“Overlooked minutiae illuminate the Founder’s genius!” This photo has enormous significance as a technical reference. Taken in 1938, it shows a much younger Morihei Ueshiba beginning to execute what we...
Archive - March 2014
Josh GoldReconfigure your hands… “Put your hands in hanmi!” by Stanley Pranin
“Gaining an advantage through the positioning of your hands!” Many styles of aikido begin the static practice of techniques from a triangular “hanmi” stance. The hanmi stance is generally...
All of Aikido’s Greats! Video: “Morihei Ueshiba’s Best Students at a Glance”
Sometime ago I was faced with the challenge of presenting an overview of the leading students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. This task was particularly difficult because the Founder had a teaching career spanning...
The Co-founder of Aikido? “The Strange Saga of Noriaki Inoue”
Before dismissing such a preposterous claim, consider the following. Inoue was a nephew of Morihei Ueshiba, and 19 years the latter’s junior. You’ll recall that Morihei was born in Tanabe, a seacoast town in...
Beware the big lie! “The Founder only learned Daito-ryu for three weeks or so!”
On October 27, 1985 in Sendai, I attended a lecture on the history of aikido given by Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba. During his talk Kisshomaru Sensei made the following remark: “The Founder only studied Daito...
Aikido’s first 10th dan is mysteriously absent from historical accounts… How can this be?!
The Aikikai Hombu Dojo located in Tokyo is by far the largest aikido organizational entity in the world, dwarfing all others. During the late 1950s through 1974, the best known figure of the Aikikai was its chief...