The Spirit of Aikido

Kisshomaru Ueshiba, the son of the founder of modern aikido and an authorityn the martial art aikido, illustrates in this text the basic aikidoovements and explains the central philosophy of unity of mind and body.

KISSHOMARU UESHIBA: the second Aikido Doshu (the person who embodies the spirit of Aikido as inherited from the founder and is the living symbol of Aikido). He was born in 1921, the third son of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. He graduated from Waseda University in 1946, became master of the Aikido World Headquarters in 1948, and in 1967 was named chairman of the Aikikai Foundation, the principal Aikido organization in Japan and overseas. His formal appointment as successor to his father took place in 1969. He died in 1999.