Jigoro Kano meets Morihei Ueshiba Abdul Rashid 1|Pa g e Figure 1 Portrait of a young Professor Kano (IJF) Professor Jigoro Kano is widely recognized as the founder of Judo. He was a highly intellectual individual who aimed to propagate his creation and idea to the public. After training in several Jujutsu schools, Professor Kano started to develop his own system. Over time he created his own school, the Kodokan, in 1882. A year later, an individual, Morihei Ueshiba was born. Like Kano, he played a pivotal role in the Japanese Martial Arts scene. After studying in several Jujutsu schools and weapon arts, he founded the system of Aikido. One fine day, fate brought these two great men together. The individual responsible for the 2 men crossing paths was Admiral Isamu Takeshita. Takeshita himself was a martial arts enthusiast, having trained in Judo, Sumo, and later Aikido. Moreover, he became acquaintance with Professor Kano and Gichin Funakoshi (Shotokan Karate). Takeshita, in turn, was introduced to Ueshiba via Admiral Asano Seikyo. Around this period, Ueshiba was still developing his own system and teaching at a dojo located on the outskirts of Tokyo. 1|Pa g e Figure 2 Takeshita and Ueshiba (Gold, Josh) A demonstration was set up and Professor Kano visited Ueshiba’s Meijro dojo sometime in October 1930. From Takeshita’s diary dated March 1st, 1931, he stated “I went to the dojo at Ushigome-Wakamatsu town and managed to get around hundred and fifty guests to observe the master’s demonstration from 2:30 p.m. Admiral Takarabe, general Fukuda, general Machida, Mr. Jigoro Kano etc., were the main guests.” We can see that Ueshiba and Kano were no strangers to each other.” Ueshiba put on a splendid demonstration which dazzled the Professor. He was said to have remarked “This is true Judo!”. Others mention him saying “This is ideal Judo!”. Either way, Professor Kano was impressed by the demonstration. Despite Professor Kano being 70 years of age at the time of meeting, he was still developing his system and was open to incorporating new methods and ideas. One of his goals was the preservation of the classical Japanese martial arts. As a result, he initially invited Ueshiba to teach at the Kodokan. Unfortunately, Ueshiba rejected the offer, stating that Judo and Aikido were different systems. It was most likely after this rejection that Professor Kano penned a formal letter to Ueshiba. 2|Pa g e Figure 3 Letter penned to Ueshiba (Li, Christopher) “Dear Sir: I thank you deeply for the hospitality I received when I visited you the other day. As I mentioned at that time, I would like to select some serious persons to receive instruction from you. I have searched and chosen a man by the name of Takeda, the same person who accompanied me when I visited you, and in addition, one other person by the name of Mochizuki. I have arranged to have Mr. Shuichi Nagaoka visit you within a few days to formally make the request on my behalf, so please discuss the matter with him. Again, accept my thanks for your hospitality and please note the request contained in this letter.” Professor Kano sent two of his students to train with Ueshiba. Namely, Minoru Mochizuki and Jiro Takeda. Takeda was around 50 years of age and held a 5th Dan in Judo while Mochizuki was still a young enthusiast at 25 years of age. Mochizuki recalled Professor Kano stating “You two go and study and make an honorable showing of yourselves. That will help in handling down the Japanese ancient martial arts to posterity. He (O-Sensei/Ueshiba) seemed to have mastered some secret principle that transcended common knowledge. I wished to search its depth and master it myself…”. 3|Pa g e Not much is known about Jiro Takeda, his rank, and his training with Ueshiba. He was reported to have trained in Aikido as a form of “calisthenics”. On the other hand, Minoru Mochizuku obtained a 10th Dan in Aikido and later merged his extensive knowledge of martial arts into his very own mixed martial arts system which he called Yoseikan Budo. Figure 4 Ueshiba in the middle with Mochizuki and Takeshita to his left and right respectively (Yoseikan) Even in his later years, Professor Kano held Ueshiba in high regard. Kenji Tomiki was a highranking Judoka who was a fervent student of both Professor Kano and Ueshiba. He started training with the latter in 1926 after being introduced by a fellow Judoka from Waseda University. In 1936 before Tomiki’s deployment to Manchukuo (present day Manchurai), he met with Professor Kano at the Kodokan, who said, “Tomiki, the kinds of things you’re doing at Ueshiba’s place will be needed from now on, but the problem is finding ways to have people do them”. To which Tomiki replied, “With your theories, Sensei, I don’t think it will be impossible at all”. Tomiki combined his learnings from both of his teachers, creating a competitive form of Aikido called Tomiki/Shodokan Aikido in his later years. 4|Pa g e Figure 5 Ueshiba and Tomiki (Gold, Josh) 5|Pa g e Both Ueshiba and Professor Kano were great exponents of Japanese Jujutsu. Both men played a role in capturing the essence of traditional Japanese Jujutsu, which was on the brink of abolishment, into their respective systems. Regardless of the systems being practiced either as an art or combat sport, the essence of Jujutsu lives on in the form of both Aikido and Judo. 6|Pa g e Bibliography • An interview with Kazuo Chiba Sensei. n.d Lockyear Arthur. Aikidofaq. Available at: http://www.aikidofaq.com/interviews/chiba_interview.html • Kenji Tomiki “The second Jigoro Kano”. 2002. Gold Josh. Aikido Journal. Available at: https://aikidojournal.com/2002/08/02/kenji-tomiki-the-second-jigoro-kano/ Pictures Figure 1: Jigoro Kano early portrait. n.d. Internation Judo Federation <https://www.ijf.org/history/jigoro-kano-who-was-he-really/3985> Figure 2: Takeshita and Ueshiba. 2018. Li Christopher. Aikido Sangenkai <https://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/a-letter-from-kenji-tomiki-to-isamu-takeshita/> Figure 3 : Jigoro Kano letter to Ueshiba. 2015. Li Christopher, Aikido Sangenkai <https://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/leap-spirit-moritaka-morihei-ueshiba/> Figure 4: Minoru Mochizuki and Ueshiba. 2021. Yoseikan Budo China <http://www.yoseikan.cn/en/history.html> Figure 5: Ueshiba and Tomiki. 2018. Li Christopher. Aikido Sangenkai <https://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/a-letter-from-kenji-tomiki-to-isamu-takeshita/> 7|Pa g e