Hey Stan! Did O-Sensei really say this? by Stanley Pranin

“Given the sad lack of scholarship and the many liberties taken, O-Sensei can be made to say anything you like!”

I can’t tell you how many times readers have sent me quotes attributed to O-Sensei. They want to know if the Founder actually said this or that. Often, they will arrive in the form of nice photos of the Founder with the attributed quote inlaid in the photo. My normal reply — unless the material emanates from Aikido Journal or I know the exact source — is to say that I have no idea whether or not Morihei Ueshiba actually uttered these words.

If your reaction is to think that this is an odd state of affairs, I would agree with you entirely. In fact, I would say that this situation is lamentable! Let me explain.

The writings and quotations attributed to the Founder of Aikido come mainly from three sources: translations of material attributed to Morihei Ueshiba published in the Japanese-language “Aikido Shimbun” in the late 1950s through the 1960s; books published by the Founder’s son, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, in Japanese and/or English over a span of several decades; English translations of an assortment of materials published by the Aikikai Hombu Dojo and Kisshomaru Ueshiba by Prof. John Stevens, mostly without attribution to the Japanese source used. If you’re curious to find out more in detail what has happened, read my article titled “O-Sensei’s Spiritual Writings: Where did they really come from?” .

Basically, my view is this. Almost without exception, quotes of O-Sensei published in Japanese were heavily edited by the staff of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo prior to publication. Although I would not go so far as to say that these edited writings violate the spirit of O-Sensei’s thinking, they alter considerably the vocabulary and forms of expression employed by Morihei, and strip out much of the Shinto-based religious context he would customarily use in his speech.

This state of affairs is further aggravated by the fact that the unedited Japanese speech of O-Sensei is lost to us, and the editorial process used to filter the Founder’s writings has gone unmentioned. Since these adulterated Japanese texts were used by Prof. Stevens as the basis for his often free-form translations, what has reached us today is something far removed indeed from the Founder’s actual speech. We are left in the unenviable situation of being totally unaware if the material is reliable, nor do we have any means of verifying its authenticity. Given the sad lack of scholarship and the many liberties taken, O-Sensei can be made to say anything you like!

In my research and publications, I only trust two sources to represent O-Sensei’s speech and beliefs: the audio recordings of the Founder in the Aikido Journal archives, and the lectures of Morihei Ueshiba edited by Hideo Takahashi published in Japanese under the title of “Takemusu Aiki”. Anything else is to my thinking suspect.

After more than 40 years of research into the Founder’s life and art, I have concluded that many important aspects of Morihei Ueshiba’s odyssey along with the evolution of his technique remain unknown to today’s practitioners. As such, his amazing life and accumulated wisdom remain an untapped source of knowledge for us in the present. Welcome to Aikido Journal where we have dedicated the last 40 years to exploring these fascinating subjects!