Category: Essay

Budo – Moritaka Ueshiba’s 1938 Technical Manual
Ushiro technique – Gozo Shioda and Morihei Ueshiba in “Budo”, 1938
First there was “Budo Renshu” (武道練習) in 1933 (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“), which was given to select students at Moritaka Ueshiba’s pre-war Kobukan Dojo as a teaching license. This work includes pictures of techniques hand drawn by Takako Kunigoshi and explanatory text assembled and edited primarily by Kenji Tomiki.
Ushiro technique – “Budo Renshu”, 1933
At the time of its publication and through the end of World War II Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba used the name “Moritaka” – a name he received through his relationship with Onisaburo Deguchi (出口王仁三郎), from the word “shukou” (“Moritaka” can also be read “shukou”) that appeared in Deguchi Seishi’s Norito (祝詞, “Shinto prayers”).
Don’t worry if you don’t have a copy, the PDF formatted version is freely downloadable from “Aikijujutsu Densho – AKA Budo Renshu, by Moritaka Ueshiba”
Ushiro technique – “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, 1954
In 1954 Morihei Ueshiba published “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, edited by Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru (Koetsu) Ueshiba. This book duplicated many of the pictures and most of the text of the earlier 1933 manual “Budo Renshu”.
Again, don’t worry if you don’t have a copy, the PDF formatted version is freely downloadable from “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi – O-Sensei’s First Book on Aikido“.
Thank you for visiting the Aikido Sangenkai blog. You can show your appreciation and support the distribution of more free content by donating today!

Thanks,

Chris
- Donate now with PayPal (one-time donation).
- Donate now with Patreon (monthly donation).
In between the above two works, in 1938, Morihei Ueshiba privately published another book, a technical manual called “Budo”, for Prince Kaya Tsunenori, who was one of his students at the time. This manual was (re) discovered entirely by accident in 1981 when Aikido Journal editor Stanley Pranin was shown a copy by Zenzaburo Akazawa during the course of conducting an interview.
Zenzaburo Akazawa with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, 1938
Morihei Ueshiba’s wife Hatsu, center
Morihei Ueshiba’s daughter Matsuko, kneeling
Matsuko was once married to Morihei Ueshiba’s
one-time successor Kiyoshi Nakakura
A loose translation of “Budo” was published in English under the name “Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido” by John Stevens. There is also a commentary by Morihiro Saito published under the name “Budo: Commentary on the 1938 Training Manual of Morihei Ueshiba“.
I’ve discussed parts of this book before, in articles such as “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae” (if you’re interested, the injunctions about “six directions” in “Budo” are repeated in “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”) and the following parts two and three.
Strangely enough, “Budo” has never been published in Japanese (wthe Morihiro Saito commentary contains both Japanese and English, but omits much of the original text).
Do I have to say “don’t worry if you don’t have a copy”? Well don’t, because the PDF formatted version of the 1938 technical manual will be freely downloadable below. This is the Japanese version, of course, so you may want to refer to the two editions above with regards to the English translation and commentary. This copy was originally posted by Eric Grousilliat on his French language Budo Shugyosha blog.
Like “Budo Renshu”, “Budo” was often distributed to students as a licensing document.
The Last Page of “Budo”
On the last page of “Budo”, displayed above, we can see that this copy was issued by Moritaka Ueshiba in 1938 as a licensing document. The text on the right confirms that this document certifies the transmission of “Ogi no Koto” (奥義之事 / “Inner Mysteries”). This may likely be in imitation of the Daito-ryu “Hiden Ogi no Koto” scrolls that Morihei Ueshiba both received from his instructor Sokaku Takeda and distributed to students such as Kenji Tomiki and Minoru Mochizuki.
In comparing the three volumes, you will see that the techniques from “Budo Renshu” carry through to “Budo” and then carry through to “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi“.
“Budo Renshu” – 1933

“Budo” – 1938
“Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” – 1954
If you chance to examine and compare the text of the three volumes, which give very detailed and complete explanations of Morihei Ueshiba’s technical principles, you will find something similar – the textual explanations are consistent and continuous across all three volumes.
This is significant because it shows that what Morihei Ueshiba was teaching in 1954 was the same as what he was teaching in 1933 and in 1938. It shows that five years after he told Morihiro Saito in Iwama (in 1949) that he had “completed” Aikido…he was still distributing the same material, containing the same explanations and the same techniques that had given his students in 1933 – when they were firmly students of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu.
Further, we have Morihiro Saito’s repeated testimony that what the Founder taught him in Iwama in the 1960’s most closely resembled what appears in the publication “Budo”, from 1938.
Morihiro Saito references the 1938 teaching manual “Budo”
“I once doubted that Saito Sensei’s methods were closely rooted in O-Sensei’s teachings because of the apparent differences in their execution of techniques. I based myself on the Founder’s demonstrations in the films from his final years where he performed very few techniques, many of them involving little contact with his uke. On the other hand, Saito Sensei’s aikido was precise, martial and technically diverse. However, I was forced to reevaluate my opinion on this key point following the discovery of O-Sensei’s 1938 technical manual “Budo” where photos of several key basic techniques are virtually identical to the aikido forms taught by Saito Sensei in Iwama. My later exposure to the more than 1,000 photos from the Noma Dojo series of 1935 reinforced this change in my thinking.”
