O-sensei's training

I have always been somewhat interested in the history of Aikido, and specifically in O-sensei's martial training. Everything I had read and heard up until now said that O-sensei trained in lots of different martial arts before he developed Aikido. So I was surprised when I read the article that Stan Pranin wrote that is posted on this site, that says:

"So, you have this very brief stint in Tenjin Shinryo Ryu, some training in Yagyu Ryu jujutsu while in the army, a smattering of judo, and then Daito-ryu. That's it. The impression that he studied many different arts other than Daito-ryu and mastered them is completely false."

However I read in one of John Stevens books that O-sensei himself said that he had studied over thirty martial arts. Now even though O-sensei said he only studied some of these arts for a month at a time, I am curious as to why there is such a discrepancy between what O-sensei supposedly said and what Mr.Pranin is saying. That is like over 26 martial arts unaccounted for. Anybody have any ideas?

I would look at what Kisshomaru said he studied in his book on aikido.

I think Koichi Tohei talks a bit about this in his first book "Aikido: Co-ordination of Mind and Body for Self Defence". IIRC, he says something about O'sensei spending his inheritance going around studying everything he could, many martials arts etc. including modern gymnastics.

John Riggs wrote: I would look at what Kisshomaru said he studied in his book on aikido.

Kisshomaru was certainly in the thick of things, but I think he had an agenda and what he said needs to be cross-referenced with other, more objective opinions.

I read somewhere he had a license in the Yagyu. Also, there were kendoka in his family on his mother`s side. There is then the local sumo that almost all Japanese boys still take part in. Apparently Ueshiba was good at that and likely practiced a lot. I don`t see such a huge discrepency. Mr. Pranin`s strong emphasis of Daito ryu, imho, was partly fueled by the strong denial of it he ran into at Honbu.

Charles Hill