The article below has been selected from the extensive archives of the Online Aikido Journal. We believe that an informed readership with knowledge of the history, techniques and philosophy of aikido is essential to the growth of the art and its adherence to the principles espoused by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.
The Founder had students all over the country. Moreover, because he prided himself in the number and variety of his acquaintances from all levels of society, he was beseiged by visitors starting from early in the morning and he spent large amounts of time in receiving them. In addition, the occasions when he would, on invitation, travel to teach or lecture were not few. However, even on those occasions, his mind was always in the dojo and he seemed to be absorbed in thinking about some new method of training. It seemed as though he disciplined himself in this manner out of the belief that one day training missed was a step backward. At least as far as I observed personally from my earliest recollections as a boy, except for a short period at the end of his life when he was forced to remain bedridden being faced with cancer, this is how the Founder’s daily life was spent.