Blitz - June-July 2017

30 ƫđƫ333ċ(%06)#ċ*!0 | (^) FEATURE STORY
future Doshu of aikido. Ueshiba
Sensei’s presence also gave
substance to the strong and
continuing link between Aiki
Kai Australia and the Ueshiba
family; a connection established
over 50 years ago that continues
to deepen and grow with the
passage of time.
On my final day in
Melbourne, Ueshiba Sensei took
time out to share with me a few
thoughts on aikido. I have to say,
having been on the receiving
end of an interviewer’s questions
myself a number of times, it’s no
easy task to provide interesting,
insightful and comprehensive
answers to questions put to you
by a stranger. Still, Ueshiba Sensei
exhibited the same easy-going
and unpretentious qualities I
encountered in his father. Softly
spoken and with a gentle sense
of humour, Ueshiba Sensei, at 35
years old, has been surrounded
by aikido all his life. One day
the responsibility of leading the
Aikikai will rest on his shoulders.
That he is willing to assume that
responsibility with the same
calm determination his father
displays, bodes well for the future
leadership and direction of
aikido. Having already dedicated
himself to protecting and
preserving the art created by his
great-grandfather, becoming the
doshu one day is a legacy Ueshiba
accepts without constraint. Facing
the future with a great sense of
optimism and quiet confidence,
he knows he is by no means
alone in his pursuit of the spirit
of aikido, and because of that, he
believes the future for his family’s
art is bright.
After our formal introduction
was complete, I began our
conversation by asking Ueshiba
Sensei how old he was when
he began training in aikido.
With a smile on his face, he
confessed that he didn’t know!
“My home and the dojo are
next door to each other, so for
as long as I can remember I
have seen people coming and
going to the dojo. Also, because
of who my family are, aikido
has always been present in
my home. If I think about it,
I can remember being a very
young boy in a keikogi (training
uniform) doing something like
aikido, but I’m not very clear
how old I was or what I was
doing. My first real memories
of aikido from my childhood
are of training in the morning
class when I joined the dojo. At
that time the class was taught by
Kisshomaru Doshu and began
at 6.30am each morning. I was
attending primary school, so I
must have been around six or
seven years old. I really enjoyed
the training and went to the dojo
three mornings each week. This
was my proper introduction
to aikido.”
Thirty years is a long time
to continue with anything,
particularly when you start
young and the demands of
growing up begin to make
themselves felt. I wondered if
Ueshiba has always enjoyed
his training. He sat back in his
chair and thought about it for
a moment. “Yes, I have! What I
have always liked is that when
you practise with a partner, it’s
not about winning or losing, you
are not engaging in a bout like
in boxing or wrestling. I strongly
believe that because there is no
sense of competition in aikido,
this creates an atmosphere in
which everyone can practise
together and help each other. To
achieve this you have to establish
a sense of self-discipline and
remember to take care of your
training partner; you never just
throw them down. You also have
to develop a sense of care for the
people training around you; you
have to be aware of others in the
dojo and not cause an accident
The group engage in traditional
boken (wooden sword) training
“I really enjoy skiing and snowboarding, but
when I do these things I have to be responsible
and be careful not to put myself in a situation
where I have an accident and suffer an injury.”