– Stanley Pranin, Aikido Journal editor
“The Iwama Aikido Conundrum“
There is another important person, Takuma HIsa, who had a chance to compare the teachings of his two instructors – Daito-ryu Chuku-no-so Sokaku Takeda and Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba:
Takeda’s instruction gave Hisa the chance to compare the techniques that he had been taught for the previous three years (1933-1936) by Ueshiba with those taught by Takeda. His conclusion was that they were the same—meaning that Ueshiba had not by that time significantly modified or evolved what he had been taught by Takeda. In later years, Hisa was adamant about Ueshiba’s and Takeda’s techniques being identical. He stated this clearly at a round table talk, “When Tomiki came to Osaka to teach aiki-bujutsu to the Asahi people, the techniques that both master Ueshiba and Takeda taught were the same. Definitely the same. Master Ueshiba should say that he was taught them by master Takeda. He should say that it was Daitoryu. But he never said that. Mr. Tomiki (who also traveled from Tokyo to Osaka to teach Ueshiba’s system at the Asahi dojo) knows this, doesn’t he. But Ueshiba never said it.” And Tomiki answered, “Definitely not. ‘I [Ueshiba] established everything…[smiling mysteriously]’. However old martial artists would often do that way.” [Shishida (Ed.), 1982, p.1]
“The Process of Forming Aikido and Japanese Imperial Navy Admiral Isamu Takeshita: Through the analysis of Takeshita’s diary from 1925 to 1931”
– Fumiaki Shishida (Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan)
The explanations of principle and technique showing what Takuma HIsa learned in 1933 (“Budo Renshu”) are repeated in 1938 (“Budo”), which Morihiro Saito testified was what Morihei Ueshiba was teaching in Iwama in the 1950’s and 1960’s. This is supported by the fact that the identical explanations and techniques appear in 1954 (“Aikido Maki-no-ichi”), in a volume distributed by Morihei Ueshiba long after the war.
All of this lends further support to the argument that the radical phase change to the technical core of Aikido that is so commonly accepted to have occurred after the war…never happened. Or perhaps, it happened, but not at the behest of Morihei Ueshiba.
There is a discussion of this issue in “The Ueshiba Legacy, by Mark Murray” which you may like to read if you find this interesting.
One last tidbit before we proceed to the download…
“Kannagara no Budo – Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Hiden”, 1942
Here we have the same technique appearing in Takuma HIsa’s “Kannagara no Budo – Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Hiden”, published in 1942. Takuma Hisa received Menkyo Kaiden in Daito-ryu from Sokaku Takeda in 1939. Interestingly, he gives there the same exact explanation (word for word) about Shomenuchi in this book about Daito-ryu that Morihei Ueshiba gave in “Budo Renshu” in 1933…which is also the same exact word for word explanation that appears in “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” in 1954.
“Strike while exercising the technique of the unity of opposites (陰陽合致) in the hand-sword.”

The “opposites” above are, translated more literally, “In” and “Yo”, “Yin” and “Yang”, the core principles that suffuse so much of Morihei Ueshiba’s explanations, and form the basis for Chinese martial arts and cosmology. Interesting in and of itself, but it is also interesting that the bulk of the explanation of principle and technique through this entire book about Daito-ryu…duplicates the text in Morihei Ueshiba’s 1933 and 1938 manuals, and that the same explanations that appear in Morihei Ueshiba’s 1954 manual.
And now, the full scanned PDF version of the 1938 technical manual “Budo”, by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba:
- “Budo – 1938” (Dropbox – PDF format / 12.8 MB)
- “Budo – 1938” (Aikido Sangenkai Server – PDF format / 12.8 MB)
Enjoy!
Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI
July 24, 2016
Aikijujutsu Densho – AKA Budo Renshu, by Moritaka Ueshiba
Aikido Founder Morihei (Moritaka) Ueshiba
“Aikijujutsu Densho” AKA “Budo Renshu”, 1934
From the early 1920’s through the end of World War II Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba used the name “Moritaka” – a name he received through his relationship with Onisaburo Deguchi (出口王仁三郎), from the word “shukou” (“Moritaka” can also be read “shukou”) that appeared in Deguchi Seishi’s Norito (祝詞, “Shinto prayers”).
The actual voice of Onisaburo Deguchi chanting Shinto prayers
It was during this time period that he published the books “Budo” (1938) and “Budo Renshu” (1933), which both appeared under the name “Moritaka Ueshiba” (植芝守高).
The last page of “Aikijujutsu Densho” (“Budo Renshu”) showing its
status as a licensing document, issued in Showa year 9 (1934).
Signed “Ueshiba Moritaka” and stamped (top right) “Aikijujutsu”.
“Budo” was originally created for Prince Kaya Tsunenori, a member of a collateral branch of the imperial family. Kayanomiya would eventually become Superintendant of the Army Toyama School – where Morihei Ueshiba would act as an instructor before the war. An English edition (“Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido“), translated by John Stevens, was published in 1991, and a separate edition -“Budo: Commentary on the 1938 Training Manual of Morihei Ueshiba“, translated by Sonoko Tanaka and Stanley Pranin, was published in 1999.
