Usheiba and Developing Aikido

Usheiba Sensei as he developed his Aikido out of Diato Ryu and other systems he studied, is a case study in the role of change in a martial art. 

If you look at his book “Budo” from the 1930’s you clearly see his use of strikes as precursors to the throws and locks. His art in those years has been categorized as very fast and brutal. The students from that era who continued to teach after WWII, continued that very fast, hard aikido tradition.

After WWII, Usheiba modified his training, opened the circles of his techniques and stopped showing the strikes. The art continued to change until a quite different tradition came. So much so there are layers and layers of different aikido traditions until those who have no brook with any combatitive tradition at all and are more a ‘rolling religious exercise, IMO’.

But I suspect a very close study of Usheiba will find no difference in the underlying nature of those traditions.  In the 30’s many of his 

students were preparing for military service.  If a person as superior shifting ability they don’t have to strike an attacker to stop them to set up the aikido technique. But superior shifting is a long hard study.  If you’re trying to prepare people in a short time, the art of striking, atemi, serves to make up for lack of the other advanced skills.  Most likely that was Daito Ryu’s military traditions, too.  Make it work on the battlefield.

Then after those strikes, very small sharp circles to project the attacker sharply, or to rachet them into a lock using pain as the throwing mechanism.

After the war, with military aspects dropped (as much an influence of the US occupation I suspect) the circles grew larger, using shifting as the important skill to maneuver your opponent, and so forth in unending layers.

Usheiba’s training incorporated so many different layers, the students who taught likewise reflected the times in which they trained, as well I’m sure as their own future studies and growth allowed, too.

So, drop the word Karate Kata, and incorporate the word Aikido Technique, and you are back to the same arguments and questions. The real difference, however, is Aikido has done a fantastic job documenting their different approaches and offers many keys in its development thusly.