A Brief History

Aikido is a relatively new martial art with its creator, Morihei Ueshiba being born December 14th, 1883.

He was born to a family of farmers in the area of Tanabe and was described as sickly and bookish by his family (a great disappointment to his father as he was the only son)

A young Morihei Ueshiba, Photo Credits: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Morihei_Ueshiba_Ayabe_1921.jpg/220px-Morihei_Ueshiba_Ayabe_1921.jpg

In an effort to inspire his son, Morihei's father often told him stories of his grandfather "Kichiemon" who was regarded as one of the strongest samurai alive during his life. While Morihei was young, he witnessed his father getting beaten by a band of thugs who had a political dispute with him. This motivated Morihei to take after his grandfather and pursue martial strength.

As Ueshiba grew so did his strength. He studied martial arts like Jujitsu and Kendo as well as joining the military to boost his physical power. Eventually his physical strength became a sort of legend in Japan with tales of him "lifting logs that normally required six men" or performing other miraculous feats sprouting up.

In his 30's Ueshiba had three spiritual revelations that completely transformed his outlook, instead of seeking to overcome his foes with force he wished to reconcile with them and use his martial prowess to protect. There was no drastic change to technique until his later years when he grew sick and much of his strength left him.