“Budo Renshu” (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“), published in 1933, was given to select students as a teaching license. Unlike “Budo”, which is composed of still photographs of Morihei Ueshiba demonstrating technique, “Budo Renshu” is composed of pictures hand drawn by Takako Kunigoshi, a student at Morihei Ueshiba’s Kobukan Dojo who began training shortly before her graduation from Japan Women’s Fine Arts University. This was also discussed in the article “Three Doka and the Aiki O-Kami“.
“Budo Renshu” also contains detailed written explanations of the forms and principles of Morihei Ueshiba’s art that were largely complied and edited by Kenji Tomiki, one of Morihei Ueshiba’s senior students who began training at the Kobukan Dojo in Tokyo around 1926.
More information about Tomiki Sensei is available in the articles “Kenji Tomiki: Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles” and “Aikido Shihan Kenji Tomiki’s Goshinjutsu“.
In 1954 Morihei Ueshiba published “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, edited by Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru (Koetsu) Ueshiba. This book, which was not publicly distributed (but is available here), duplicates most of the text and many of the drawings that first appeared in the 1933 publication “Budo Renshu”. That is to say – this book demonstrates that the technical explanations, both written and graphical, and the descriptions of principles that Morihei Ueshiba taught were the same in 1954 as they were in 1933, when the art was called “Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu”.
The document that will be available for download below, as well as the rest of the content on this site, is provided free of charge as a service to the community, and will continue to remain free of charge. You can help support this project by contributing a little bit to help support our efforts. Every donation (even $1) is greatly appreciated and helps to cover our server and bandwidth costs, and the time involved. The more support that we get the more interesting new content we can get out there!
By donating you also help support our efforts at Aikido Hawaii, which has provided a state-wide resource for all Aikido in Hawaii, regardless of style or affiliation, for almost twenty years.

Thanks,

Chris
- Donate now with PayPal (one-time donation).
- Donate now with Patreon (monthly donation).
The edition of “Budo Renshu” that will be available for download below is presented courtesy of Scott Burke, who lives in Fukuoka, but often comes to Hawaii to join the local Sangenkai workshops. He was also generous enough to provide scanned copies of “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” and “Kenji Tomiki: Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles“. It was issued by Morihei (Moritaka) Ueshiba in Showa year 9 – 1934.
The cover of “Aikijujutsu Densho”
As you may have noted above, the actual title on the cover of the book is not “Budo Renshu” (武道練習), but rather “Aikijujutsu Densho” (合気柔術伝書).
The book opens with a formal portrait of the founder (above) and includes photos of Morihei Ueshiba demonstrating Happo Bunshin (八方分身) at the Kobukan Dojo in Ushigome (Wakamatsu-vho) that opened in 1931. The technique he was showing was included in the Daito-ryu scrolls issued in that same year.
If you look closely, the person the second from the right in both photographs is none other than Aikido 9th Dan Rinjiro Shirata, who was known as the “Kobukan Prodigy”.
Happo bunshin – second from right in both photos:
Rinjiro Shirata Sensei (白田林次郎)
Shirata Sensei was one of the few post-war Aikido instructors to have received copies of both “Budo Renshu” and “Budo” directly from Morihei Ueshiba before the war.
Here’s a little interlude about Ichiro Shibata’s experiences when he encountered Rinjiro Shirata in 1977 (from “It Had To Be Felt #21: Shibata Ichiro: A Lean and Hungry Look“, by Ellis Amdur: ):
Another day that I vividly recall was during the first International Aikido Federation consolidation in, I believe, 1977. That morning, instead of Doshu, Shirata Rinjiro sensei taught class. There were easily one hundred and fifty people on the mat. Shirata sensei was allotted one and one-half hours. The majority of the students were foreign, with a particularly numerous French contingent, many of whom had high dan rankings. Shirata sensei had a very quiet demeanor, very gentle, very humble. The manners of French students were particularly appalling. Shirata sensei bowed in and started warm-ups. Many of these high-ranking Europeans started engaging in conversations, ignoring the warm-ups (these were not the dojo regulars — these were representatives of national organizations, many of whom ranked each other, who behaved with all the uncouth gaucherie of a United Nations bureaucrat with diplomatic immunity). After fifteen minutes (this was one of those “hidden in plain sight” moments — he did some solo exercises that, as poorly as I remember, I’d never seen before), Shirata sensei took a bokken. He started speaking about shihonage, underscoring what an important technique it was, and demonstrated shihogiri with the bokken. With surely a chuckle — well aware that the majority of those in the class were dismissing him merely because he was unknown to them – he said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know much about the sword. Osensei developed a lot of things after I studied with him.” The French kept talking, something that Shirata sensei ignored. I made a small mark at this point, because two of these six dans were standing, conversing in front of me, in the front row of the serried ranks of students <yes, standing!> while he was teaching, and enraged, I grabbed both of them by the koshiita of their hakama and slammed them into seiza, like cracking a whip. They whirled around and I said, “Shut the f**k up.” Cross-cultural communication — they understood my English! — and they turned around, bustling like a couple of broody hens on their knees. I suddenly felt a hard poke in my back. I turned around, ready for some kind of Gallic expostulations, and there was Waka-sensei (Moriteru), giggling with a big grin on his face.
