo and kendo federations have been able to maintain solid bonds because they have both developed a “training match” system so that all practitioners, regardless of their styles and schools, can meet and compete with each other based on the same rules. By participating in the same tournaments, they are able to measure their improvement objectively. Different kendo schools have come to organize a joint committee and hold unified tournaments while preserving their individual characteristics. They do this by teaching original techniques to their followers by means of kata (a practice of basic forms in martial arts). Nationwide—and sometimes worldwide—tournaments have brought different groups into contact. As far as judo is concerned, everyone has learned the same Kodo-kan judo, in which they practice randori and kata simultaneously. This uniformity has produced virtually no factional divergence.
On the other hand, Ueshiba, since the time of Daito-ryu Jujutsu, always encouraged his students to devote themselves to solitary, repetitive kata practice. The implication is that the absence of an objective method to measure students’ skills and strength has resulted in the phenomenal growth of different styles andschools, each of which has different philosophies and training methods. They do not try to understand eachother’s spiritual principles, causing miscommunication and mistrust among members of different organizations. It is ironic that aikido, which was originally meant to be a martial arts of harmony and unification
, is currently suffering this chaotic division.
As one solution to this problem, Kenji Tomiki incorporated randori practice into aikido in 1960. He advocated an integrated training process using kata and randori, claiming that aikido should be reformed as a competitive athletic event like modern judo and kendo. Tomiki proposed a system for randori aikido modeled on judo and kendo, two martial arts that were being taught in regular physical-education classes in Japanese schools. He argued that it was the only way to promote aikido. He came up with his idea when he was studying the history of kendo. In most kendo schools, kata practice had been the only way to teach or learn kendo techniques until about 1750. Then some instructors developed a training-match system with a bamboo stick and protective gear, which gained popularity with time and finally constituted the bulk of kendo training. However, although Tomiki’s proposal made good sense to teachers of other martial arts, Ueshiba and his followers rejected it. Therefore, he established the Japan Aikido Association as an entity separate from Aiki-kai.
