修行会

122「おのころに気結びなして中に立つ心みがけ山彦の道。」- 植芝盛平

Original Waka

おのころに
気結びなして
中に立つ
心みがけ
山彦の道

植芝盛平 (Ueshiba, 1977)

Translation

“At Onokoro, bind ki deep in musubi and stand in the center—grind, hone, and polish the heart—the mountain echo’s way.” – Morihei Ueshiba

Waka Translation

At Onokoro,
bind ki in musubi deep
stand in the center—

grind, hone, and polish the heart;
the mountain echo’s own way.

Morihei Ueshiba

歴史的仮名遣い（語構成を明示）

淤能碁呂に（をのころに）
氣結び為して（きむすび なして）
中に立つ（なかにたつ）
心を磨け（こころをみがけ）
山彦の道（やまびこのみち）

植芝盛平

Bungo Romanization

onokoro ni
ki‑musubi nashite
naka ni tatsu
kokoro o migake
yamabiko no michi

Ueshiba Morihei

Notes

¹ Source line “心みがけ” is widely transmitted; to satisfy the classical 7 mora line in (1.3), I restore the (ellipsable) object marker を as こころをみがけ—a standard editorial normalization in waka presentation that leaves the semantics intact. Parallel dojo transmissions show the same line with 心磨け (no を) or equivalent; see Shinbukan’s (2012) compilation. 

Translation, Notes, Commentary, and Research by Latex G. N. R. Space-Coyote

Ueshiba, M. (2025). 植芝盛平道歌–122: Bind ki-musubi deep (L. G. N. R. Space-Coyote, Trans.; OpenAI ChatGPT-5 Pro, Ed.). Shugyokai.org. (Original work published 1977) https://shugyokai.org/r4wk

おのころ / 自凝島 / 淤能碁呂島（おのころ / Onokoro）— the mythic first island where creation begins in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki; the first island formed when Izanagi and Izanami stir the primal ocean; “自凝” literally means “self‑coagulating,” i.e., an island that congealed by itself from the dripping spear (Hardacre, 2016; Heldt, 2014). Ueshiba often invokes Onokoro as a poetic axis mundi—a world‑centering image that frames Aikidō practice as cosmic alignment rather than mere technique. Kakekotoba on おのころ as mythic sacred island and the process of things “凝り固まる” (coagulating, condensing; see eight powers).

に（ni）— locator.

おのころに（Onokoro ni）— “At Onokoro”: evokes the mythic first island where creation begins in Kojiki; a poetics of axis‑mundi / center; sense “at Onokoro / at the place (and moment) where things self‑coagulate”.

気結び（きむすび; ki musubi）— ki is vital breath / energy; musubi is a Shintō generative “binding” or “knotting,” also personified by deities like Takamimusubi and Kamimusubi, ritually marked by ropes (注連縄) and paper streamers (紙垂).. “Ki‑musubi” evokes the act of forging unity with the living weave of the cosmos; fuses 合気道 “ki” (breath/energy) with musubi.

なして / 為して（なして; nashite）— here means “perform, enact”. In bungo this is a straightforward continuative + て construction.

気結びなして（きむすびなして; ki-musubi nashite）— “perform ki‑musubi”: musubi is the Shintō generative / binding power (also the divine name‑element in Takami‑musubi, Kami‑musubi), here joined with ki (vital breath / energy); sense is “having enacted ki‑musubi / binding your ki into the generative weave of the cosmos”.

中（なか; naka）— “center / middle / in‑between,” but in Aikidō and neo‑Shintō discourse it is also: the [orthogonal; see earlier dōka] axis between Heaven and Earth, the practitioner’s physical center [non-point-like field; see earlier dōka] (tanden), and the ethical-spiritual middle [orthogonal field] (not leaning into violence or passivity).

立つ（たつ; tatsu）— “to stand,” but in Ueshiba’s idiom “中に立つ” is almost a technical phrase: stand at the cosmic axis mundi (see Space-Coyote, 2026).

中に立つ（なかにたつ; naka ni tatsu）— “stand in the center”; a recurring Ueshiba motif for the practitioner as mediator at the pivot between Heaven and Earth—physically, ethically, and spiritually; the “center” is physical / ethical / spiritual stance in his discourse.

心（こころ; kokoro）— heart / mind—inner disposition rather than a mere “feeling”.

磨け（みがけ; migake）— imperative of 磨く literally “polish, burnish, hone”; classical ethics and Shintō alike speak of “polishing the heart” so that it can reflect kami like a mirror; kakekotoba as 磨く can apply to metal, stone, or skill and character. Here polishing the “heart” folds all those together: ascetic practice, technical training, and moral refinement.

心をみがけ（こころをみがけ; kokoro o migake）— “polish the heart”; classical exhortation (cf. magokoro / 真心, “true heart”) to refine intention and clarity so action resonates without distortion; aligns with Shrine Shintō notions that the human heart reflects the divine.

山彦（やまびこ; yamabiko）— “mountain echo”; both the echo itself and, in folklore, a mountain spirit; here it signals responsive attunement—mind and body answering the world as faithfully as an echo.

道（みち; michi）— path, way.

山彦の道（やまびこのみち; yamabiko no michi）— “the path of the mountain echo”: yamabiko is both the acoustic echo and a folklore figure; Ueshiba uses it metaphorically for responsive resonance / attunement.

Historical kana & graphs. Using 淤能碁呂 / 自凝 for Onogoro/Onokoro and 氣 for 気 follows pre‑reform spellings (rekishiteki kanazukai) and classical orthographic practice set out in standard bungo grammars.

Classical morphology. 為して (nashite, continuative + te) and imperative 磨け are straightforward bungo‑compatible forms; yodan verbs like 立つ have identical conclusive / attributive shapes in classical usage.

Metrical normalization. Many transmitted dōka lines omit particles; inserting the object marker を in こころ［を］みがけ restores the normative 7 mora line without altering sense—a common editorial move when presenting waka in classical meter.

Key religious lexemes retained. “Musubi” is transliterated (not paraphrased) to preserve Shintō semantics that have no single English equivalent; “mountain‑echo” renders yamabiko while signaling the cultural metaphor.

Semantic fidelity to Ueshiba’s diction. The three‑step kami‑no‑ku (“Onokoro” → “ki‑musubi” → “stand centered”) and the ethical imperative in the shimo‑no‑ku (“polish the heart” → “yamabiko no michi”) are kept as paired pivots, mirroring the original’s didactic cadence.

Mythic geography as training metaphor. Onokoro—the first island raised by Izanagi/Izanami in the Kojiki—marks a cosmogonic “center.” Invoking it frames aikidō as cosmological alignment (standing “in the center” between Heaven and Earth).

Yamabiko as responsiveness. In dictionaries and folklore studies, yamabiko is the mountain echo (and sometimes a yōkai). Ueshiba’s “yamabiko no michi” is often read as a Way of exact, ethical responsiveness — our actions echoing the world without distortion.

Textual transmission of the dōka. Multiple dojo compendia transmit these lines (often with small particle/kanji variations), and modern interpreters explicitly gloss “yamabiko no michi” in budō terms of resonance and irimi (entry). Keep in view that much “dōka” material was culled from taped talks and editorialized when first published post‑1959.