Full Contact Karate at the Aikido Sangenkai? Not really, but many of the quotations in this article originally appeared in the January 1996 issue of the Japanese magazine “Full Contact Karate” (フル・コンタクト・カラテ), in an article entitled “Secret Technique: The Secret of Aiki” (秘技・合気の秘密). They present an interesting survey of comments on Aiki from some of the leading exponents of both Aikido and Daito-ryu.
You may also be interested in Sagawa-den Daito-ryu Aiki-Budo instructor Masaru Takahashi’s technical essay’s on the nature of Aiki “What is Aiki?” (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3). (more…)
Morihei Ueshiba in front of a builiding in Shirataki, Hokkaido – 1913
In the spring of 1910 Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei gathered approximately 80 volunteers from 54 families and left Wakayama to establish a settlement in Shirataki Village (Kamiyuubetsu Village at the time) in the frontier lands of Hokkaido, where he was to live for eight years.
It was while he was living there that he met Daito-ryu Chuko-no-so (“Interim Reviver” / 中興の祖) Sokaku Takeda, at the Hisada Inn in Engaru, Hokkaido in late February 1915. Ueshiba would stay in Engaru for a month, participating in three ten day intensive seminars, after which he invited Takeda to come to his home in Shirataki.
This article is an English translation of an account in Japanese by Masashi Kubota (久保田雅士), an Aikido student and current-day resident of Shirataki Village in Hokkaido. It presents a number of recollections of Morihei Ueshiba’s teacher Sokaku Takeda through the eyes of the local residents of Shirataki. (more…)
Hakaru Mori demonstrating at the 50th Anniversary of Sokaku Takeda’s passing
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Takumakai (大東流合気柔術琢磨会) General Director Hakaru Mori (森恕) began studying with Takuma Hisa in 1962. Mori sensei was instrumental in founding the Takumakai organization, something which Takuma Hisa himself initially opposed, and was eventually designated as the General Director (総務長 – the same title that was held at one time by Sokaku Takeda himself) of the Takumakai by Takuma Hisa.
This article is the English translation of an article in Japanese written by Hakaru Mori. It originally appeared in issues number 68 and 69 of the Takumakai Newsletter.
In this article there is some mention of the “Soden”, a large collection of photographs in nine volumes collected by the students at Takuma Hisa’s Asahi Newspaper dojo depicting the techniques taught to them by both Morihei Ueshiba and Takuma Hisa. Since this type of photography was unusual among traditional arts at the time this involved some small amount of misdirection on the part of Takuma Hisa and his students. According to Hakaru Mori (Aiki News #89, July 1989):
I understand that Hisa Sensei would take Ueshiba Sensei or Sokaku Sensei for a bath after practice and wash their backs. During that time, his students would perform the techniques they learned that day and take photos. Today it is not very difficult to take photos, but in those days it wasn’t easy and it was only possible because of the Asahi Newspaper Company. There are more than 1,500 photos all together.
Urakami Sakae (浦上荣) of Heki-ryu Kyudo shows “Tenouchi”
In the article “What is Aiki?” (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3) Sagawa-den Daito-ryu Aiki Budo instructor Masaru Takahashi discussed “Tenouchi” (手の内) and it’s relation to Aiki.
Generally speaking, the literal meaning of Tenouchi is “the inside of the hand” (in other words, the palm of the hand) – in Kendo it can mean the swordsman’s grip on the sword, or in Kyudo it can mean the grip of the hand on the bow. Urakami Sakae above shows the classical Tenouchi in Heki-ryu archery (you may remember that there was a tradition of Heki-ryu archery in the family of Hiroshi Tada) . In classical arts it was given such weight that it came also came to be used as a way to refer to one’s level of skill.
This article is the English translation of an article on Tenouchi in Japanese written by Hakaru Mori, the Somucho (General Director) of the Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Takumakai (大東流合気柔術琢磨会、総務長森恕), and successor to Takumakai founder Takuma Hisa, who trained under both Morihei Ueshiba and Sokaku Takeda. It originally appeared in issue number 82 of the Takumakai Newsletter.
While reading this article you may wish to keep the following quotations from Yukiyoshi Sagawa in mind:
6/12/1965
Not receiving the opponent’s power and making it so that their power will not enter into me when I attack is Aiki. This is not simply draining their power, you must also make an attachment. Aiki makes an attachment through the way that the hand is opened. Simply opening the hand is not Aiki.
8/28/1971
I was told by Takeda Sensei to open my hand in the way that a Morning Glory (“Asagao”) blooms, but I think that this means to open the hand while rotating slightly. I conceived of my Aiki while thinking about this kind of thing.
12/16/1973
Learn Aiki through Suwari-ryote-dori Age-te. This is how I learned the Aiki method of destabilization. The important Hiden (“secret transmission”) is (1) Turn the thumbs towards yourself. (2) Rotate your forearms. Because they rotate the attachment is formed. They rotate in the same way that a Mountain Rose (“Yamabuki”) opens. Putting power into each of the fingers is important.
6/10/1973
The Gokui (“secret”) of Aiki. The reason that an attachment is formed with Aiki is because of the rotation of the forearms.
January 1974, Dojo-biraki at Sagawa Dojo Tetsuya Taguchi (the dojo’s longest training student) to the left of Sagawa sensei Keisetsu Yoshimaru to the right of Sagawa sensei Yoshio Ohara, front row right Masaru Takahashi, second row left
You may recognize Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s student Keisetsu Yoshimaru (吉丸慶雪) in the photo above from the articles “Aiki no Rentai: The Conditioned Body of Yukiyoshi Sagawa” (Part 1 | Part 2), and “Yukiyoshi Sagawa on Bujutsu and Ki-Ryoku” (Part 1 | Part 2).
You may also recognize Yoshio Ohara, famous in Sagawa Dojo for his great strength, whose picture appeared in the second part of “What is Aiki?“, being thrown by Yukiyoshi Sagawa in Aiki-nage.
Masaru Takahashi (高橋賢) also appears in the commemorative photo above. Takahashi sensei was a senior student of the famous Daito-ryu instructor Yukiyoshi Sagawa, and continues to instruct at the Sagawa-den Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Sagamihara branch dojo (佐川伝大東流合氣武道相模原支部) and at the Daito-ryu Sagawa Dojo hombu (大東流佐川道場本部) in Kodaira city.
Takahashi sensei often contributes articles on Daito-ryu to the monthly Japanese Budo magazine Hiden (月刊秘伝), and is the author of a book on Chinese Qigong, 中国秘伝の秘伝術気功法, which has been translated into English and published as “Qigong for Health“.
This is the third and final section of the English translation of his thoughts concerning the analysis of Aiki. You may wish to read Part 1 and Part 2 before reading this concluding section. The original Japanese text appeared in Takahashi sensei’s book “The Truth of Daito-ryu Aiki” (大東流合気の真実), which was published in Japanese by Fukushodo Co. Ltd. in September 2007.
