Aikido and Daitoryu Techniques

There has been a lot of discussion on the Aikiweb website on O-Sensei and his relationship to Daito-Ryu Aikijitsu, which has been deliberately played down by the Aikikai from the time of the second Doshu onwards. Rather than repeating the threads here, I would rather focus on a very valuable, but often overlooked column by John Driscoll, meticulously comparing Daito-ryu and Aikido techniques - showing an almost one-to-one correspondence between the two, with the exception of aikido koshinage (which, in another column, John almost surely establishes, is the single and only technique that Ueshiba derived from his earlier brief studies in Yagyu Shingan-ryu). This was highlighted by Ellis Amdur in the thread "Morihei's Changing Picture".

Correlation of Aikido and Daito-ryu Waza

There is also evidence in Saotome's jo, particularly the piece sometimes referred to within his organization as the "pre-set," for a line of derivation from Yagyu Shingan-ryu for some of the aikijo attributed to Ueshiba. The oral history associated with this set has always claimed its origins in bojutsu.

This photo was shot about 1922 inside Morihei's home situated near the Omoto precincts in Ayabe. Morihei is seated in seiza inside the "Ueshiba Juku," his home dojo that marked the beginning of his career as a martial arts teacher. The characters read Daito Ryu Aiki-jutsu which is evidence that Ueshiba was licensed and openly teaching Daito-Ryu at the time, before his transition to Aikido.