Aikido, by Kisshomaru Ueshiba

Book Review

Aikido

by Kisshomaru Ueshiba

This was one of the very first aikido books I got, when I had started my aikido quest in the early 1970s. I devoured it. Almost 40 years later, I'm still quite fond of it — especially the short, very esoteric text by Osensei at the end of it.

Kisshomaru Ueshiba was Osensei's son and succeeded him as doshu of aikido. He wrote this introduction to aikido in 1963, but the translation was done some ten years later. It contains straightforward explanation of aikido techniques, with many photos where young Tamura and Chiba appear as uke. Although it's nearly impossible to explain aikido techniques in a book, Kisshomaru Ueshiba was remarkably close to managing it.

But still, the true diamond in the book is Osensei's short text. It has inspired me ever since I read it the first time, when I was a teenager completely inebriated by aikido. You have to read it.

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My other reviews

I've reviewed some other books about aikido and related topics.

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My Own Aikido Books

Aikido Principles

Basic Concepts of the Peaceful Martial Art. The principles, philosophy, and basic ideas of aikido. It's not about the aikido techniques, but the thoughts and ideas behind them. You could call it a book on aikido theory. It was my first book, initially in Swedish. It has also been published in German and Czech. The first edition of the English version had the title Aikido — The Peaceful Martial Art. It's still around, but I recommend this edition called Aikido Principles.

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Attacks in Aikido

How to do kogeki, the attack techniques. All the attack techniques in aikido explained, and how to do them correctly. This is an often neglected field in aikido training. We focus on the aikido defense techniques but forget to learn the attacks properly — but then the development of our aikido skills will suffer. So, I wrote this book. As far as I know, it's the only one on the subject.

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Aikibatto

Sword and staff exercises for aikido students. I developed a comprised system of sword and staff exercises (aikiken and aikijo), initially for my own students to get familiar with these things. Other aikido students seemed to appreciate it, so I made this book. The exercises are explained in detail, with practical and spiritual aspects of the sword arts, how to teach them, equipment for training, and more.

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Qi — Increase Your Life Energy

Ki, the life energy, is a very important aspect of aikido. This is evident already in the name of this martial art. It's the same as the Chinese concept qi (also spelled chi or ch'i). Although essential in many ways, far from all aikido students know how to deal with it and integrate it in their training. Therefore, I wrote this book explaining ki, with several simple basic exercises on how to awaken, increase, and use the life energy.

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My Aikido Books

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Aikido Principles

Basic Concepts of the Peaceful Martial Art. The basic principles, philosophy and traditional budo concepts in aikido.
More about the book here.

Attacks in Aikido

How to do kogeki, the attack techniques. All the attack techniques in aikido explained, and how to do them correctly.
More about the book here.

Aikibatto

Aikiken Sword Exercises for Aikido. The aikibatto exercises, practical and spiritual aspects of the sword arts, advice on equipment for training.
More about the book here.