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.
During his later years, rather than teach, my father demonstrated movements which were in accord with the flow of the universe and unified with nature . Thus, it was a matter of students watching his movements, learning them by themselves, in that way understanding his technique. He wasn’t deeply concerned about teaching students… his movements were so spontaneous and natural. I think we should attain that point in the end. But since we have dojos, we tend to think in worldly terms, how to get people to come, how to develop a lot of strong students… and we get these egotistical, selfish things as a matter of course. But this was not the case with the Founder.