Aiki Budo - Morihei Ueshiba Aikido DVD

The first installment in a six-part series on the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba.This is an in-depth look at the prewar art of Morihei Ueshiba featuring the rare 1935 Asahi News Film!

Documentary: Morihei Ueshiba, 1883-1942

This exciting DVD showcases the prewar Aiki Budo of Morihei Ueshiba, Founder of Aikido. The program begins with a documentary written and produced by Aikido Journal Editor-in-chief Stanley Pranin that traces the life of the Founder from his boyhood in Tanabe through his retirement to Iwama in 1942. Morihei’s early martial arts training, his study of Daito-ryu aikijujutsu under the famous Sokaku Takeda, his involvement with the Omoto religious sect led by Onisaburo Deguchi, and a history of Ueshiba’s Kobukan Dojo are presented.

This documentary also includes video and audio recordings of several prewar Aikido figures commenting on their remembrances of the Aikido Founder. Among those who appear are Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Gozo Shioda, Rinjiro Shirata, Takako Kunigoshi, and Kiyoshi Nakakura.

1935 Asahi News Film

Of the surviving documents of the prewar era, perhaps the most important is the 1935 film of Morihei shot in Osaka at the Asahi News Dojo. We present this amazing treasure in its entirety for the first time on DVD. One is struck by the modernity of many of the techniques and the “ki no nagare” like style of execution.

Morihei demonstrates numerous suwariwaza, hanza handachi (hanmi handachi), tachiwaza, multiple attacks, and sword and bayonet techniques. His partners are Shigemi Yonekawa and Tsutomu Yukawa. There are also brief appearances by Takuma Hisa and Rinjiro Shirata. Most of the techniques are advanced and performed in a flowing style building up to a spectacular multiple attack finale!

Important note: This product is available in DVD-R format free of regional codes and can be played on most DVD players and computers worldwide. Note that customers having older model DVD players or older DVD drives on their computers that are not compatible with the DVD-R format may not be able to view these DVDs. Please be sure that the player device you will be using is compatible with the DVD-R format. Customers residing outside North America with players compatible with the DVD-R format should also be able to view these DVDs as most recent European DVD players also have the ability to play NTSC-standard DVDs in addition to the European PAL format.