Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba (1921-1999)
Kisshomaru Ueshiba:
“Architect of Today’s Aikido”
Today’s world of aikido bears the stamp of Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba more than any other person. There is no other figure who is more influential, not even the Founder Morihei Ueshiba himself. I realize that, for many of the aikido faithful, this will be a shocking statement. Allow me to elaborate.
First of all, aikido is a post-World War II phenomenon. Morihei Ueshiba and his fledgling martial art were known primarily in martial arts circles, not by the general public, prior to the war. What has become aikido today has been shaped primarily by the Ueshiba family through the auspices of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo system after 1955.
The arbiter of this process of dissemination and the content of Aikikai aikido is none other than Kisshomaru Ueshiba, the Founder’s son. In 1942, Kisshomaru assumed operational control of what would become the Aikikai at the tender age of 21. Morihei had retired to Iwama, World War II raged, and Tokyo was being fire-bombed. Kisshomaru was thrust into a leadership position while a university student for which he was ill-equipped. He would continue uninterrupted as head of the Aikikai, the world’s largest aikido organization, until his passing in 1999.
The Aikikai was barely functioning as an entity after the war until around 1955. During that period, Kisshomaru was simply attempting to hold the remnants of the aikido structure together until better times, without much thought to the future direction of the art. In fact, he was obliged to hold down a full-time job in a securities company to support himself and the rundown Aikikai dojo.
Later on, as aikido began to gather some attention among the general public, it was Kisshomaru, in consultation with a group of elders and peers, who gradually began shaping the policies that would lead to a steady, if not spectacular, growth of aikido.
The Aikikai adopted a series of measures starting in the late 1950s that would soon ensure its success. This included the establishment of a growing network of branch dojos, and aikido clubs in universities and businesses all over Japan. Furthermore, the Aikikai dispatched a stream of Japanese instructors loyal to the mother organization to key locations in major foreign countries. Many of them in turn created large aikido organizations abroad.
Kisshomaru and Koichi Tohei also published a series of books in the early 1960s that were translated into English and other European languages. These works presented a technical and theoretical framework of aikido to a worldwide audience and established the Aikikai as the central authority of the art.
Although a larger-than-life figure in many ways, Morihei’s postwar role was primarily symbolic, and he was not a decision-maker in the affairs of the Aikikai. O-Sensei was rather irascible by nature and often critical of Aikikai teaching practices. Consequently, he was largely marginalized and encouraged to absent himself from the Hombu. He spent much of his time traveling to meet with friends and students, and at his country home in Iwama. In this way, he would be less of an impediment to the smooth operation of the dojo.
Let’s fast-forward several decades later and turn our eyes to the present state of the art. Obviously, I am focusing on the Aikikai worldwide network which dwarfs the many smaller aikido organizations that exist in size and influence.
Taken collectively, the Aikikai organization consists of several tens of thousands of schools spread over all but the smallest countries of the globe. To my knowledge, no accurate survey of actual numbers exists, but let us adopt the arbitrary figure of one to two million practitioners to give an idea of the art’s scope.
The curriculum followed in these schools is largely based on Kisshomaru Ueshiba’s many technical books issued over a 40-year period. Most were published by Kodansha, Japan’s largest publishing firm, in Japanese and English, and various European languages. Kisshomaru’s son, the present Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba, has continued the unabated production of similar books starting even before his father’s death.
The administrative policies of the Aikikai were formulated and fine-tuned by Kisshomaru and his advisers over the years. This includes the dan ranking procedures and accompanying fee structures which constitute the main revenue stream of the organization.
In the 1980s and 90s, Kisshomaru developed an accommodating stance toward the acceptance of outside organizations into the Aikikai fold. This included the re-integration of groups that had earlier split with the Aikikai at the time of the resignation of Koichi Tohei in 1974. This is a policy for which he has been justifiably praised.
Another sphere of influence in which Kisshomaru was dominant is the shaping of the image of his father, Morihei Ueshiba, for general consumption. Through his widely read biography of Morihei titled in English, “A Life in Aikido,” Kisshomaru set forth an official version of the early history of aikido that has been used as the primary source by many later writers.
Furthermore, Kisshomaru recast O-Sensei’s spiritual vision in a language that was accessible to modern Japanese and an international reading audience. This was accomplished by expunging most of the esoteric Shinto imagery that Morihei used in his speeches and lectures. Again, the vehicle was a series of books on Morihei’s aikido philosophy published by Kodansha. In some cases, authorship was even attributed to Morihei himself. Professor John Stevens has translated and edited most of these publications in English.
I recall vividly meeting Kisshomaru Ueshiba in 1963 in Los Angeles on his first visit to the USA. At that time, he was a bespectacled 42 year old, with a quiet and unassuming manner. He taught and demonstrated in a matter-of-fact way with little explanation. Nothing about him was flamboyant or overstated.
I had periodical contact with Kisshomaru over the next 36 years and watched him transform into a dignified, paternal figure. Within the Aikikai, he became an object of reverence, always to be accompanied by a doting entourage. This august mantle was inherited by his son and present Doshu, Moriteru Ueshiba, and will no doubt be passed in due course to his son Mitsuteru.
Further reading by the same author:
Is O-Sensei Really the Founder of Modern Aikido?
“O-Sensei’s Spiritual Writings: Where did they really come from?”
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Morihei had a vast Universal view of the possibility of movement interaction, and human survival that went beyond a few techniques and one that that was not limited, strictured or put into a box of limitations. Indeed survival cannot be so limited. We must never forget that his antecedents used aiki jutsu for survival of life and death circumstances. Indeed, so have people of present times been enabled to survive death dealing attacks, some armed, some by multiple attackers, and other anomalous criminal assaults, and survived because of sound training principles imparted by good Aikido teachers, often using the Aikido to enable survival.
Evolution is ever changing in accordance to the demands of real necessity. Some people are fortunate that they never meet real necessity to survive life and death so develop an opinionated view of things, and sadly Budo, does not escape this dumbing down. There are cycles where any Budo becomes a mere dance, but serves to preserve the art. These are followed by cycles of dire necessity where too much fire can often be present. All contributors, in some way, serve the evolution of an art. Of course, all contributors in the evolution of an art must be acknowledged and thanked, even if in some ways they drift at a tangent not consistent with the rigours of reality. Each contribution adds value to an art and has merit from the perspective of they reality they experienced, even if limited or or in some ways biased.
But we must clarify the definition of what is meant by the Do of Ai and Ki. Is it a health club? Is it a social experience? Is it a way for making money? Is it a political party? Is it a Way to serve and uplift humanity? Can it lessen harm and suffering? Can it make you more complete as a human being? Is it a personal journey of transformation and self mastery? Can it be any of many other things? Perhaps Aikido partakes of all of these attributes and even more. But we must never forget that its original roots are firmly grounded in survival, the nitty gritty defence ability when required. And that survival, true and sustainable human continuance, relies less on fighting than it does in the, “.. co operative, nurturing, caring and protection of life..” These were words used by the Founder himself, the man who, after all, founded the art. The man who was then “…largely marginalized and encouraged to absent himself from the Hombu..” and to “..be less of an impediment in dojo matters..” whatever exactly that means!
If Aikido is to have a meaningful “influence” in the world of human beings, then it needs be of this nature and not merely self serving. The main “affair” of any trainee is to train and gain self victory, without which, no value will result. Life on earth is being made more tenuous by man, each day. How is Aikido now contributing to our continuation as a species? How have the various “influential figures” contributed either positively or adversely to thus serving value and humanity towards a better world?
At first others…. Now mine….