Morihei Uyeshiba founded aikido as his vision of a budo that could bring more harmony and unity to people and society.  Uyeshiba, popularly called “O-Sensei” by the practitioners of aikido, consolidated his training background in various arts to form aikido.  The arts which can be verified in his training include: Tenjin Shin'yo ryu jujutsu under Tokusaburo Tozawa in1901, Goto Ha Yagyu Shingan Ryu under Masakatsu Nakai from about 1903 to about 1908, judo under Kiyochi Takagi in 1911, and Daito ryu under Sokaku Takeda beginning in 1915 in Hokkaido. 

Other influences, which can be seen in aikido, come from Kashima Shinto ryu, primarily a sword art.  Uyeshiba sent students to train in this art and he observed the training.  The kata taught by Morihiro Saito are almost identical to the kata in Kashima Shinto ryu.  There is some possible influence from Yagyu Shinkage ryu methods, as a result of Uyeshiba’s student Kosaburo Gejo, also student of that ryu.

Daito ryu however, was the major technical influence in the development of aikido.  Uyeshiba studied for varying periods of time in seminar settings under Takeda, as well as an extended period of time in Ayabe, and was one of the most distinguished students.  Uyeshiba was awarded the Kyoju Dairi certification in 1922.  At the time, the highest certification issued.

While the popular mythology of Daito Ryu origins claims to go back to Emperor Seiwa in the 800’s, research is unable to confirm the historical existence of Daito Ryu prior to Takeda Sokaku.  Stan Pranin, editor of Aikido Journal, has been a leading figure in the research of the history of aikido and Daito ryu. Stan is responsible for much of the discoveries in historical materials with the help of Takeda Tokimune, the son of Sokaku Takeda, and the current headmaster of Daito Ryu, Kondo Katsuyuki.

Daito Ryu is most likely a synthesis of Takeda’s martial experiences, based off his studies of numerous arts in the Aizu region of Japan. Since there are no verifiable historical references to prove otherwise, we may never know the true origins of Daito ryu.  What is known is Takeda was a highly skilled martial artist from the Aizu region and was involved with many highly ranked budoka of the era, among these were Taiso Horikawa and Kotaro Yoshida, who was responsible for introducing Uyeshiba to Takeda.  More of Takeda’s history can be found on the Aikido Journal website. www.aikidojournal.com

The Omoto Kyo religion and Onisaburo Deguchi heavily influenced aikido philosophy.  Uyeshiba lived and taught in the Omoto community in Ayabe from 1920 to 1927 as a close supporter of Deguchi. The Omoto Kyo had several conflicts and incidents with the Japanese government as a result of their beliefs. For more on the Omotokyo, visit the Aikido Journal  website.

Finally in 1927, Uyeshiba at the urging of his supporters, such as Admiral Isamu Takeshita, moved to Tokyo. He taught in varying locations and in 1931 he established the Kobukan dojo.  During this time Uyeshiba slowly separated from the Daito Ryu and Takeda, and began calling his art “Aiki Budo”.  The Kobukan remained active with Uyeshiba also teaching at military academies until his decision to retire to Iwama in 1942.  Some of the better known aikdoka such as Rinjiro Shirata, Gozo Shioda, Minoru Mochizuki, Koichi Tohei, trained during this time.

The basis for modern aikido developing took place in Iwama post WWII.  Uyeshiba spent the majority of his time in Iwama in training, farming, and personal meditation.  Uyeshiba has stated it was during this time period that he felt he perfected modern aikido.  Well known aikidoka such as Morihiro Saito and Hiroshi Isoyama studied during this time period.  In the later 1950’s O-Sensei gradually began to travel more often to Tokyo and the Kansai area teaching aikido.  In 1961 he visited Hawaii with Nobuyoshi Tamura and Koichi Tohei to teach aikido and celebrate the opening of the Hawaii Aiki Kai.

Uyeshiba received the Medal of Honor with purple ribbon and the Order of the Rising Sun 4th class, awards for his efforts in the founding and spreading of aikido in the 1960’s.  He spent his last years in Tokyo and passed away in April 1969 of liver cancer. For more on Uyeshiba from Aikido Journal, please visit their website and online encyclopedia of aikido.

The popularity of aikido in the western world was due to the Aikikai sending young and charismatic yudansha abroad to spread aikido.  Among these were popular well-known aikidoka such as Koichi Tohei, Yoshimitsu Yamada, Mitsunari Kanai, Akira Tohei, Kazuo Chiba, to mention some of the well-known names in the Western Hemisphere for aikido.

Aikido in the United States was spread by students of Tohei from Hawaii moving to the United States mainland. Isao Takahashi, Ben Sekishiro, Tokuji Hirata, Clem Yoshida, Roderick Kobayashi and others relocated to California in the late 1950s and early 1960s when the Aikikai began to establish firm roots on the mainland.  Aikido in Hawaii continued to flourish with teachers such as Nonaka, Yamamoto, Yoshioka, and Suzuki. For more on Hawaii aikido history, see
www.trussel.com/aikido/history.htm and www.aikidohawaii.org/

Also active in the United States were Yoshinkan instructor Lloyd Eugene Combs, he and his students spread Yoshinkan aikido throughout California, and Jack Mumpower, a Tomiki aikido instructor in the Charlotte, North Carolina area.  Other Tomiki instructors arriving in the United States in the1960’s were Seiji Tanaka and Tatsuya Kibushi.

Today, aikido is a multi faceted art, with numerous groups teaching numerous variations of aikido. Aikido can be found which ranges from extremely soft and passive approaches to extremely vigorous training, philosophy oriented to little discussion at all of philosophy, and all variations in between.