Then Shirata sensei called Shibata-san out for ukemi. It didn’t start out well. The class was over one-half hour old, the old man had just done warm-ups and a “simple” set of sword swings, and he hadn’t exerted any authority over the class. Shibata-san, perhaps, can be forgiven, in that he reached out, in bored fashion, to take what he apparently assumed was a nice, apparently ineffectual old guy’s arm. I should mention that Shirata sensei’s hands were huge, like rhododendron bushes hanging from massive wrists. Imagine Shibata-san sticking out an arm towards the west. Shirata-sensei went further west. And further. I believe he covered one 1/3 the width of the Aikikai’s mat. Shibata-san’s face was like that of Wiley Coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons when he realizes that the rope he took hold of was attached to an anvil that had just been dropped off a cliff. The final cut of Shirata sensei’s shihonage was like Itto-ryu’s primordial cut: perfectly centered, from sky to ground, except he was cutting with a human being in his hands instead of a sword. Shibata-san made one of the most magnificent recoveries I’ve ever seen. I truly thought his arm was going to be ripped off his body, but he managed, with two huge strides and a dive to get around in time to take a thunderous breakfall. Shirata sensei threw him three more times, Shibata-san taking impeccable ukemi now, and he got up, a man in love. Others of us felt the same, both for the deserved come-uppance of our well-liked, but feared sempai, and also for this unknown-to-us, titanically powerful old man. Unbelievably, though, many of the French were still talking, casually strolling off the mat, even as Shirata sensei demonstrated another technique. Shibata-san, who, I’m sure, had been fuming at their behavior already, launched himself like an out-of-orbit comet managing a multiple attack of the entire Western world. Well, actually, he attacked the entire Western world. He was sweeping around the mat, jumping in to a pair of practicing foreigners, and grabbing one after another, launching them through the air, off the mat onto the wooden runway, or literally splattering them against the walls, then moving on to another pale-skinned pair and doing the same. It was like watching a fin-nipper in an aquarium, with all the guppies swirling away every time he drew near, one after another caught and mangled. Then, all of a sudden, he grabbed me, and spinning, wound up to throw me right into a wall. I managed to step inside him and turn, an inward tai-no-henko, spun him another half turn, and with our momentum, his back slammed against the wall. His eyes were blank and he raised a fist, but before he knocked me out, I grabbed his shoulders and yelled, “Shibata-san, Ore da! Ore da!” (It’s me! It’s me!). He shook himself like a wolf throwing off water, patted me on the shoulder and in English, said in a merry tone, “Oh, I’m sorry!” and spun away, grabbed another Frenchman and sent him flying.
The last half-hour of the class was much better behaved, I must say. Shirata sensei simply continued, unperturbed throughout the entire time, as if to say, “I’m simply here doing what I’m doing. If you want to pay attention, you are welcome.”
Just one more interesting note before we get to the download…..it is immediately apparent from comparing the post-war versions of “Budo Renshu” that were published by the Aikikai and Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“) to the original edition that in the post-war version many of the drawings have been re-traced. This is most-likely because they were working from photocopies or other low quality copies of the original work. What is interesting, is that many of the people in the post-war drawings appear to be….happier!
Original version – stern and focused Kobukan practitioners
Note the downturned eyebrows
Post-war version – happy Aikikai practitioners
And now, the full scanned PDF version of the 1934 “Aikijujutsu Densho” AKA “Budo Renshu”:
- “Aikijujutsu Densho” AKA “Budo Renshu” (Dropbox – PDF format / 11.8 MB)
- “Aikijujutsu Densho” AKA “Budo Renshu” (Aikido Sangenkai Server – PDF format / 11.8 MB)
Enjoy!
Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI
July 17, 2016
Aikido Shihan Kenji Tomiki’s Goshinjutsu
Around 1926 – the year Kenji Tomiki started Aikido
Morihei Ueshiba next to Admiral Isamu Takeshita,
Center rear: the son of Gonnohyoe Yamamoto*
Lt. Colonel Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Kenji Tomiki standing next to Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Right: nephew of Gonnohyoe Yamamoto*
Vice Admiral Eisuke Yamamoto
*Admiral Gonnohyoe Yamamoto was
the 16th and 22nd Prime Minister of Japan
Kenji Tomiki (富木謙治) began training under Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba in Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu in 1926. He was largely responsible for the compilation and editing of the text in Morihei Ueshiba’s 1933 training manual “Budo Renshu” (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“), and was later appointed to be Morihei Ueshiba’s representative at Kenkoku University in Japanese occupied Manchuria.
At the time that he started training with Morihei Ueshiba he was already a student of Judo – an uchi-deshi (“live-in student”) to Judo Founder Jigoro Kano. He was encouraged to visit Ueshiba by a fellow Judo student at Waseda, Hidetaro Kubota (who later changed his name to Nishimura), who had trained with Morihei Ueshiba in Ayabe during the 1920’s.
