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About Our Founder
Morihei Ueshiba, now called O-Sensei ("Great
Teacher"), founded the martial art of Aikido. Born in 1883 in
Wakayama Prefecture Japan, he dedicated himself to becoming strong after
seeing his father assaulted by political opponents. He sought out and
studied under masters in many traditional martial arts, eventually
becoming expert at a number of styles of jujitsu (unarmed combat), kenji su (swordfighting), and sofitsu
(spear fighting). Dissatisfied with mere strength and technical mastery,
he also immersed himself in religious and philosophical studies. The
stories of his immense physical strength and martial prowess are
impressive, but more important is the legacy of nonviolence and integrity
he left behind.
 In early 20th-century
Japan, involvement in the martial arts was competitive and dangerous.
Contests, feuds and rivalries often resulted in injuries and even deaths.
The formulation of Aikido dates from an incident that occurred in 1925.
In the course of a discussion about martial arts, a disagreement arose
between O-Sensei and a naval officer who was a fencing instructor. The
officer challenged O-Sensei to a match and attacked with a wooden sword.
O-Sensei faced the officer unarmed and won the match by evading blows
until his attacker dropped from exhaustion. He later recalled that he
could see his opponent's moves before they were executed and that this
was the beginning of his enlightenment. He had defeated an armed attacker
without hurting him--without even touching him.
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O-Sensei later wrote: "Budo (the Martial Way) is not
felling the opponent by our force, nor is it a tool to lead the world
into 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 things in nature".
O-Sensei continued to practice and teach Aikido into old
age. Observers would marvel at his martial abilities, vitality, and
good humor; he was still giving public demonstrations of Aikido at age
86, four months before his death. After he passed away on April 26,
1969, the Japanese government declared Morihei
Ueshiba a Sacred National Treasure of Japan.
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