Tag: aikido

  • More on Aikido and the Floating Bridge of Heaven

    More on Aikido and the Floating Bridge of Heaven

    Ansai Yamazaki

    Ansai Yamazaki (1619-1682), founder of Suika Shinto

    Ansai Yamazaki and Ama-no-ukihashi-den

    Ansai Yamazaki was an Edo Period Confucian scholar who started out as a Buddhist monk and was one of the first people to spread Neo-Confucian thought in Japan.

    Interestingly, Zhang San Feng(张三丰), the legendary creator of Tajiquan in China, was also influenced by Neo-Confucian thought.

    Yamazaki was also the founder of the Suika Shinto sect, and his work on Shinto theology was instrumental in breaking Shinto thought out from the specialized provenance of the shrines to a more general population. We’ll get back to how this relates to the Floating Bridge a little bit later.

    合氣を学ぶものは天の浮橋に立たねばならぬ

    In order to learn Aiki you must stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven.

    As you can see from the above quotation, Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba seemed to think that the “Floating Bridge of Heaven” (天之浮橋) was a pretty important thing.

    Still – for all of its importance in his writings it is a concept that is generally not well understood. A direct student of Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei once expressed it to me this way:

    The Founder told us that we would be unable to practice martial arts if we did not stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven. We were told that if we could not stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven then our training would not bring forth Aikido technique, so it was essential that we do so at all costs.

    However, we didn’t understand anything about where this Floating Bridge of Heaven was. Since we didn’t understand where it was there was no way that we could stand on it, so the reality was that we just put on a good face and kept on applying techniques to each other.

    If you’ve read “Aikido and the Unknown” then you may have some idea why this kind of thing is not well understood, but just in case, here’s an interesting passage from Koichi Tohei (from “Ki no Kakuritsu” / 気の確立, translated from the Japanese):

    Without a doubt, Ueshiba Sensei understood Ki. If we’re talking about that point, then I think that you could say that he was a genius. However, it is unfortunate that he never taught the true nature of it to his students. Even now I don’t know if that was because he didn’t want to teach it, or if it was because he was unable to teach it.

    You may also like to take a look at “Morihei Ueshiba: Untranslatable Words” for an interesting story about Koichi Tohei himself and understanding of O-Sensei.  (more…)

  • Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae – Part 3

    Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae – Part 3

    Tai-no-Henka, Morihei Ueshiba

    Tai-no-henka to the left and right, from “Budo” 1938

    More on six directions…

    If you haven’t read “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae” yet then you’ll probably want to go back and read that article first.

    You may also want to read “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae – Part 2“, which contains a response from John Stevens to the original article.

    Now, take a look at the section above, “Tai-no-henka to the left and right”, scanned from Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei’s 1938 technical manual “Budo”.  (more…)

  • Drinking wine with O-Sensei

    Drinking wine with O-Sensei

    Morihei Ueshiba in Iwama

    Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba in front of the Shinden in Iwama
    Note the mitsudomoe design on the drum to his left.

    Translating Morihei Ueshiba

    If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend that you read Stan Pranin’s article “O-Sensei’s Spiritual Writings: Where did they really come from?” – it’s an important piece, and will lend some background to the rest of this post. Actually, most of this post consists of some thoughts I had after reading that article again.

    To summarize from Stan Pranin’s article, there are two main sources for post-war materials from Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei – “Takemusu Aiki” and “Aiki Shinzui”. The first is the transcription of a series of lectures by O-Sensei for publication in the Byakko Shinko Kai (“White Light Society”) newsletter. The second is also composed of transcriptions of lectures given by O-Sensei – this time the transcriptions were done by the Aikikai for publication in the “Aikido Shimbun” newsletters published by Aikikai hombu dojo(more…)

  • Morihei Ueshiba and the Way of the Cross

    Morihei Ueshiba and the Way of the Cross

    Izanagi Jingu

    Entrance to the Izanagi Jingu on Awaji Island
    The banner celebrates the 1,300th anniversary of the publication of the Kojiki

    Izanagi and Izanami cross the Floating Bridge of Heaven

    Remember Izanagi and Izanami from “Aikido and the Floating Bridge of Heaven“?

    If you don’t, Izanagi and his spouse (and sister) Izanami were tasked by the Gods of Japan to stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven (Ame no Uki Hashi / 天之浮橋) and create the islands of the Japanese archipelago.

    But…you really should go back and read the other article first, since the rest of what I’m talking about here will make much more sense in that context.

    Here’s a fun fact: in the Nihongi, which is the oldest book of classical Japanese history after the Kojiki, these gods go by the names of the “gods of In and Yo” (陽神陰神). O-Sensei was aware of this, and often referred to In and Yo in terms of Izanagi and Izanami.

    Anyway, I hope that you remember them, because they were a very common element in the speech and writings of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.

    If you remember, the male and female gods stood on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and stirred the sea with the jeweled spear (Ama no Nuboko / 天の沼矛), creating a vortex. Drops of salty water falling from the spear formed the first island (Onogoro Shima / 淤能碁呂島), whereupon the divine beings descended from the Bridge to the earth below.  (more…)

  • Lifting the Veil: Aikido Opens to the World

    Lifting the Veil: Aikido Opens to the World

    All Japan Aikido Demonstration

    The 50th All Japan Aikido Demonstration

    Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Shigeo Tokunaga and the first public Aikikai demonstration.

    May 26th, 2012 marked the 50th All Japan Aikido Demonstration (第50回全日本合気道演武大会) in Tokyo, at the Nihon Budokan.

    The All Japan is the biggest event of the year for Aikikai, and groups come from around Japan and around the world to attend. It is attended by thousands of spectators and demonstrators.

    But did you know that much of the motivation for these huge Aikikai events was actually provided by the Yoshinkan?

    At the end of the war the Wakamatsu-cho Aikikai dojo (the Kobukan Dojo before the war) was one of the few buildings still left standing after the bombing. Even so, the roof was badly damaged, many of the tatami mats were missing, and refugees were actually living in the dojo.

    Morihei Ueshiba was living in Iwama and rarely came to Tokyo.  (more…)