Daido Gakuin (大同学院) in Manchuria prior to 1945
In 1936 Tomiki left Tokyo to become a part time instructor at Daido Gakuin in Japanese occupied Manchuria. Before he left he went to pay his respects to Jigoro Kano, and was told:
「富木君、講道館には植芝さんのところで君が学んできたような技が必要なんだ。昔の柔術というのは、みな植芝さんと同じようなことをするのだ。しかし、あれをどうやって練習させるかが難しいんだよ」
“Tomiki-kun, the Kodokan needs the kinds of techniques that you learned at Ueshiba-san’s place. Because the jujutsu of the past, they all do the same kinds of things that Ueshiba-san does. But it’s how to practice those things that is difficult!”
This was Kenji Tomiki’s conundrum after the war, just as it was a conundrum for JIgoro Kano, and even Kisshomaru Ueshiba – namely, how the older arts could and should be modified for popularization among the general public (there’s a little about the changes in post-war modern Aikikai Aikido in “The Ueshiba Legacy, by Mark Murray“) .
A page from “Judo Taiso” by Kenji Tomiki, 1954
In 1954 Tomiki published a book called “Judo Taiso” (“Judo Exercises” – the book is available for free download from the article “Kenji Tomiki: Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles“). This book represents some of Tomiki’s earlier work at integrating the work of his two teachers and then presenting the results to the general public.
“Judo Taiso” (mentioned above), the texts that will be available for download below, and the rest of the content on this site are provided free of charge as a service to the community. You can help support this project by contributing a little bit to help support our efforts. Every donation (even $1) is greatly appreciated and helps to cover our server and bandwidth costs, and the time involved. The more support that we get the more interesting new content we can get out there!
By donating you also help support our efforts at Aikido Hawaii, which has provided a state-wide resource for all Aikido in Hawaii, regardless of style or affiliation, for almost twenty years.

Thanks,

Chris
- Donate now with PayPal (one-time donation).
- Donate now with Patreon (monthly donation).
When Keizou Yamamoto (山本敬三) went to train with Kenji Tomiki at Waseda University in 1957 he encountered that book:
Although I had gone to Waseda University with the intention of learning Aikido, we were given a booklet called “Judo Taiso”, and we did the Judo exercises that Sensei had invented. I understood at last, years later, that Sensei had deeply respected the late Jigoro Kano Sensei – “The way that I see Aikido is through Judo”, he said. In the forward to that book that Tomiki Sensei wrote was the following:
“I was introduced to Kodokan Judo some forty-five years ago, when I was in elementary school. Leading to the present day I have received instruction beginning with the late Jigoro Kano Sensei, and then through many Sempai. From around thirty years ago I was taught Aikido by Morihei Ueshiba Sensei. “Judo Taiso” was born through the comprehensive study of both of these people, with the structure based on Aikido technique. The movement of the body has been transformed to modern gymnastics and with this the unification of power developed through the “Principles of Judo” and the management of the body can be practiced.”
Tomiki further discussed some of the issues surrounding this problem in this interview with Aikido Journal, in which he was asked about some of the spectacular feats that Morihei Ueshiba was able to perform with his internal skills:
This problem is one of modern physical education’s muscle training. It’s called isometrics. That is to say, by pushing or pulling you train either the outer muscles or the inner muscles. When you get perfect at this form of training you can hardly see any muscle movement at all during the exercise. When you can’t see any movement you are using the muscle very skillfully. But, in the educational field if you demand a similar level of perfection then you are making a big mistake. If anyone trains sufficiently it is possible to do it to some degree, but, of course, there are limits what a human being can do. Perfection is a problem of belief. Can we call it religious faith? If we have to disrupt our partner’s psychological state through some hypnotic technique it would not be a matter of religion as we usually think of the word. I for one, take the normal point of view that education appropriate for the general public is correct and I think aikido should be something usual, or normal, as well.
Tomiki wasn’t alone in these sentiments, his teacher Jigoro Kano also wrestled with the problem of balancing his desire to preserve the traditional arts of Japan with the his desire to create an art that would be suitable for the modern educational system and the general public:
The pioneer who modernized the feudal era schools of bujutsu and brought them to into the context of modern physical education was Master Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo. When I say that he modernized ancient bujutsu, what I mean is that, first of all, he categorized and arranged the techniques so that they transcended schools. The main feature of this rearrangement was organizing and categorizing the major techniques according to the form of combat, so as to make tournaments (shiai) possible.
– “On Jujutsu and its Modernization” by Kenji Tomiki
And Kano dealt with similar issues as well – according to Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin-ryu (新道楊心流) Menkyo Kaiden Toby Threadgill, there was a point in time when the entire Internal Power (内力の業) training syllabus of Shindo Yoshin-ryu was included in Kodokan Judo textbooks – a chapter that was removed from later editions. Here he speaks a little bit about that section of the training:
They are solo exercises that inculcate the proper balance, movement and muscular application utilized in our greater curriculum. These types of exercises are actually quite ubiquitous in Japanese jujutsu schools of the Edo Period, although they are rather unfamiliar to those outside the membership of specific Nihon koryu. According to Yoshin ryu lore, this form of body training was introduced to Japan from China in the mid-Edo Period. In the case of Yoshin ryu, the Nairiki no Gyo were specifically created adaptations of Chinese practices intended to augment the study and application of specific body skills required in Yoshin ryu’s greater curriculum.
