Peter Goldsbury

Hello Joe,

I am fine and the weather is still quite good here in Hiroshima, compared to what you have been having in the land of the Picts recently. As for the romanization, I am happy to oblige.

"I think this is a point of crucial importance and should be borne in mind in any discussion of Morihei Ueshiba's use of 合気 [aiki] and 愛気 [aiki]. Rather than in the FAQ 『合気道』interview, Ueshiba's views about 合気 [aiki] and 愛気 [aiki] are set out in some detail in a text that has been translated into English, after a fashion. The text is 『合気神髄』 [Aiki Shinzui = The (Quint)Essence / Heart / Soul of Aiki] and the English translation is The Secret Teachings of Aikido. This work is actually an edited collection of short articles published under the name of Morihei Ueshiba in the Aikikai's Aikido Shimbun. The articles all have their own titles and there is a whole section, Section 2, with the title 「合気とは愛気である」[Aiki to wa aiki de aru]. The translator, John Stevens, renders this as Aikido is the Spirit of Love and this explains the qualification 'after a fashion', above. I think that Prof Stevens was set the task of producing a rendering of Morihei Ueshiba's thoughts, but as far as possible divorced from the Omoto cultural/religious milieu in which they were conceived. So he takes enormous liberties with the translation.

So I really believe that to understand Morihei Ueshiba's thinking about 合気 [aiki] and 愛気 [aiki], it is necessary to have at least an elementary grasp of the Japanese language and of Omoto thinking.

Note on Aiki to wa aiki de aru.
The construction to wa is short for to iu no wa [と言うのは] . Here is an example:
泥棒とは人の物を盗むやつのことだ。
Dorobou to wa hito no mono wo nusumu yatsu no koto da.
A thief is a person who steals the property of others.
What we mean by a thief is a guy who steals the property of others.

Morihei Ueshiba's expression is: 'What I mean by aiki 合気 is aiki 愛気'.