Today’s world of aikido bears the stamp of Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba more than any other person. There is no other figure who is more influential, not even the Founder Morihei Ueshiba himself. I realize...
Archive - June 2012
Aikido Training in Las Vegas: “Aikido and an Empty Mind,” by Paul Barrett
I’ve been doing various martial arts for well over 35 years and concentrating on aikido for about 20. I found aikido while searching for a martial arts style that was ubiquitous enough that I could easily slip from one...
Historical photo: “Morihei Ueshiba’s remarkable physical development,” by Stanley Pranin
This is quite an interesting photo taken in the early 1960s at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo which would put the Founder in his late 70s. O-Sensei’s body development was quite remarkable, and the Founder took pride in...
Stanley Pranin’s Autobiography: Koichi Tohei and Training in Japan, Part II
This article is the second in a series of four autobiographical articles by Aiki News Editor-in-chief Stanley Pranin and was first published in 1990 in Wushu, a Japanese-language magazine dealing with Chinese martial...
Shindo Yoshin Ryu: “Interview with Yukiyoshi Takamura,” by Stanley Pranin, Marco Ruiz and David Maynard
“A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy he chooses non-violence.” Having undergone special training in Shindo Yoshin-ryu jujutsu as...
O-Sensei’s Spiritual Writings: Where did they really come from? by Stanley Pranin
Recently, due to the publication of a series of books whose authorship has been attributed to Morihei Ueshiba, founder of aikido, I have felt compelled to weigh in on the subject of what O-Sensei actually did write...
“Change As Part of the Cycle of Movement in Aikido” by Alister Gillies
I agree with most of what George Ledyard says in his article, but it does somewhat beg the question regarding change in Aikido. Certainly, the winds of change are blowing. They have been blowing from the outset! When O...