– From “An Interview With: Toby Threadgill, Menkyo Kaiden, Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin ryu“
In the end, Tomiki opted to follow Jigoro Kano’s thinking and introduce a form of competitive Aikido:
I introduced Randori Aikido so that students could make their techniques more effective by ‘free play’. These techniques originate from Kata and can develop through Randori to competition. In order to teach the spirit of Budo in a modern educational system, it is necessary to introduce it as a sport. The reason I developed Randori Aikido from Kata Aikido is because I wished to follow the method and thinking of Dr. Jigaro Kano in which he evolved Judo from old style Jujutsu
That would lead to his eventual break with the Aikikai and the Ueshiba family over the issue of competition in Aikido. Morehei Ueshiba’s granson Moriteru Ueshiba even went so far as to say that Aikido with competition can no longer be considered “Aikido”:
For example, those that have instituted competitive matches have obviously forgotten the true nature of Aikido, and cannot be called Aikido.
– From “Aikido ™ – Can it really be trademarked?“
Nonetheless, Tomiki was still in Morihei Ueshiba’s thoughts in his last moments, as we see here in this recollection from Yoshinkan Aikido Founder Gozo Shioda:
Four of the younger deshi were staying with Sensei. He was asleep when I went there, but he suddenly woke up and said, “It’s you, thanks for coming. I’m riding on a winged horse around the heavens. I can see the earth. Shioda, what is [Kenji] Tomiki doing now? I’m watching.”
At that time Kisshomaru had changed his name and was called Koetsu. He was waiting at the foot of the bed and Ueshiba Sensei said the following, “Shioda, I want you to support Koetsu on the technical side. I want you always to cooperate with him. I’m counting on you.” Kisshomaru stood there and listened.
– From Aiki News issue 93 (now Aikido Journal)
So…now we have a couple of downloadable documents in PDF format (provided from scans originating with Eddy Wolput and the Study Group Tomiki Aikido).
Kenji Tomiki shows a technique from the Goshinjutsu no Kata
The first is “Kodokan Goshinjutsu” (講道館護身術), by Kenji Tomiki. This is Kenji Tomiki’s commentary on the Kodokan Goshinjutsu no Kata (講道館護身術の形 / Kodokan Self Defense Kata), first published in 1958.
The Kodokan Goshinjutsu no Kata is a set of pre-arranged forms, set techniques, intended to focus on self-defense applications. Created by a Kodokan committee over a period of some three years, Kenji Tomiki had a huge influence on the final form of the Kata.
In the introduction to the Kodokan book “Goshinjutsu”, Risei Kano (嘉納履正), Jigoro Kano’s son and the second president of the International Judo Federation, wrote:
The writer of this Book, Professor Kenji Tomiki, has deep understanding of Judo as Professor of Waseda University and also is an authority on the research of Aiki-Jutsu in the light of Judo principles. In formulating the Goshin Jutsu no Kata, he played a leading role in the panel.
Kenji Tomiki and Tadao Otaki gave the first public demonstration of the Goshin Jutsu no Kata at the Kagami Biraki in 1956 at the Nippon Budokan.
- Download (Dropbox ) “Kodokan Goshinjutsu by Kenji Tomiki” (PDF format / 36 MB)
- Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Kodokan Goshinjutsu by Kenji Tomiki” (PDF format / 36 MB)
“Introduction to Goshinjutsu” by Kenji Tomiki, 1974
Next is Kenji Tomiki’s “Introduction to Goshinjutsu” (護身術入門), published in 1974. This book is an interesting follow-up to the “Kenji Tomiki: Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles” publication mentioned above.
It is also clearly aimed at the general public, although there are also some interesting sections.
For example, here is one about the “Principle of the Lever”. Here Tomiki talks about Yin/Yang (In/Yo) opposing forces with a central non-moving pivot in the text, but in terms of modern mechanics as a force couple. According to Wikipedia this is defined:
A couple is a pair of forces, equal in magnitude, oppositely directed, and displaced by perpendicular distance or moment.
Further:
Its effect is to create rotation without translation, or more generally without any acceleration of the centre of mass.
The above ought to be familiar material to those folks training in the Sangenkai method.
Also, here is one demonstration using a spinning top to illustrate the stability and power of spiral force:
The principle of the spinning top
- Download (Dropbox) “Introduction to Goshinjutsu by Kenji Tomiki” (PDF format / 22 MB)
- Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Introduction to Goshinjutsu by Kenji Tomiki” (PDF format / 22 MB)
The “Gendai Aiki” correspondence course
As a final bonus, the six volume “Gendai Aiki” series of books below is a 1970’s correspondence course in Aikido – the type of course one often sees advertised in the back of Manga and other popular magazines. The series was not authored by Kenji Tomiki, but was clearly written by someone who had experience with the Tomiki system of Aikido. I hope that you find these interesting as well.
Enjoy!
Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI
June 25, 2016
Kenji Tomiki: Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles
“Secret Teachings of Budo (Poems)” – from “Budo Renshu”, 1933
also see “Three Doka and the Aiki O-Kami“
The first known book published by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba (“Moritaka Ueshiba” at the time of publishing) was the 1933 training manual “Budo Renshu” (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“). This manual was initially given to his students as a kind of a teaching license.
