The Search for Continuity and Common Elements in the Evolution of Aikido

The history of Aikido, beginning with the biography of the founder, Morihei Ueshiba, “O’Sensei”, is also a description of the evolution and development of the body of technique (waza), philosophy, training, and ritual that have manifest in the world-wide practice of Aikido today. In order to define and understand “what is Aikido” it seems reasonable to consider what common elements can be identified across the variety and ‘styles” of Aikido practiced today, and the historical connection to the Aikido of the founder. This understanding and framework could in turn be a guide to understanding the future of Aikido and considering the question: when does the art stop being Aikido and begin being something else?

This has been a focus for me, in the context of my own training, in the process of reconciling variations on basic techniques as they are taught by different instructors or different associations, and varying emphasis and interpretation of fundamental concepts, such as “blending” or “centering”.

My Aikido Lineage

While the description of the training and the connection or lineage of any of my instructors would be very complicated to provide in a short essay (and would deserve accurate and thorough research) a simplified description of their major influences and connections to the founder is sufficient for this discussion. I have omitted rank and designation (Shidoin, Shihan) in most cases as it changed over time, and is covered in biographies of these instructors available on-line and elsewhere.

There are a number of references which describe the roots of O’Sensei’s training in Jujitsu and Kenjutsu (swordsmanship) at various schools and the development of Aikijutsu to Aikibudo into Aikido. Throughout these narratives one common theme was the distillation of the training and techniques in these different martial arts by Ueshiba. In turn, many early students of O’Sensei developed their own styles of related Aikido, including Kenji Tomiki (Tomiki Aikido) and Goza Shioda (Yoshinkan Aikido) and later Morihiro Saito (Iwama or Takemuso Aikido).

After O’Sensei’s death in 1969, a major split occurred when Koichi Tohei, head instructor at Hombu Dojo in leaving the organization (Aikikai) now headed by O’Sensei’s son, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, the first Doshu, formed what would become Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido or the “Ki Society” which emphasized the development of “Ki” as the core objective of training.

Roy Suenaka began his aikido study upon Koichi Tohei's 1953 visit to Hawaii, and continued his study directly under Founder Morihei Ueshiba at Hombu Dojo in 1958. He taught in Okinawa and studied Karate receiving advanced teaching certificates for both martial arts.

In 1972, Suenaka Sensei relocated to Charleston, S.C., where he served as Southeastern U.S. director for Koichi Tohei's International Ki Society until 1975, when Suenaka Sensei resigned to form the American International Ki Development and Philosophical Society (AIKDPS)™.

Clyde Takeguchi also began his Aikido training in Hawaii at an early age with instructors and dojo’s affiliated with Koichi Tohei. While in graduate school in Madison Wisconsin, he traveled to Chicago and studied under a number of senior students of O’Sensei, Hirata, Takahashi, and Ikira Tohei Sensei’s.

When Koichi Tohei split with the Aikikai, Takeguchi Sensei decided to affiliate with the Aikikai organization based in the United States and headed by Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei. Takeguchi Sensei moved to Washington, DC but also spent time in Charleston,SC and later opened Mt. Pleasant Aikikai in a nearby town.

A later student of Koichi Tohei’s at Hombu Dojo was Fumio Toyoda, who at an early age (27) was sent by Tohei to Chicago in 1974, where he eventually left the Ki Society organization to start his own in 1984, founding the Aikido Association of America and the Aikido Association International. In 2001 Toyoda Sensei passed away suddenly from a bacterial infection. His organization is now headed by his son, Stephen Toyoda Sensei, under the guidance of Yasuo Kobayashi Sensei.

In 1994 the AAA and AAI were re-affiliated with Hombu Dojo although Toyoda Shihan had developed his own unique curriculum which combined much of the Ki Aikido with a complete AAA style weapons (Jo & Bokken) curriculum.

Mitsunari Kanai was in one of the last groups of students of the founder entering the Hombu Dojo in 1958 as an uchi-deshi. He moved to the United States in 1966and founded the New England Aikikai, in Cambridge, MA. Kanai Sensei was instrumental in the early development of Aikido in the United States and Canada, and taught seminars widely throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Kanai Sensei passed away unexpectedly in 2004.

Lou Perriello, who was my first and primary Aikido instructor, began Aikido in 1962 in the Boston, MA areaas a student of Hatanaka Sensei, practicing Aikido and Judo until 1964. In 1964, he became a full time Aikido student under Hatanaka Sensei, and practiced with him until 1966.

As one of the original students of New England Aikikai, Perriello Sensei practiced almost exclusively with Kanai Sensei from 1966 through 1978. During this period, he worked with several of the Founder's original students, helping to establish the United States Aikido Federation.

In 1996 Northeast Aikikai joined Toyoda Sensei’s American Aikido Association. Northeast Aikikai closed in 2006, but a number of Perriello Sensei’s students are now running dojo’s in the New England area. While Sensei Perriello remains active supporting Methuen Aikido which is headed by one of his students, John Dore Sensei, he has retired from full time instruction due to his health.

