Morihei UeshibaMorihei Ueshiba

Morihei Ueshiba

Founder of martial art Aikido.

Aikido’s founder, Morihei Ueshiba, was born in Japan on December 14, 1883. As a boy, he was weak and made up his mind to study martial arts. He practised almost all the existing martial arts, beginning with kito-ryo jujitsu, yagyu-ryu, aioi-ryu, hozoin-ryu and finally daito-ryu. He studied under many teachers—wandering Japan with a bokken until he found someone superior to him. He stopped and absorbed all that he could and then moved on. Morihei Ueshiba also pursued spiritual studies — as a child he studied Zen under Mitsujo Fujimoto of the Shigon School of Buddhism. He later embraced the Shinto sect Omoto-kyo founded by Wanisaburo Deguchi. By combining his martial training with his religious and political ideologies, Ueshiba created the modern martial art of aikido. Ueshiba decided on the name “aikido” in 1942 (before that he called his martial art “aikibudo” and “aikinomichi”).

Philosopher's Notes on Morihei Ueshiba's Books

The Art of Peace
LockedPhilosopher's Notes

The Art of Peace

by Morihei Ueshiba

Morihei Ueshiba was one of the world's greatest martial artists and the founder of Aikido. In this little book, he shares some awesome Big Ideas on The Art of Peace. Big Ideas range from the fact that life is about growth and that if we stop growing, we're as good as dead to the idea that our ultimate purpose is to realize our inner divinity. Good stuff.

Quotes by Morihei Ueshiba