Why did O'Sensei create aikido?

O'Sensei did not 'create' Aikido but rather he developed it. Aikido was already there but it took certain elements to be combined together to realize it and harness it.

Much like fire. Caveman didn't 'discover' fire...it was already there. What they did, however, was realize how to develop and harness it.

From what I've collected (which admitedly enough is over a relatively short period of time) is that the 'elements' I alluded to before was the dissatisfaction of clashing arts (of which O'Sensei was already a great master), the revelation of great spiritual power, and the comprehension that there are energies that we cannot readily see unless we commit to a lifestyle of compassion and unity...exactly what O'Sensei's Aikido is based on.

Michael Gelum wrote: ...but you used it in a religious context. If Ueshiba's spirituality became more profound and influential, due to the nuclear devastation, it is a religious context. Ambiguity is paramount in the professing of faith. God's work? While I never doubt ones' faith, I am critical of how it is used to manipulate and covet.

No I didn't. It signifies a conversion which may or may not be religious.

David

Michael Gelum wrote: Ambiguity is paramount in the professing of faith.

No, ambiguity is the main impediment to communications between humans; be it religion, martial arts, etc. Those who don't know (this reference is in general not to a specific person) may purposefully use ambiguity to try to fool others in thier profession of faith. But for most of us ambiguity comes naturally.
David

It's kind of funny, if you ask a philosophical question you get a religious response, and usually an argument.
The fact is that none of us, not even those who were around him night and day his whole life, know why he founded Aikido.
He started his journey long before Aikido, in a way that many modern Aikidoka would sneer at, so it is obvious he changed his mind ATLEAST, once. He wasn't a god, he wasn't constant, he was a man. Subject to all the changes, growths, and decays of human life.
None of us are in his head no matter how hard we may study or research and no matter how much we think we know, all we have are theories. Most of which are probably based more on introspection. I'm willing to bet most of these responses have more to do with each individuals beliefs and personal reasons for training rather than O'sensei's.
Aikido isn't a religion, unless you make it out to be one, and O'sensei was a nice guy, a nice guy who could and did DEFEAT OPPONENTS IN COMBAT quite alot.
My theory is that Aikido is around because O'sensei wanted people to try. The Aiki the kokyu all that stuff is just part of the journey we should be taking. I think O'sensei wanted us all to be striving for perfection in whatever we do. Budo was just what he did. Why he wanted that I haven't given much thought to, but like I said, all I've got are theories.

He started his journey long before Aikido, in a way that many modern Aikidoka would sneer at, so it is obvious he changed his mind ATLEAST, once. He wasn't a god, he wasn't constant, he was a man. Subject to all the changes, growths, and decays of human life.

Thank you, very nicely stated

Aikido isn't a religion, unless you make it out to be one

Exactly.

Thank you for your input, Mr. Wallace.

Train well,

Mickey

Paul Wallace wrote: ....The fact is that none of us, not even those who were around him night and day his whole life, know why he founded Aikido. He started his journey long before Aikido, in a way that many modern Aikidoka would sneer at, so it is obvious he changed his mind ATLEAST, once. He wasn't a god, he wasn't constant, he was a man. Subject to all the changes, growths, and decays of human life. None of us are in his head no matter how hard we may study or research and no matter how much we think we know, all we have are theories. My theory is that Aikido is around because O'sensei wanted people to try. The Aiki the kokyu all that stuff is just part of the journey we should be taking. I think O'sensei wanted us all to be striving for perfection in whatever we do. Budo was just what he did. Why he wanted that I haven't given much thought to, but like I said, all I've got are theories.

ON the other hand, any "celebrity" who left a legacy and ALOT of writings and followers and film, one can accurately determine their intent, even if it changed several times, which it did in this case.

There is no secrets to his bio, it's well documented and he even said what his intent was in several different ways. What's also obvious is the direct religion that's incorporated into his life and manifested into Aikido ( much like religion is incorporated into America's foundation). According to his bio, he was naturally competitive and took pride to be the best at whatever he did. He was destined( as much as Bruce Lee) to seek and develope his own MA. Much like Bruce Lee, he studied many different MA, (which Budo was a way of life in Japan at the time and every self respecting Nipponji practiced it) and took the best parts of each and eliminated what wasn't. Further, obviously his connection to the Omoto religion influenced him to base his practice in a religious context , a common practice at that time, of peacful resolution and mercy (not so common at the time). Also, most MA are based in weapons techniques, because that's what was prevalent at the time. So much so that the general consensus is that if weapons are removed from a MA, it removes the martial aspect of the art.

My point is that alot of what was developed was simply a result of what was done at the time, as many know that Japanese culture was/is very strict. So he developed a hybrid MA within the constraints of current Japanese culture of the time. imo.

Maybe he was bored

Clarence Couch wrote: ON the other hand, any "celebrity" who left a legacy and ALOT of writings and followers and film, one can accurately determine their intent, even if it changed several times, which it did in this case. There is no secrets to his bio, it's well documented and he even said what his intent was in several different ways. What's also obvious is the direct religion that's incorporated into his life and manifested into Aikido ( much like religion is incorporated into America's foundation). According to his bio, he was naturally competitive and took pride to be the best at whatever he did. He was destined( as much as Bruce Lee) to seek and develope his own MA. Much like Bruce Lee, he studied many different MA, (which Budo was a way of life in Japan at the time and every self respecting Nipponji practiced it) and took the best parts of each and eliminated what wasn't. Further, obviously his connection to the Omoto religion influenced him to base his practice in a religious context , a common practice at that time, of peacful resolution and mercy (not so common at the time). Also, most MA are based in weapons techniques, because that's what was prevalent at the time. So much so that the general consensus is that if weapons are removed from a MA, it removes the martial aspect of the art. My point is that alot of what was developed was simply a result of what was done at the time, as many know that Japanese culture was/is very strict. So he developed a hybrid MA within the constraints of current Japanese culture of the time. imo.

Very eloquently put, thank you for the response.

I understand he left a great deal behind to be studied, and I agree that this should be studied, but like my exact statement before...none of us were in his head. He did state his intent alot, but it may be that he was trying to get a thought out and we misunderstood it. You never know. I certainly don't mean we don't try to understand; all I mean is we don't 'know' for sure and evidance of this is there are so many ideas about what he wanted Aikido to be or do, or what he wanted in general. And I emphasize this beause I hope that instead of people accepting an individuals packaged theory on 'why he created Aikido' or trying to 'package a theory' of their own they'll do the research and find everything he said and accept that or not, you know, leave it broad; and use his own words to pass it along.

Just like you can't lose a fight if you don't fight; you can't missinterpret something if you don't interpret it. J/K by the way.

Also I think we all share that destiny, to gather everything we can scrap what we cannot use and essentially found our own variation of Budo. Thats what I meant in my previous post about 'striving for perfection'.

But I'm human I'll probably change my mind. lol.