Aikido Sangenkai

New blog post! "Ai no Bujutsu – Aiki and the Bujutsu of Love". “Neither cut nor be cut. Neither strike nor be struck. Neither kick nor be kicked.”. It is a bujutsu that handles the opponent without causing them harm.

New blog post! Thanks to the cooperation of Josh Gold and Aikido Journal, here is a letter from Kenji Tomiki to Isamu Takeshita from 1928 in which he discusses his experiences with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba and his thoughts about Kodokan Judo.  

New blog post - "The Phantom Manual: Yamato Ryu Goshinjutsu". Admirals, Karate masters, the Last Ninja and...Morihei Ueshiba - what more could you need? 

New blog post! "Budoka no Kotae – Talking to Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei" - Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba discusses his efforts to change and adapt his father's art for a modern world.

He was angry. Because even though he would tell them to practice precisely and sharply they would only do flowing training. It annoyed them when the Founder said that and scolded them, so they would call and say “Saito-san, tell him that something came up and call him (the Founder) home”. When O-Sensei was there they’d say “That annoying old man is here”. So the Founder’s feelings finally snapped and he stopped teaching there.

New blog post! Budoka no Kotae – Talking to Morihiro Saito Sensei, Part 2 - "During 1960-61 O-Sensei was very vital. He then sometimes went to Tokyo to teach Aikido, though not many days would pass before students of the Hombu Dojo called me asking me to take O-Sensei home! O-Sensei was giving them a hard time, scolding them for not practising the correct way. "

New blog post! "Budoka no Kotae – Talking to Morihiro Saito Sensei, Part 1" - in this first section of the interview Morihiro Saito shares some of the reasons for the way in which he teaches Aikido.

New blog post! "Ueshiba-ha Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu" - on Morihei Ueshiba and his continuing relationship with Daito-ryu, from 1915 to 1969. 

"The Ueshiba Legacy – Part 2, by Mark Murray" - on the diverging legacies of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba and his son Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba.

When I mentioned to O-Sensei that his ribs were quite thick he said “My ribs are all one sheet. One time in the old days an instructor at the Toyama Academy stabbed me with a wooden bayonet. I did some reckless things back then.”.

New blog post! “Is Ueshiba Sensei here?” - Aikido Shihan Seiseki Abe - Meeting Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei 

New blog post! Interview with Aikido Shihan Yasuo Kobayashi – Part 2: "There are some who criticize Aikido practice as being watered down, and even I don’t deny that. However, if we put that aside, I think that the fact that it has been able to attract those who had no previous interest in budo is an achievement. " 

Thank you all for your help and support over the last year - here's to another year working together to open the stone door!

New blog post! Interview with Aikido Shihan Yasuo Kobayashi – Part 1 - "When one watches O-Sensei’s demonstrations from his later years he appears to move like someone who has been liberated from earthly desires, but it is because one would be damaged if they didn’t take the fall that the people taking the falls must move in that manner. There are those who failed to understand that point and only saw the external appearance – this is the root of many misunderstandings."  

New blog post! Interview with Aikido Shihan Kenji Shimizu - Part 2: "When training in Budo, what must really become strong is one’s mind. External strength can not be relied upon. In other words, strength that relies on youth is like steel heated in fire – as time passes it becomes cold. However, internal strength is without limit. Strength is limited, the mind is without limit."

New blog post! Interview with Aikido Shihan Kenji Shimizu - Part 1 - "Even when one pushed on him O-Sensei would not move, not even an inch." http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/interview-aikido-shihan-kenji-shimizu-part-1/

New blog post! Tired of Wikileaks? Here's the latest "Aikileaks" dump :) - "Takuma Hisa – Kannagara no Budo, Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Hiden 1940"