Aikido and Budo

Arigato Japanese Festival
Saturday 9th of May at Caravonica State School
Aikido Demonstration from Aikikai Freshwater Dojo at 12.00 pm.

What is the Kotodama?
The Kotodama is a Japanese principle that holds that sounds and words have spiritual and creative power.
Every vibration you emit—whether vocal or internally—affects your mind, your energy(ki), and your way of acting.
It's not empty mysticism: it's the idea that your intention has a frequency.. and that frequency manifests itself in your movement.
Why was it key to Morihei Ueshiba?
The Sensei understood that Aikido was not just a physical technique. Influenced by currents like the Omoto-kyo, he saw training as a way to line up:
🔵Mind
🔵Breathing
🔵Energy
For him, the Kotodama was a tool to unify all that from within.
How does it impact your Aikido?
A technique doesn't work just by force or form.
It works when there is internal coherence:
• Clear intention
• Breathing connected
• Natural Movement
The Kotodama acts as that "invisible engine" that gives life to the technique.
The real difference.
You can do Aikido 'right'...
or you can do Aikido with real presence.
The difference is not always seen,
but it is felt immediately.
The Kotodama was fundamental for Morihei Ueshiba because it allowed him to go beyond technique.
Don't just make moves...
but to give them intention, direction and life.

NEW RELEASE!
AIKIDO Number 8 is now available on amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX26LBRR
Also, the entire collection is available as well on amazon.com

Aikido Aikido is a periodical of Aikido, budo and traditional Japanese culture

THE GOLDEN ERA OF AIKIDO

O'SENSEI MORIHEI UESHIBA
First part

Morihei Ueshiba was born in Nishinotani village (now part of the city of Tanabe), Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, on December 14, 1883, the fourth child (and only son) born to Yoroku Ueshiba and his wife Yuki.
The young Ueshiba was raised in a somewhat privileged setting. His father Yoroku was a wealthy gentleman farmer and minor politician, being an elected member of the Nishinotani village council for 22 consecutive years. His mother Yuki was from the Itokawa clan, a prominent local family who could trace their lineage back to the Heian period. Ueshiba was a rather weak, sickly child and bookish in his inclinations. At a young age his father encouraged him to take up sumo wrestling and swimming and entertained him with stories of his great-grandfather Kichiemon, who was considered a very strong samurai in his era. The need for such strength was further emphasized when the young Ueshiba witnessed his father being attacked by followers of a competing politician.
A major influence on Ueshiba's early education was his elementary schoolteacher Tasaburo Nasu, who was a Shinto priest and who introduced Ueshiba to the religion. At the age of six Ueshiba was sent to study at the Jizōderu Temple, but had little interest in the rote learning of Confucian education. However, his schoolmaster Mitsujo Fujimoto was also a priest of Shingon Buddhism, and taught the young Ueshiba some of the esoteric chants and ritual observances of the sect, which Ueshiba found intriguing. His interest in Buddhism was sufficiently great that his mother considered enrolling him in the priesthood, but his father Yoroku vetoed the idea. Ueshiba went to Tanage Higher Elementary School and then to Tanabe Prefectural Middle School, but left formal education in his early teens, enrolling instead at a private abacus academy, the Yoshida Institute, to study accountancy. On graduating from the academy, he worked at a local tax office for a few months, but the job did not suit him and in 1901 he left for Tokyo, funded by his father. Ueshiba Trading, the stationery business which he opened there, was short-lived; unhappy with life in the capital, he returned to Tanabe less than a year later after suffering a bout of beri-beri. Shortly thereafter he married his childhood acquaintance Hatsu Itokawa.
In 1903, Ueshiba was called up for military service. He failed the initial physical examination, being shorter than the regulation 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m). To overcome this, he stretched his spine by attaching heavy weights to his legs and suspending himself from tree branches; when he re-took the physical exam he had increased his height by the necessary half-inch to pass. He was assigned to the Osaka Fourth Division, 37th Regiment, and was promoted to corporal of the 61st Wakayama regiment by the following year; after serving on the front lines during the Russo-Japanese War he was promoted to sergeant. He was discharged in 1907, and again returned to his father's farm in Tanabe. Here he befriended the writer and philosopher Minakata Kumagusu, becoming involved with Minakata's opposition to the Meiji government's Shrine Consolidation Policy. He and his wife had their first child, a daughter named Matsuko, in 1911.
Ueshiba studied several martial arts during his early life, and was renowned for his physical strength during his youth. During his sojourn in Tokyo his training in Gotō-ha Yagyū-ryu under Masakatsu Nakai was sporadic due to his military service, although he was granted a diploma in the art within a few years.In 1901 he received some instruction from Tozawa Tokusaburōin in Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū jujutsu and he studied judo with Kiyoichi Takagi in Tanabe in 1911, after his father had a dojo built on the family compound to encourage his son's training. In 1907, after his return from the war, he was also presented with a certificate of enlightenment (shingon inkyo) by his childhood teacher Mitsujo Fujimoto.

