The Spirit of Aikido Quotes

“One becomes vulnerable when one stops to think about winning, losing, taking advantage, impressing or disregarding the opponent. When the mind stops, even for a single instant, the body freezes, and free, fluid movement is lost.”
― Kisshomaru Ueshiba, The Spirit of Aikido

“The subtle working of ki is the maternal source that affects changes in breath. It is also the source of martial art as love. When one unifies mind and body by virtue of ki and manifests ai-ki (harmony of ki), delicate changes in breath-power occur spontaneously and "waza" (proper technique) flows freely.”
― Kisshomaru Ueshiba, The Spirit of Aikido

“Simply stated, aikido is a budo open to all people who aspire to unify the ki of the universe with the ki of oneself. For all members of the human race, it is the path to attaining harmony with all beings. The gates of aikido are open to people of all ages, classes, sexes, nationalities and races. Non-discrimination and non-exclusiveness are basic characteristics of aikido.”
― Kisshomaru Ueshiba, The Spirit of Aikido

“Ultimately, physical, psychological and spiritual mastery are one and the same. The egoless self is open, flexible, supple, fluid and dynamic in body, mind and spirit.”
― Kisshomaru Ueshiba, The Spirit of Aikido

“The burning desire of the Founder in establishing aikido was to keep the most valuable legacy of budo alive in the modern world. In order to accomplish his goal he went beyond differences in outward form to grasp the essence of each martial art and to bring it to life in a new form. The motivating force was his intense spiritual quest to discover a life-giving and life-affirming philosophy in budo. The result was the transformation of the heart of budo into the heart of aikido, the way of harmony and love.”
― Kisshomaru Ueshiba, The Spirit of Aikido

“Yagyu Munenori himself stresses the overcoming of ego through self-discipline in the art of swordsmanship. In a treatise known as The Household Transmission on the Art of Fighting he writes that the goal of training in the martial arts is to overcome six kinds of disease: the desire for victory, the desire to rely on technical cunning, the desire to show off, the desire to psychologically overwhelm the opponent, the desire to remain passive in order to wait for an opening and the desire to become free of these diseases.”
― Kisshomaru Ueshiba, The Spirit of Aikido