修行会

Lineage

植芝盛平先生がつくられた道歌

Ueshiba Morihei’s (O’Sensei’s) Dōka

Otherwise known as “song of the way”, we present an independent critical translation of Morihei Ueshiba’s (i.e., O-Sensei’s) original dōka, and presents the case that these dōka, in the historical written/read Japanese (bungo) do indeed hold the ”right before your eyes” secrets of Aikidō.

Lineage

植芝盛平の武産合気

Ueshiba Morihei’s (O’Sensei’s) Takemusuaiki

A critical book in the practice of Aikido and its kinesthetic embodied religion. This presents an independent critical translation of Morihei Ueshiba’s Takemusu-Aiki as informed by bungo grammar of the dōka project. This is currently a private project for 2026 for academic work and fair use; only co-translators and reviewers may access at this time.

Lineage

五月女貢師範

Saotome Mitsugi, Shihan

A brief on Mitsugi Saotome Shihan (i.e., Sensei), an uchi-deshi (i.e., apprentice) of O’Sensei, followed by a brief introduction. Saotome Sensei is this site‘s lineage, as Latex G.N.R. Space-Coyote is an uchi-deshi of Mitsugi Saotome, Shihan. Sensei intuitively and conceptually (not descriptively) communicates O’Sensei’s mission, and message; fully compatible with bungo.

Lineage

合氣道の精神

Ueshiba Morihei’s Essential Spirit of Aikidō

Provided by Miyazaki Tenman Dojo is a text fragment worthy of translation concerning Aikidō’s Essential Spirit.

Lessons

Aiki is a generalized universal principal and principle, and shares space with a variety of other principals and principles¹. The scope of aiki is vast, and the study and application profoundly transformative when wielded by practitioners of the way of aiki, its valences of takemusu aiki, and shobu aiki. Those with a sincere and truthful heart/mind (i.e., makoto), and a wish to leave the world better than they found it (i.e., beauty) are invited to practice together in aikidō (pronounced a-i-ki-dō). Having its roots in building relational ties, beautifying order, peace, and justice, aspiring for growth without conflict, through militaries, samurai, and governments, aikido is a way that greatly benefits the world, and limitless permutations of it.

This practice is for the world, a divine gift, illuminated by Morihei Ueshiba (O-Sensei), shared compassionately by the Ueshiba Family (Kisshomorou Ueshiba, Moriteru Ueshiba…), and transmitted through Mitsugi Saotome, Shihan (Sensei) and his rare peers (e.g., uchi-deshi, soto-deshi of O-Sensei) with many practitioners around the world.

Lessons

丸橋
Marubashi

The Log Bridge

Here, the practitioner may discover, when sincerity and stability is well established, the narrow bridge of world lines. Discovering the reality of falling off into a raging ocean or a raging fire, we call this bridge marubashi.

This bridge is where the fires imbued with anger, and water infused with clinginess are tamed [ fire abstract anger, water abstract clinginess ]. This bridge is where generosity, love, and compassion are born anew, fresh, in a stream of awareness that moves with penetrative insight and method through all of life.

Upon this bridge, obstacles [will]arrive[d], and there will be no exit save for the obstacle itself. Knowledge of the arrival on the bridge is clear, for there will be no doubt. Once here, this is where the practice is really done. The dojo was the training ground, the place of training in aikido. The bridge is for takemusu aiki. Real aikido is not practiced in the dojo, as the dojo could be broken in the process.

Lessons

天岩戸
Ama no Iwato

Throwing Open the Rock Door

Then, at the last minute, when those insulted, trodden upon, and suppressed show the slightest interest in peeking in on the celebration outside of the cave, love grabs the frozen, the solid, and moves it with collective might. Love invites, there is celebration, thankfulness is expressed, and the heart is restored to the throne. For this is a world [to]create[d] together, not apart and it is sunlight, sheer radiance, the gift of something as simple as a photon, in great abundance, that [will]produce[d] the energy that moves all of this within samsara.

Life is matsuri, and through the practice of aikido wisdom and insight is discovered to throw open the rock door; to the realization of the naturelessness of valence, of form, which is revealed mind to mind.

Lessons

聖武合氣 Shobu Aiki

Saintly Aiki

At the stage of Shobu Aiki, “things happen”. Like living with beings such as Mitsugi Saotome Sensei, serendipitous experiences and ease in navigating flow are paramount. Individuals achieving this state experience aiki as its own phenomena, without clinging to it as themself or another.

Lessons

合わせ
Awase

Together

Aikido practice, sharing its roots in preserving peace and justice, includes martial arts, for aikido practitioners recognize that within peace and justice lies principled behavior. These behaviors are honed and sharpened from the course to the fine sharpening stones of the interactions and interference patterns of life and all of its participants.

Roots are in koryu, we practice a variety of techniques that are eventually shed, in favor of principled behavior rather than scripts, copies, and clones of patterns, which initially are beneficial, like crutches when healing.

Lessons

天の浮橋
Ama no Kihashi

Connecting Heaven & Earth

The practitioner then realizes the true meaning of marubashi. Here, misogi is properly oriented, and the causes and conditions ripe. One’s lineage changes, the meaning generative process is understood, and swift victory is understood. Now the practice continues in the heavenly planes, where the rains of wisdom fall upon the earth below and the rainbows of wisdom illuminate the heavens above.

Lessons

祭
Matsuri

Festival

Together (awase), now there is a celebration of the activity of ‘please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘you’re welcome’ in a great display of noble activity abstract time, and abstract space, right here, right now. Noble behaviors, purified from misogi, practiced together in awase, through the narrow gate of marubashi, spontaneously creative in takemusu aiki, and invited through humility and perseverance, yet the task is not yet complete.

Lessons

禊
Misogi

Ways of Purification

Its heart in the realm of purifying aggressive habitation, the practice of aikido shares roots with spiritual asceticism. Practice includes a series of purification exercises called misogi, meant to invite a practitioner to discover and develop insights and methods to leave the environment as well as their selves better than they found it. The heart of these exercises are critical for maintaining stability for higher valences of the application of aiki, and are revisited, increased, and innovated upon by all practitioners of aikido.

Lessons

武産合気
Takemusu Aiki

Continuous Creativity of Aiki

The study and practice of aiki, is of deltas, of change, of iterations of change, folding within, folding without. The practice aiki, lead by a skilled leader, is the study and practice of changes in neural connectivity, in social-neural interaction, in social-intra/inter-neural communication, and progresses to wisdom of interference patterns within samsara.

Progress further on the path continue aikido to penetrate deeper into the ocean of wisdom, gaining an understanding, and merging with the divine spirit of Take Musu Aiki. A beginningless, endingless transformation process, where thoughts, words, and deeds take on new meanings, innovative transformation, and insights that have the potential to shock worlds into new directions. The fruit of takemusu aiki is not practiced in samsara, only invited, as samsara could be broken in the process.

Lessons

□△○; Square, Triangle, Circle

Shapes and More