Morihei Ueshiba Biography Quotes 30 Report mistakes

Early Life
Morihei Ueshiba was born on December 14, 1883, in the seaside town of Tanabe in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. His father, Yoroku Ueshiba, was a locally active landowner and community figure who encouraged his son's physical development through activities such as sumo wrestling and swimming. As a child he was slight and often unwell, yet he displayed intense determination and curiosity, combining an early interest in physical training with a lifelong attraction to spiritual inquiry. He would go on to synthesize these two threads into one of the most influential modern Japanese martial traditions.

Formative Years and Military Service
As a young man, Ueshiba attempted various paths in commerce and study, briefly living in Tokyo before illness forced his return home. He married Hatsu Itokawa in 1903, a partnership that provided stability during turbulent years of training and travel. He served in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War (1904, 1905), an experience that left him both physically toughened and deeply aware of the realities of conflict. After his discharge, he continued searching for a martial path that could harness strength without needless brutality.

Martial Study and the Takeda Influence
In 1912, Ueshiba led a group of settlers to Hokkaido, establishing a new life in the rugged settlement of Shirataki. There he encountered Sokaku Takeda, the formidable headmaster of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu. Ueshiba studied intensively under Takeda and received certification to teach, absorbing a sophisticated body of techniques emphasizing control, balance breaking, and subtle redirection rather than crude force. The precision and internal power of Daito-ryu shaped Ueshiba's technical foundation and set the stage for his later innovations.

Spiritual Encounters and Omoto-kyo
In late 1919, learning that his father was gravely ill, Ueshiba left Hokkaido. En route he visited the Omoto-kyo religious community in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture, where he met its charismatic leader, Onisaburo Deguchi. The encounter profoundly affected him. Though his father passed away in 1920, Ueshiba chose to remain in Ayabe for years, teaching martial arts to Omoto-kyo adherents while undertaking austere spiritual practices such as misogi purification and chanting. In 1924, he accompanied Deguchi on a utopian, ill-fated expedition to Mongolia; the party was detained amid the turmoil of the era, and Ueshiba narrowly avoided serious harm. He later described deep spiritual insights during this period, experiences that gradually shifted his outlook from purely combative efficiency toward harmony with the energy of an attacker and the world.

Emergence in Tokyo and the Kobukan Dojo
Introduced to influential circles by Admiral Isamu Takeshita, Ueshiba began teaching in Tokyo in the mid-1920s. Notable visitors to his demonstrations included Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, who praised Ueshiba's skill and encouraged promising judoka to study with him. Among those who came were Kenji Tomiki and Minoru Mochizuki, who carried lessons from Ueshiba back into the broader budo world. In 1931, Ueshiba established the Kobukan Dojo in Tokyo, soon famed for its intense training and dubbed the "Hell Dojo". Military officers, police specialists, and dedicated civilians trained there, as Ueshiba refined what he then called Aiki-budo into an art of fluid blending, precise timing, and decisive control.

Technical Evolution and Recognition
During the 1930s, Ueshiba's art continued to mature as he explored sword, staff, and empty-hand relationships. The Dai Nippon Butokukai formally recognized the name "Aikido" in 1942, reflecting the art's evolution toward principles of aiki, harmonizing with, rather than colliding against, force. While wartime Japan pressed martial systems toward utilitarian ends, Ueshiba was increasingly preoccupied with the ethical and spiritual dimensions of training, emphasizing the redirection of aggression and protection of all participants.

Iwama Period and the Aiki Shrine
Amid the hardships of World War II, Ueshiba relocated around 1942 to Iwama in Ibaraki Prefecture, cultivating farmland and deepening his practice in seclusion. There he established the Aiki Shrine and an adjacent dojo, training daily and systematizing the integration of weapons and empty-hand principles. Morihiro Saito, who began practice shortly after the war, later became a key transmitter of the Iwama approach, especially the paired sword (aiki-ken) and staff (aiki-jo) work that reflected Ueshiba's insights during this period.

Postwar Reconstruction and Global Reach
After the war, the Allied occupation initially restricted martial arts activities. With careful stewardship by his son, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, legal status for the Aikikai Foundation was obtained in 1948, paving the way for Aikido's revival and international spread. Ueshiba divided his time between Iwama and the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, where he taught and offered demonstrations that highlighted circular movement, centered posture, and compassionate intent. A diverse group of students emerged as influential teachers: Koichi Tohei, who emphasized ki development; Gozo Shioda, who would found Yoshinkan Aikido; Kenji Tomiki, who developed a competitive method within Aikido; Minoru Mochizuki, who blended Aikido with other budo; and others such as Morihiro Saito, Seigo Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Tada, and Mitsugi Saotome, each carrying distinct facets of the founder's message into Japan and abroad.

Philosophy and Method
By the 1950s and 1960s, Ueshiba's teaching stressed that true budo arises from reconciliation, not destruction. He taught that the highest skill neutralizes conflict while safeguarding attacker and defender alike. Training sought to cultivate sensitivity, rooted stance, and relaxed power, linking empty-hand technique with weapons movement to reveal common principles. His language drew heavily on Shinto cosmology and the Omoto-kyo notion of universal harmony, framing Aikido as a path of personal polishing aligned with the well-being of society.

Final Years and Legacy
In his later years, Ueshiba increasingly entrusted administration to Kisshomaru Ueshiba while offering inspiring, often spontaneous demonstrations at Hombu and ceremonial events at the Aiki Shrine. He passed away in Tokyo on April 26, 1969, with liver cancer reported as the cause. His wife, Hatsu, died a short time later that same year, marking the close of the founder's generation. Leadership transitioned within the family, with Kisshomaru as second Doshu and later Moriteru Ueshiba as a subsequent head of the art, ensuring continuity.

Enduring Influence
Morihei Ueshiba's legacy is twofold: a technical corpus that enables graceful, effective self-defense without unnecessary harm, and an ethical vision that situates martial practice within a broader commitment to harmony. Through the efforts of his students and supporters such as Admiral Isamu Takeshita and admirers like Jigoro Kano, Aikido took root worldwide. The art remains a living expression of Ueshiba's synthesis of rigorous technique, spiritual aspiration, and compassionate intent, an enduring testament to a life spent unifying martial skill with a philosophy of peace.

Our collection contains 30 quotes who is written by Morihei, under the main topics: Motivational - Ethics & Morality - Wisdom - Love - Meaning of Life.