Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) was history's greatest martial artist. Even as an old man of eighty, he could disarm any foe, down any number of attackers, and pin an opponent with a single finger. Although invincible as a warrior, he was above all a man of peace who detested fighting, war, and any kind of violence. His way was Aikido, which can be translated as "The Art of Peace." Morihei Ueshiba is referred to by the practitioners of Aikido as O Sensei, "The Great Teacher".

The Art of Peace is an ideal, but it developed in real life on many fronts. Morihei in his youth served as an infantryman in the Russo-Japanese War, later battled pirates and bandits during an adventure in Mongolia, and then, after mastering a number of martial arts, served as an instructor at Japan's elite military academies. Throughout his life, however, Morihei was sorely troubled by the contention and strife that plagued his world: his father's battles with corrupt politicians and their hired goons, the devastation of war, and the brutality of his country's military leaders.

Morihei was on a spiritual quest and was transformed by three visions. The first occurred in 1925, when Morihei was forty-two years old. After defeating a high-ranking swordsman by avoiding all his cuts and thrusts (Morihei was unarmed), Morihei went into his garden. "Suddenly the earth trembled. Golden vapour welled up from the ground and engulfed me. I felt transformed into a golden image, and my body seemed as light as a feather. All at once I understood the nature of creation: the Way of a Warrior is to manifest Divine Love, a spirit that embraces and nurtures all things. Tears of gratitude and joy streamed down my cheeks. I saw the entire earth as my home, and the sun, moon, and stars as my intimate friends. All attachment to material things vanished."

The second vision took place in December of 1940. "Around two o'clock in the morning as I was performing ritual purification, I suddenly forgot every martial art technique I ever learned. All of the techniques handed down from my teachers appeared completely anew. Now they were vehicles for the cultivation of life, knowledge, virtue, and good sense, not devices to throw and pin people."

The third vision was in 1942, during the worst of the fighting of World War II and in one of the darkest periods of human history. Morihei had a vision of the Great Spirit of Peace, a path that could lead to the elimination of all strife and the reconciliation of humankind. "The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood as a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek competition are making a grave mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst sin a human being can commit. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent slaughter - it is the Art of Peace, the power of love." Morihei secluded himself in the country and devoted every minute of his life thereafter to refining and spreading Aikido, the Art of Peace.

Unlike the authors of old-time warrior classics such as The Art of War and The Book of Five Rings, which accept the inevitability of war and emphasise cunning strategy as a means to victory, Morihei understood that continued fighting - with others, with ourselves, and with the environment - will ruin the earth. "The world will continue to change dramatically, but fighting and war can destroy us utterly. What we need now are techniques of harmony, not those of contention. The Art of Peace is required, not the Art of War." Morihei taught the Art of Peace as a creative mind-body discipline, as a practical means of handling aggression, and as a way of life that fosters fearlessness, wisdom, love, and friendship. He interpreted the Art of Peace in the broadest possible sense and believed that its principles of reconciliation, harmony, Cupertino, and empathy could be applied bravely to all the challenges we face in life - in personal relationships, as we interact with society, at work and in business, when dealing with nature. Everyone can be a warrior for peace.

Although Aikido originated with Morihei in Japan, it was intended to be a gift for all humankind. Some have chosen, or will select in the future, Aikido as their own particular Way, practising it on the mats and applying it to their daily lives. Many more have been and will be inspired by the universal message of the Art of Peace and its implications for our world.

Morihei Ueshiba, 1883-1969

Excerpted from the Introduction written by John Stevens for The Art of Peace, a collection of quotes from the teachings of Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido.

Tohei-sensei was born in 1920 and grew up in an upper class Japanese family, north of Tokyo. He was sickly as a child and was introduced to Judo and Zen by his father to try to strengthen his constitution. Later he became involved in misogi and various forms of Japanese Yoga. These events and training shaped much of what was to develop in later life.