Kathy Fitzgibbon trained with Kanai Sensei in 1976 and then with Lou Perriello Sensei as his first student at Northeast Aikikai. She joined the AAA with Northeast Aikikai in 1996 and when the dojo was closed in 2006, opened a new dojo nearby in 2006, Mill City Aikido.Fitzgibbon Sensei was one of my primary instructors at Northeast Aikikai, where she was dojo-cho.

Eric Lipton Sensei trained exclusively with Roy Suenaka Sensei from 1975 and into the 1990’s before starting his own dojo with his wife Sensei Martha Lipton at the StudentCenter of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. Lipton Sensei also trained with Clyde Takeguchi Sensei when he came to Charleston, SC.

I received my Sho-Dan from Lou Perriello Sensei through Fumio Toyoda Sensei, the AAA and Hombu Dojo in 1996 and then moved to Charleston, SC where I studied with Eric Lipton Sensei off and on for over ten years.

In 1997 I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and my ability to practice on a regular basis began to diminish in 2003 until I had knee replacement surgery in 2004. Since 2005 I have been practicing regularly again with Lipton Sensei and on my own (mostly Iwama weapons suburi and kata) using a friend’s Karate Dojo on DanielIsland near Charleston.

In this short narrative and very incomplete description, I have identified my connection with the founder of Aikido, and the influences of my instructors and their teachers, who were part of the expansion and evolution of Aikido in the United States. See the simplified chart below for a visual representation of this connection.

The Evolution and Variation of Basic Technique

Kihon-waza is a description and a concept which defines the most fundamental techniques in Aikido. While the movement of many kihon-waza techniques, such as Shomenuchi Ikkyo, is basic enough to be practiced by beginners, the mastery of the movement, and the understanding of the basic elements of the movement as practiced with a partner both as uke and nage, can take a lifetime. In one respect, the idea that no technique can be reproduced exactly the same way more than once, that every time you execute Shomenuchi Ikkyo, the complexities and number of variables involved make it impossible to reproduce the movement exactly, argues that the movement can never be fully ‘mastered’ as it will always be different in some respect.

Within just this one technique can be found the elements of all basic concepts of Aikido, including ‘blending’ (awase), proper distance (maai or ma-ai), connection with your partner (musubi), and receiving (ukemi). While practicing this technique, students can concentrate on these basic principles, as well as overall concepts like relaxing completely, maintaining the one point (hara), keeping your weight underside, and extending ki (the basic principles of Aikido from Koichi Tohei).

Also in just this one example there can be found the perplexing contradictions inherent in Aikido. Even the most basic technique, like Shomenuchi Ikkyo, one that provides a framework to study the most important elements of Aikido and one that can be used to illustrate the concepts and principles of Aikido, is subject to the interpretation of the individual instructor, subtle differences in style and technique which are common to a particular school or association. Additionally, in the sense that no two “ikkyos” are exactly the same each time they are performed, how can a demonstration, diagram or description of the technique be taught that not only preserves the founder’s technique, but also maintains the integrity of what is taught as Aikido?

A Simple View of My Aikido “Heritage”

The Path

I believe that an answer for these perplexing questions lies in several areas. First, while the evolution of Aikido has led to the development of an increasing number of organizations, and new dojo’s, it is my observation, having traveled extensively in the United States and practiced at several dozen different dojo’s, that in recent years dojo policies for welcoming and accepting students from different schools and associations has become more liberal. In this way, as evidenced just in the few “degrees of separation” in my Aikido experience, a continuous development, separation, and reintegration of Aikido continues.

At the same time, associations, like the AAA/AAI and Aikikai/IAF, have focused on maintaining appropriate standards of training and testing for students to assure that the authentic Aikido experience is passed along, as a defined curriculum, and that the “effectiveness” of these techniques is constantly held up to review and consensus by a core group of the most experienced instructors, finding common ground.

But I believe that it is with the individual that the answer to these questions ultimately lies. Just as no two techniques that you execute are exactly the same; no two people can develop exactly the same experience in Aikido. But in an open and sharing community of Aikido students and teachers, individuals can follow their own path, and maintain the common “language” of Aikido that allows them to learn from instructors, practice with other students, and perhaps in time teach other students.

This is the miraculous phenomenon that occurs every time Aikidoka get on the mat and practice with other students, listening to and learning from an instructor. Whether or not the techniques of Aikido become more or less refined over time, because of the physical and emotional limitations we share with each other, they will always remain within the framework of natural movement and normal emotional interactions.

It is the very nature of Aikido that it requires, and is centered on the interaction of people. Aikido provides a framework, and demands of students a growing knowledge of communicating with other students in a way that becomes incorporated and integrated in their whole life. In this way the future of Aikido, like that of Aikido students, becomes stronger and develops as a more effective and positive influence on the world and society, one of the broader goals that O’Sensei spoke about in helping to define the mission of Aikido. Aikido is an art created by humans for humans in a way that can lead them to a common goal.

Peace.

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