Morihei Ueshiba on Aikido - 1941

Thanks to Scott Burke for pointing out this Doka ("poem/song of the way") by Morihei Ueshiba that appeared in "Aikibudo o Kiku", from Shin Budo Magazine, October 1941.

Aikibudo o Kiku - 1941

”惟神光と熱の合気道, 世をば清めん八紘の玉”

Kannagara hikari to netsu no Aikidō, Yo wo ba kiyomen, Hakkō no tama

Aikido,

The Light and Heat of Kannagara,

Jewel of the Eight Directions,

Purifies the World.

Briefly, "Kannagara" refers to the "Way of the Gods", a metaphorical reference Morihei Ueshiba often used to refer to the interaction of Yin and Yang.

The interaction of Yin and Yang creates heat and light - a reference to the creation of internal power - martial power.

The "jewel" is a term that Morihei Ueshiba often used to refer to the Dantian - so, the interaction of Yin and Yang here creates internal power, martial, physical power through the Dantian.

What about the last section about the eight directions? Well, here we see, once again, Morihei Ueshiba's fondness for multiple layers of meaning.

In one layer we see that he is saying that the interaction of Yin and Yang creates internal power, martial power, physical power, through the Dantian, expressed in all directions through the body.

But that's not all! Yin/Yang and Heaven-Earth-Man cosmologies in China and Japan were commonly seen as kind of "universal field theories" that explained physical theories of martial body usage, mental theories of psychological balance, health oriented theories, and socio-politically oriented theories.

Here Morihei Ueshiba uses the Kanji for "Eight Cords", in reference to "Hakko Ichiu", the Japanese political slogan meaning the divine right of the Empire of Japan to "unify the eight corners of the world.", a slogan that formed the basis of the empire's ideology. It was popularized in a speech by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, Morihei Ueshiba's patron and student, on January 8, 1940. Konoe was also on the board of directors of Morihei Ueshiba's Kobukai organization, the predecessor for the modern Aikikai.

In other words, there was another layer of meaning, in which Aikido was meant to be a process through which one worked to purify the world in order to unite it in a ultra-nationalist right wing Empire under the aegis of Japan and the Japanese imperial family.

Ellis Amdur referred to this concept in "Hidden in Plain Sight":

"Ueshiba saw himself as a kind of avatar, instrumental in ushering in a golden age of redemption, the unification of Heaven, Earth, and Man. To a considerable degree, he was unconcerned about whether others became avatars like himself. He regarded aikidō practitioners as living out their fate as appointed by their ‘chief guardian deity,’ doing the work of the ‘spiritual proletariat,’ accumulating merit and energy through aikidō practice, just as the followers of the Byakkokai did by prayer, while Goi, another avatar, did the hard work."

Morihei Ueshiba restated this basic idea in 1960:

合気道は宇宙万世一系の大いなる道なり。

"Aikido is the Great Way of the Universal Bansei Ikkei."

• Morihei Ueshiba in the "Takemusu Aiki" lectures, 1958~1961

"Bansei Ikkei" is the "unbroken Japanese Imperial line", and here Morihei Ueshiba again refers to one of his primary goals for Aikido, expressed both before and after the war, as a way towards establishing a "paradise on Earth" - in other words (as he would say elsewhere in the same post-war lectures), a right-wing ultra-nationalist religious utopia under the aegis of the Japanese empire.

One last thing - notice the interesting use of the word "Aikido"? The Aikikai states that the name "Aikido" was adopted in 1942. Minoru Hirai, who often claims credit for the implementation of the name through his work with Dai Nippon Butokukai, also stated that this occurred in 1942. But here we see that the phrase was actually in use somewhat earlier, concurrent with "Aiki Budo" (as in the title of the article).

This persisted after the war, as recounted by Hiroshi Tada:

"GuillaumeErard.com: When you started, was it already called "Aikido"?

Tada Hiroshi: When I was admitted it was not called that yet, it was called “Aiki-Budo”. There was no official name. "

Morihei Ueshiba himself stated in a post-war interview that the name "Aikido" was adopted some time after the war, at the suggestion of an official from the Ministry of Education, which throws another issue on the pile.

What does the naming mean? Likely, much less than many people think. It's common to read significant meaning into name changes, but the name of Morihei Ueshiba's art changed many times over the years, primarily, it seems, due to the influence of parties...other than Morihei Ueshiba, who was, as far as I can tell, massively disinterested in what the art was actually called.