Aikido and Budo Publishing collection available now on amazon.com

'Diario di un Aikidoka Rinato" e' ora disponibile in versione italiana su amazon.it al seguente link:
https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0GP8CFFB2
Claudio Baschetti è 2º Dan di Aikido ed è nato in Italia, a Roma, nel 1968. È un ingegnere meccanico aeronautico, ma la sua passione per la musica e l'arte lo porta in altre direzioni. Ha studiato danza classica e moderna per circa vent'anni e, allo stesso tempo, è anche un cantante professionista, ottenendo un notevole successo in Australia, dove è emigrato nel 1993. La storia d'amore con l'Aikido è iniziata anni fa, quando era ancora un adolescente di 15 anni. Il suo primo maestro è stato Simone Chierchini. Un infortunio spiacevole e inaspettato ha messo fine alla sua carriera, ma dopo 35 anni è tornato sul tatami a Cairns, una città tropicale nel nord dell'Australia, e in circa tre anni ha recuperato tutto ciò che sembrava perduto per sempre. Claudio è il responsabile del Dojo Aikido Aikikai Freshwater a Cairns e anche del Kotama Dojo a Kewarra Beach, di cui è anche il proprietario. Claudio è autore di libri e riviste di Aikido, fa tiro con l’arco e cavalca discretamente.

Simone Chierchini Sensei scrive al riguardo: "Nel 1984 ero stato appena promosso shodan quando arrivò una richiesta all'ufficio del Dojo Centrale di Roma per un insegnante di Aikido da destinare a un corso presso
l'Energy Dojo di Ostia Lido, a 30 km da Roma. Furono consultati insegnanti molto più esperti, maturi e qualificati dell'allora assai acerbo Chierchini Sensei, ma nessuno era disposto ad assumersi la responsabilità del nuovo corso di Aikido. Il ventenne Simone, invece, era desideroso di conquistare il mondo e disse, senza troppa umiltà, che se il Sensei glielo avesse permesso se ne sarebbe occupato lui. Hosokawa Sensei rispose con uno dei suoi classici sorrisi a mille denti e disse: “Vai! I giovani devono fare esperienza”.
Il corso durò un paio d'anni, poi Chierchini emigrò a Milano per studiare con il Maestro Fujimoto. Tuttavia, considerando la sua giovane età, non se la cavò troppo male, perché 35 anni dopo uno dei suoi ex allievi, Claudio Baschetti, che aveva conservato il seme dell'Aikido nel profondo dell'anima, riprese finalmente a praticare in Australia, divenne nidan e aprì un proprio dojo. La storia di Claudio, dentro e fuori dal tatami, è ora oggetto di un testo autobiografico che si legge tutto d'un fiato.
Lo consiglio di cuore!"

DIARY of a REBORN AIKIDOKA
Author: Claudio Baschetti
Aikido&Budo Publishing 2026
available now worldwide on:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GMJ6JBP4

Fishing something out from the past, understood as space-time, that we had long resigned ourselves to having lost forever: is it possible? For some, no, for others, yes. You just have to want it intensely, with your body and soul, and then suddenly everything comes true, thanks not to a pseudo miracle, but to your own will, this time aware of your own possibilities and of our limitless consciousness. This is my story, an ordinary story that can become a message, a clue for many who, like me, have involuntarily interrupted their path in Aikido. This is an unfiltered diary, so if someone should be offended or feel outraged by what I have written, well... I can only advise diving into a nice cold spring and wish you a rejuvenating Misogi.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GMJ6JBP4

Mitsuteru Ueshiba in Sydney on July 2026. All welcome!

AIKIDO STORY
2nd Part
O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba

Childhood

Ueshiba Morihei was born on December 14th, 1883, in Nisihitani Village, Nichimurou County, Wakayama Prefecture (currently known as Motomachi, Tanabe City). He was the eldest son between a farmer, Ueshiba Yoroku, and his wife, Yuki. After finishing elementary school, he went to Wakayama Daini Junjo middle school. However, he dropped out of middle school after finishing his freshman year. Instead, he entered Yoshida Abacus Academy to study the abacus, and became a tax official using the skill sets he obtained there.

However, in 1901, new fishery acts were established and led to heavy taxation on the local fishermen. Ueshiba set aside his duty and sympathized with the fishermen and participated in strikes with them, which eventually led to his resignation. As a result, he decided to work in Tokyo and moved when he turned eighteen.

The Road Toward Martial Arts

Despite experiencing hardship while living in Tokyo, Ueshiba studied Kitou School of Judo and started training for Shinkage School of Kendo. However, he had to return home due to his health conditions. After recovering at home, he married his childhood friend Hatsu Itogawa (born in 1881). Then he joined the military under the fourth division of Osaka, 37th regiment.

He was then recommended to go to military academy due to his outstanding performance. However, Ueshiba left the army and returned home to succeed his family business. While farming and training at home, he met Kodokan Judo Master Takagi Kiyoshi who visited Tanabe at that time. Ueshiba then reformed part of his house into a dojo for Takagi to train him with the local youths. Meanwhile, the Meiji government declared the policy to merge local shrines. With help from naturalist Minagata Kumagusu, Ueshiba and the local youth campaigned against the policy, which helped contain the damage of many historical shrines to a minimum.
(To be continued)