User:Cesiumfrog/Iwama aikido

This page in a nutshell: I thought the topic of Iwama aikido could make a really good article, but it could also languish as a multitude of poor articles.

The article Iwama dojo was rather stubbish. The Jinja section alone constituted nearly two thirds of that article, and that section complains of being out of place under that particular title (and yet would still be stubbish on its own). Tanrenkan dojo also has a competing claim to that same title (or at least, if Aikikai Ibaraki branch is the intended topic, then why isn't the article retitled correspondingly?). The "Iwama dojo" title is really only justifiable if understood in a plural (and perhaps even figurative) sense.

That original article neglected to convey why those buildings in Iwama are so important:

The history exists as brief mentions scattered within the ariticles for Ueshiba and Saito. Those certainly are worthwhile articles independently, but such history should probably also be expanded on be collected (and probably expanded) in this article to explain the context and significance underlying all things Iwama in the aikido world today.

The other half of the modern significance is the living organisations of people defining their activities in relation to Iwama. Some of this information is in the Saito's Legacy subsection. Unfortunately that was a horrendous list requiring much attention (with its lack of structure everyone just added their local instructor without concern for relative notability). It's also doubtful whether Saito's article is the appropriate place for information on these successor organisations (e.g., info on his son has even been stripped on the grounds of not being directly topical).

This part is also spread amongst other places. Iwama Shin-Shin Aiki Shuren-kai is only a highly dubious stub, I think it would be more appropriate if folded into the Hitohiro article. Takemusu Aikido is merely a disambiguation page and an external link, and nothing exists on the two 7d shihan. The Iwama ryu article has little organisational information, mainly concerned with struggling to explain technical/stylistic differences. Part of the problem is that the organisations are actually very loose networks, making it hard to formally place things.

The super-article approach didn't take. Instead propose to develop articles: dojo, ryu, hitohiro, and to depreciate others for now (some consolidation).

Sources

Aikido Journal article, [1], by Stanley Pranin. That "modern aikido" is more the product of Kisshomaru and Tohei, not merely Morihei. That most senior shihan (except Saito) spent only what we would consider a very short period of time directly under Morihei.

Substantial interview with Saito, [2]. Includes mention of his mother's service to Ueshiba's wife.

Statement by Hitohiro regarding the split. [3], translation and scanned originals. Notes was given 3 conditions by doshu: 1&2 (which he was prepared for) surrender dojocho and shrine caretaker roles. 3. desist from producing Iwamaryu grades. H. offered to concede 3 in exchange for published recognition that Iwama is the place that preserves the founder's style. (That claim has at least some credibility, e.g. the article above, but obviously challenges the entire role of the hombu.) Indicates that the split occured around Nov'03, and was hasted by internal turmoil (the -which?- Takemusu organisation of the -which?- senior students).

History

The founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, resided in Iwama from 1942 onward. Morihiro Saito, the senior aikido student in Iwama, continued running the dojo until 2002. After Saito died, the Aikikai Hombu (run by the founder's grandson) took control of the original Iwama dojo. Many of Saito's students, seeking to preserve Saito's legacy in the lineage of aikido which they had inherited, have established their own organisations.

Morihei Ueshiba was born in 1883 and began teaching martial arts in the 1920s. In 1927 he moved his family to Tokyo, and by 1931 had established the present Hombu dojo there. This was a turbulent period, and he narrowly escaped government suppressions of Oomoto.^[1] In 1942 Morihei Ueshiba retreated (with his wife) to the small town of Iwama, leaving his son Kisshomaru Ueshiba to defend Hombu dojo from firebombing. Martial arts had been militarised at the beginning of WW2 and were banned to some extent afterward.^[2]

It was in Iwama, in 1942, that Morihei Ueshiba gave the name "Aikido" to the discipline he was synthesising.

The Aiki Shrine was completed in 1943, and Iwama dojo in 1945. The dojo was named Aiki Shuren Dojo. (Shuren, 手練, means masterful.)

Iwama was a location of spiritual significance for Morihei Ueshiba, and he engaged in intensive training, farming, meditation and ascetic training. Iwama is near Mt. Tsukuba which is associated by legend with the mythological bridge between heaven and earth and the spear that was twirled to form the earth, which are both among the metaphors Ueshiba used in the dojo.

Morihiro Saito (1928-2002) was a personal student of Morihei Ueshiba from 1946 until 1969. During this time, due to Saito's unusual work schedule, he was frequently Ueshiba's sole training partner (especially for weapons training before other students arrived). Because of the length and intensity of this relationship, Saito was one of the most renowned students of Ueshiba.

Before Ueshiba died he gave Saito responsibility to continue teaching at the Iwama dojo and maintaining the shrine.

Saito never formally split with the Aikikai, which remains centered around the Ueshiba family, however Saito did issue his own grading certificates.

In 2006 the Nishiibaraki district of Ibaraki, which included the small town (machi) of Iwama, was dissolved into part of the city of Kasama.

Iwama ryu

The aikido that Morihiro Saito learned from the founder at Iwama and subsequently passed on to his own students has become known as Iwama Ryu. (In Japanese, ryu means "style".)

The Iwama style is most distinctively associated with greater emphasis on weapons, specifically Aiki-jō (staff) and Aiki-ken (sword), as compared with Hombu. It also had a reputation for harder training, since Iwama dojo was largely attended by farm labourers as contrasted to the white collar demographic at Hombu in Tokyo.

Most of Saito's longest students have remained affiliated with Aikikai. Many such groups belong to the Takemusu Aikido Kyokai umbrella organisation. (Kyokai simply means organisation.) It is led by Saito's two most senior students, who are Paolo Corallini shihan and Ulf Evenås shihan. Both were appointed as official representatives and graded to 7th dan by Saito in 2001, and their ranks have also been subsequently ratified by the Aikikai. ^[3]

Takemusu aikido generally conforms to the Aikikai syllabus but has also has further requirements in addition to it (such as demonstration of greater weapons proficiency at gradings).

Takemusu means creating bushido. It was a concept taught by Osensei at Iwama, describing a level of aikido involving spontaneous birth to original and effective technique. Takemusu appears in the names of many aikido groups descendant from Iwama (not necessarily members of Takemusu Aikido Kyokai).

References

^ Deguchi, Ueshiba and Omoto: Part 2: The Second Suppression by Prof. Peter Goldsbury
^ Documentation Regarding the Budo Ban in Japan, 1945-1950
^ Takemusu Aikido Kyokai organisation website

[1] Deguchi, Ueshiba and Omoto: Part 2: The Second Suppression by Prof. Peter Goldsbury

[2] Documentation Regarding the Budo Ban in Japan, 1945-1950

[3] Takemusu Aikido Kyokai organisation website

[1]

[2]

[3]