It was filled with illustrations depicting techniques taught at the Kobukan Dojo which were drawn by Takako Kunigoshi, a student at the Kobukan who began training shortly before her graduation from Japan Women’s Fine Arts University.
The text portions of this work were largely complied and edited by Kenji Tomiki, one of Morihei Ueshiba’s senior students. Kenji Tomiki began training at the Kobukan Dojo in Tokyo around 1926 after being encouraged to meet Morihei Ueshiba by Hidetaro Kubota (who later changed his name to Nishimura), a fellow Judo student at Waseda.
Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, back row center
Kenji Tomiki, back row right (red box)
1934 summer gasshuku, from the Kobukan Dojo newsletter “Kobu” (皇武)
Hidetaro Kubota had trained with Morihei Ueshiba in Ayabe, on the Omoto-kyo compound. One of Kuboto’s fellow students, Yutaka Otsuki(大槻豊), would later go on to found his own school of “Otsuki-ryu Aiki-jujutsu”.
“Hiden Ogi” scroll issued in “Otsuki-ryu Aiki-jujutsu” by Yutaka Otsuki (大槻豊), 1940
Kenji Tomiki, also a senior student of Judo Founder Jigoro Kano, would go on to become Morihei Ueshiba’s designated representative at Kenkoku University in Japanese occupied Manchuria.
Kenji Tomiki and Morihei Ueshiba in Manchuria, 1942
When the Dan ranking system became required by the consolidation of Japanese martial arts by the Japanese government prior to World War II under the Dai Nippon Butokukai he would receive the very first 8th Dan ever to be issued by Morihei Ueshiba.
Tomiki was an instructor at Aikikai Hombu Dojo after the war, but a division gradually developed over the issue of competition in Aikido and the division grew into a split between Tomiki and the Aikikai organization when Tomiki established his Shodokan Dojo in 1967 to refine his teaching methods and then held public tournaments beginning in 1970.
“Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, published by the Aikikai in 1954
In 1954 Morihei Ueshiba published “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, edited by Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru (Koetsu) Ueshiba. This book, which was not publicly distributed (but is available here), duplicates much of the text and many of the drawings that first appeared in the 1933 publication “Budo Renshu” – text that was originally compiled and edited primarily by Kenji Tomiki.
Also in 1954, Kenji Tomiki published a book demonstrating his own efforts at combining the scientific methodology and educational pedagogy that he had absorbed from Jigoro Kano with the teachings that he had received from Morihei Ueshiba.
“Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles”
by Kenji Tomiki, 1954
Like “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” mentioned above, this manuscript (which includes a forward written by Jigoro Kano’s son Risei Kano – 嘉納履正) was recovered through the efforts of Scott Burke, who lives in Fukuoka, but often comes to Hawaii to join the local Sangenkai workshops.
About half of the work itself is text – but the pictorial content in the remaining sections should be understandable even to non-Japanese speakers.
Enjoy!
- Download (Dropbox) “Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles” (PDF format / 15 MB)
- Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles” (PDF format / 15 MB)
Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI
June 12, 2016
Aikido Maki-no-Ichi – O-Sensei’s First Book on Aikido
The cover of “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” (1954) and the first page of the technical explanations
This page is identical to the first page of “Budo Renshu” (1933)
The 1933 training manual “Budo Renshu” (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“) was initially given to the students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba as a kind of a teaching license. It was hand illustrated by Takako Kunigoshi, a student at Morihei Ueshiba’s Kobukan Dojo who began training shortly before her graduation from Japan Women’s Fine Arts University. This was also discussed in the article “Three Doka and the Aiki O-Kami“.
Women’s self-defense demonstration.
Fujiko Suzuki (鈴木富治子 or 富士子), founder of Yamato Goshinjutsu (大和流護身術)、 left
Sokaku Takeda and Morihei Ueshiba student Admiral Isamu Takeshita on the right.
The book “Yamato Ryu Goshinjutsu” was published in 1937 and illustrated by Takako Kunigoshi.
In 1938 Morihei Ueshiba privately published another book, a technical manual called “Budo”, for Prince Tsunenori Kaya, who was one of his students at the time. This manual was (re) discovered entirely by chance by Aikido Journal editor Stanley Pranin during an interview with Zenzaburo Akazawa.
A loose translation of “Budo” was published in English under the name “Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido” by John Stevens. There is also a commentary by Morihiro Saito published under the name “Budo: Commentary on the 1938 Training Manual of Morihei Ueshiba“. Oddly, “Budo” has never been published in Japanese (with the exception that the Morihiro Saito commentary contains both Japanese and English).
I’ve discussed parts of this book before, in articles such as “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae” and the following parts two and three.
In 1954 a book called “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” was privately published by the Aikikai Foundation – this book was mentioned by Aikido 10th Dan Michio Hikitsuchi during the course of this interview:
Is our current style of practice different from that when you started?
Yes, the waza were done differently. You know, the other day I pulled out a book, Maki-no-Uchi. That was O-Sensei’s first book. We practised along the lines described in Maki-no-Uchi. ‘
Did O-Sensei distribute that book?
No. To have it, you had to have O-Sensei’s permission. For me, that was when I reached what would now be called shodan.
Was it a secret book, something that was never shown around?
