Morihei Ueshiba

Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), known as O-Sensei (Great Teacher), is the founder of Aikido. A deeply spiritual martial artist who mastered Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu under Sokaku Takeda and was profoundly influenced by the Omoto-kyo religion, Ueshiba developed Aikido as a martial art based on harmony, non-resistance and the redirection of an attacker's force rather than direct confrontation. He believed true martial mastery was inseparable from spiritual development. His art spread globally after World War II through his students and remains one of the most widely practised traditional Japanese martial arts in the world.