Morihei Ueshiba encounters?

Just wait till the summer holidays. :woo:

The Bear.

 

Hi again
Morihei Ueshiba would often mention "heaven". Does anyone know what he meant by "heaven"?
Did he mean joy and prosperity in life, or the "afterlife" concept, like in Christianity?

 

You'll need to ask him.

The Bear.

 

Many of the original shihan who trained under Ueshiba told me that THEY had no idea what he was speaking about when he used such terminology. ALL they wanted was the rest that went with his speaches so that they could recover from the training.

If they cannot give an answer you will not find it here.

Although there are a number of western mystics and wannabees that shall claim they can provide it.

O Sensei himself DID say aikido is NOT a religion.

 

That's 'cause y'all boys ain't got no chance o' runnin' into one o' them there oversized varmints in the woods.

Unlike some o' us!

 

Ippon!

 

One of the legends about Ueshiba was that he befriended the bears in Hokaido.

I know this is possible from personal experience.

 

effective aikido?

Aikido not effective?Chiba Sensei /Tada Sensei /Shibata Sensei and Tamura Sensei [just as examples]certainly are not ineffective or frauds.Like so many other people you appear to have little experience or understanding of Aikido.The Aikido I have studied certainly is positive and effective unlike some of the so called Aikido that you see on some Web sites.

 

O Sensei s character

Hi,
If you read Abundant Peace by by John Stevens you will glean info which will give you some insight into the times and life of O Sensei.I think he was a very unique person inasmuch he was a pioneer /farmer/ martial artist/highly respected by his peers and members of Japanese society at high level/ soldier/bodyguard/religious zealot/philosopher /poet.He certainly was not the average man in the street.Ueshiba Sensei is listed in a book called the Book Of Genius as a Master of Wu wei[Ying Yang].Unfortunately I do not know the isbn number of said book.

 

Oh NO!!!

Abundant peace is a ptome of inaccuracies that Stan Pranin , the Daito ryu and the Ueshiba family have competely discredited mainly because it promotes all of the nonsense of dodging bulletts etc.

There are numerous articles in aikido journal where Kishomaru Ueshiba and other masters take it to pieces page by page.Despite this Mr Stevens continues in his next book Invincible Warrior stating that O Sensei could throw a DOZEN men simultaneously and throw and PIN??? without touch.
NOT to be reccomended.

I attended a seminar by Mr Stevens and he insisted in calling irrimi nage the dance of the gods and spent most of the time giving mystical connotations to the most simple of moves.

Do not make assumptions about ANY art. You will only find anything of value if you go and train.

 

Quoted for truth.

 

It's good to see people are 'calling out' some of the ridiculous claims made by sensationalist authors who take liberties in their translation of Ueshiba Sensei's life. This really takes away from the art's veracity.

There is a similar thread on Aiki Web that was originated due to the OP's concern over a discussion criticizing aikido on the website Bullshido.com. It is these over-exagerated and/or fraudulent types of stories that create such skepticism. Actually, I believe the people on Bullshido were insinuating that some aikido schools are more akin to a LARPer (live action roleplaying) club than a place of martial study.

People also do not often realize that it takes a lot of milage 'on the mat' before one's techniques become at a high level. Ueshiba did not start his aikido the way it was seen toward his later years....it started as a hard martial art. Some try to get to the end result without going through the work to get there...which is unfortunate. Maybe in science and mathematics one can "stand on the shoulders" of those who came before...but for something as personal as a martial study it is my humble opinion that one must develop from the level of a beginner.

 

Here take a read of a brand new thread with a much older newspaper interview of O Sensei and this might answer some of your questions regarding his views. Though no doubt it will also open up more questions. It's a never ending cycle. As it should be.

http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?p=34140608#post34140608

I would also suggest you heavily consider the era and environment that Morihei Ueshiba was born into and lived in. I don't think it's all that easy for us to understand it. By and large most of us are born in the age of quick fixes and instant gratification with no real loyalty to anyone or any idea or conviction. His day and age were vastly different in that respect. You will have to broaden your knowledge of East Asian history to put the time and place in it's proper historical context. Anything less will leave you with nothing to sink your teeth into.

And as a final note... that Ueshiba sensei spent so many years training in Daito ryu under the tough as nails Sokaku Takeda to me signifies that there really isn't much room for fraudulent behavior. I've no doubt that someone as stern as Takeda would not have tolerated it for a second.

Again broaden your knowledge of the times and the history in which he was raised and you can begin to from a very well rounded opinion of O Sensei.

 

Ha ha ha.

The Bear.

 

Your blog which suggests any person interested in OSensei should review his life and times within the context of the period he lived through is a very valid point.In my earlier blog I suggested that O Sensei was a multi dimensional man, quite unique and is considered to be a genius in his own right.Of course some exagerration of O Sensei and his skills might well be the case in some books.Writers like John Stevens/Stanley Pranin may not agree on certain issues.I dont think this in itself detracts from the achievements and legacy of O Sensei.

 

My point was the writings of John Stevens detracts from O Sensei's legacy by promoting those ridiculous claims which are refuted by the Ueshiba family.

It also opens the door to wannabees and mystics who hide ridiculous techniques behind THEIR version of the philosophy.

 

Considering the source material available on the early life and times of O Sensei and considering the source material might well have been written in Japanese I consider John Stevens book as one which attempts to give some indication of O Sensei's life and Art.He may well have made comments in his book which have been discounted.This does not mean that Mr Stevens work is not of some value.Neither can you assert that Mr Stevens is responsible for opening [as you put it] the door to wannabees and mystics.
I would suggest to you that some of the stuff being promoted as Aikido on You Tube is a lot more damaging to the publics image of Aikido rather than the writings of Mr Stevens.