Well, I don’t know whether I would call it “secret”. It was, after aIl, a book, and there probably are people who can learn just by reading. But it would have been very hard for someone to read the book end understand what it was about unless that person were practising Aikido. Unless you were shodan or higher, you wouldn’t know what to make of it. I think that is still true today. It’s not as if you can tell someone, “Here, do it as the book shows.” Aikido is something that becomes a part of you – something that comes through the spiritual training [shugyo] of physical practice [keiko].
Now, you don’t have to be too sharp to note that Aikido Maki-no-Ichi was not Morihei Ueshiba’s first book, since it was preceded by (at least) both “Budo Renshu” and “Budo”, but it is the first book by the Founder that contains “Aikido” in the title and was published after World War II and the formal adoption of the name “Aikido” for Morihei Ueshiba’s art.
So what is it? This book was privately published and distributed in 1954 by the Aikikai Foundation in mimeographed bound format, and was edited by Koetsu Ueshiba (Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba’s birth name).
The back pages of Aikido Maki-no-Ichi
On the left – the signature of Koetsu Ueshiba, dated April 8th Showa 31 (1956)
On the right – published April 1st of Showa 29 (1954) by the Aikikai Foundation
and authored by Koetsu Ueshiba, Wakamatsu-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
The material will be familiar to you if you are already familiar with Morihei Ueshiba’s pre-war publications. The text is mostly a combination of text from both “Budo Renshu” and “Budo” (cleansed of most of the pre-war imperial language), with the bulk of the book (which totals some 150 pages) consisting primarily of hand illustrated techniques from “Budo Renshu”.
Why does this matter, except as a curiosity? Well, this work is significant because it shows that what Morihei Ueshiba was teaching in 1954 was the same as what he was teaching in 1933. That five years after he told Morihiro Saito in Iwama that he had “completed” Aikido…he was still distributing the same material, containing the same explanations and the same techniques that had given his students in 1933 – when they were firmly students of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu.
Atemi
“Budo Renshu”, 1933 on the left / “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi“, 1954 on the right
In other words, the idea of a radical phase change in the technical core of Aikido after the war that is so commonly accepted…never happened.
This supports what Yasuo Kobayashi said about what he practiced during the early 1950’s at Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo:
Moderator: There were two books published before the war, “Budo” and “Budo Renshu”, was it only those techniques?
Kobayashi: Yes, that’s right. Of course, we did not do staff (jo) or sword (ken).
There is a discussion of this issue in “The Ueshiba Legacy, by Mark Murray” which you may like to read if you find this issue interesting.
This won’t be news to everybody, of course, Morihiro Saito used to carry a copy of the 1938 technical manual “Budo” with him while he was teaching so that he could show people that what O-Sensei had taught him in Iwama after the war most closely resembled what was represented in that manual published before the war, and not necessarily what was commonly being taught in other places.

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba demonstrates Kamae in “Budo”, 1938
“In footwork there is an external six directions and an internal six directions as well as an outer spiral and an internal spiral, this will be taught in practice.”
– From “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae“
The identical instructions appear in the Kamae section of “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, 1954
What is news is that, for the first time, this 1954 work presents hard evidence that what Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba was teaching and distributing after the war in the 1950’s was essentially the same material that he was teaching and distributing before the war. That, while some things changed, of course, there was no phase shift in core technology, or radical invention of new martial technology.
We also have this very interesting study by John Driscoll, originally published on AikiWeb, the almost exact correlation between the techniques taught by Morihei Ueshiba and the techniques of the Daito-ryu Hiden Mokuroku shows the continuing technical links between the two arts.
And this good visual comparison of the pre-war and post-war technique of Morihei Ueshiba that illustrates this point quite clearly:
So..how did “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” come to see the light of day (and the light of the internet!)?
Last year I was talking to Scott Burke, who lives in Fukuoka, but often comes to Hawaii to join the Sangenkai workshops with Dan Harden.
Scott Burke, left, in Hawaii – December 2013
Aiki-age at the Sangenkai workshop with Dan Harden
We got to talking about how riffling through old library archives led me to what I believe to be the oldest recorded interview with Morihei Ueshiba – the one contained in the article “A Leap of the Spirit – Moritaka (Morihei) Ueshiba in 1932“.
We talked about doing more of that kind of research (easier for Scott, since he’s actually in Japan), and Dan Harden encouraged the idea enthusiastically.
“Kannagara no Budo – Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Hiden”, by Takuma Hisa – 1942
After returning to Japan he started frequenting the prefectural library and accessing the university library catalogs, and things started moving. In addition to things like “Kannagara no Budo – Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Hiden”, published in 1942 by Takuma Hisa (which he published about Daito-ryu, as a menkyo kaiden in the art, but duplicates large sections of the text in “Budo Renshu” and “Budo”), he also came across….”Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”.
And now you have too – here is the 150 page complete scanned edition of “Aikido Maki-no-ichi” in PDF format. Published in 1954 and edited by Koetsu Ueshiba. There is only one alteration, the name to whom this particular volume was dedicated has been omitted for reasons of personal privacy.
- Download (Dropbox) “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” (PDF format / 14 MB)
- Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” (PDF format / 14 MB)
Enjoy!
Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI
May 15, 2016