In 1939, he met O-sensei and was introduced to the art of Aikido. He expressed some amazement that despite his Judo training he was unable to deal with this much older man and quickly became a serious student of the Art. After training for a short time, he was called up to the army and spent time in action in China. During this time, he became aware of the importance of a calm mind and the unification of mind and body that were to shape much of his later training, and developed quite a reputation as a "lucky" officer who never lost a single man under his command even during the most fierce fighting.

After the war he returned to his role as uchi-deshi to O-sensei, becoming one of the strongest and most influential figures within the Aikido world. In those days, challenges to the teacher were common and it was Tohei-sensei who usually had to respond to people coming to the dojo to test O-sensei. Quite a few people were "bounced on their heads" including a group of US wrestlers who had previously tried to arrange a challenge at the Kodokan Judo HQ!

In 1953, he was sent by O-sensei to Hawaii, becoming the first teacher to introduce Aikido to the United States. Over the next decade or so, Tohei-sensei came to the US many times and was responsible for training many of the fine teachers in the U.S. today. It was during this period that his Aikido underwent a lot of change, since dealing with HUGE Americans was quite different to the conventional training in Japan. During this period, his practice also started to drift away from some of what was being practised by other instructors, as can be seen if you compare the book written in the late 50s by Tohei-sensei with that written about the same time by K. Ueshiba-sensei -- both of which were approved by O-sensei.

Tohei-sensei rose to the position of Chief Instructor at the Aikikai Hombu dojo and was the only person awarded 10th Dan by O-sensei and issued with a formal scroll of rank. We have a video tape of an American TV show from 1957, in which Tohei-sensei acts as interpreter for O-sensei during an interview. He was certainly one of the most noticeable figures in the Aikido world, due to his large outgoing personality.

After O-sensei's death, Kisshomaru Ueshiba-sensei became the second Aikido Doshu, and Tohei-sensei continued to be the Chief Instructor. For the next few years things continued as before, but there were tensions building within the senior Aikido-ka.

Tohei-sensei had very clear ideas about the best way of teaching Aikido, ideas that were based largely on the principles of Unification taught by one of his Yoga teachers. He proposed to introduce this system of teaching Ki within the Aikikai but met with much resistance from the more traditional of the senior teachers there. So, in 1971, while still the Chief Instructor of the Aikikai, Tohei-sensei founded the Ki no Kenkyukai, to teach the principles of Ki and Unification of Mind and Body, outside the Aikido framework. This position continued for a few more years until the rift between Tohei-sensei and the rest of the Aikikai became too big and he resigned. He then founded the Shin-shin Toitsu Aikikai, to teach Aikido in accordance with the Ki principles.

This split caused a great divide in the Aikido world since many people were torn between following Tohei-sensei, who was the most senior Aikido teacher, or staying with the Aikikai which was headed by O-sensei's son. This choice caused much bad feeling, some of which still exists today.

Tohei-sensei continued to refine and develop his methods of teaching Ki and Aikido and the Ki no Kenkyukai grew and spread branches throughout the world.

In recent years, Tohei-sensei seems to have tried to disassociate himself from Aikido and to only emphasise Ki training. In a recent book containing both a biography and a description of his teachings, Aikido is not mentioned very much and O-sensei is given less than one paragraph. This trend has been the source of dissatisfaction amongst many members of the KNK and in recent years, the 5 most senior members in the US have resigned, taking their organisations with them. Some have returned to the Aikikai, some are now independent. KNK is also involved in building a huge dojo and museum on Tohei-sensei's family land north of Tokyo and now spends much of its time and energy on revenue producing events, like stress reduction seminars for large Japanese corporations. Most recently, he seems to have devoted a lot of time and energy into establishing Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido as a competitive sport - further distancing himself from most of the traditional Aikido community.

Tohei-sensei is a very special individual. Almost everyone agrees that, excepting O-sensei himself, Tohei-sensei's Aikido was probably the finest to be seen. In addition, he is one of the most gifted teachers the Aikido world has seen, developing most of the teaching methods used in many dojos today. The system we follow, that of Ki exercise within Aikido owes it existence almost entirely to Tohei-sensei and we should make sure that, even though we are no longer directly affiliated with him, we acknowledge our debt to him and continue to show him the respect he rightly deserves.