Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, was born on December 14, 1882. At first a sickly and weak child, his samurai father encouraged him to take up sumo wrestling, and swimming to improve his physique.

In Tokyo in 1901; he devoted himself to the study of Jujitsu and swordsmanship. He later served with distinction during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. While still fighting at the front, he worked on his physical strength, and built himself up to a rock-hard 170 pounds standing just five-foot one inch tall.

Preceding World War II, Morihei moved with his family to the wilderness of Hokkaido. Historically, the most significant event of his stay in Hokkaido was his meeting with Sokaku Takeda. Takeda was the grandmaster of Daito-Tyu Aiki-Jutsu and was a master swordsman. Morihei proved no match for Sokaku. Because of his respect for Sokaku, he built a dojo in Hokkaido and invited him to live and teach there.

Also during this time his father became gravely ill. On his way home Morihei stopped at the headquarters of the new Omoto-Kyo religion for a prayer service. The Omoto-Kyo religion was a mixture of Shinto mythology, shamanisum and faith healing. Morihei was deeply affected and commented that while Sokaku opened his eyes to the essence of Budo (martial arts), his enlightenment came through his Omoto-Kyo (religious) experiences.

Morihei vividly recalls that the enlightenment took place one spring day in 1925. There was an encounter with a Kendo instructor who came to test his reputation. As the instructors wooden sword (bokken) cut and thrust, Morihei easily avoided the blows until his opponent stopped from exhaustion, unable to touch him. Afterwards, he went out into his garden to rest. Suddenly he felt bathed in a heavenly light. It was as if the barriers between the spiritual and material worlds crumpled- "I am the universe." At that moment, he felt the true purpose of Budo was love, love that cherishes and nourishes all being. He was 42 at the time.
To quote Morihei, "The martial arts are not concerned with brute force to knock opponents down, or with the lethal weapons that lead the world into destruction. Therefore, martial training is not training that has as its primary purpose the defeating of others, but practice of Gods love within ourselves".

In 1927, Morihei moved to Tokyo and opened a Dojo (practice hall). He taught there until World War II emptied his Dojo of its most promising pupils. During World War II he left his Dojo and engaged in farming. Some time after the war, Morihei resumed his teaching, sensing that the time was right to teach the principles of Aikido once again.

With the rapid spread of Aikido after the war, Morihei became the World-famous Professor Ueshiba or fondly called "O-Sensei" (great teacher). Up until the end of his life, he continued refining and improving his techniques – never losing his dedication to hard training. Early on the morning of April 26, 1969, Morihei took his son´s hand and said, "Take care of things" and died. He was 86 years old.

The world centre for Aikido today is Hombu Dojo in Tokyo. This is headed by the founder's Grandson, Waka Ueshiba (referred to as Doshu). Organization such as the United Kingdom Aikikai (U K A) provide technical guidance, and organization, at a national level in this country, with similar organizations in many others countries.

Mr Gordon Jones, 6 dan (Shihan) as Principal, heads the U K A's technical committee as technical Director. Assisting him are the U K A's National Coaches (Shidoin) and Junior National Coaches (Fukushidoin).