Kisshomaru Ueshiba sensei, kokyunage

The Secret Significance of Aikido
- poetic songs of the way -
Edited by Seiseki Abe under the general supervision of Doshu, Kisshomaru Ueshiba - Sensei

Okui - The Secrets
1. Bu, the root of all that is, is the great spirit of the founding of our nation. This bujutsu, as a part of the imperial way (kodo), trains us in body and in spirit to achieve the martial spirit (buki) of Yamato-damashi (the Japanese Spirit) by means of Aiki (a meeting of the ki) with the multitude of deities (Yorozu no Kami). So we train to unite the truth, happiness and beauty of the sincere sole. Bu builds sincere people who have not the slightest vulnerability or opening since they have completely unified their sole and their mind. Therefore our aim is to mutually cultivate (ourselves) in both the world of appearances and in the world of essences and thus to take charge of this world of the present and bring to perfect harmony and beauty (our) Yamato-damashii (Japanese spirit).

2. In the narrow sense this means that we must perform austere physical training (shugo) with our bodies while our kokoro (spirit/mind) remains ever mindful of what it means to be a "seeker" (shugyo-sha)

3. In the broadest sense this means unification with the great deity. The most important law of Bu is the need for shugyo that fosters the foundation for expressing the holy soul of a surpassing love of all that is manifested in this world.

An auspicious day, December, 1936. (by O-sensei)

Bujutsu: The form and the spirit of the gods
The parent of Izu and Mizu
So precious!

Put the active principle (yo) into the right hand
Turn the left into the passive (in)
And so guide the adversary.

By means of the way
Call out the misguided enemy
Advance and persuade him with words of instruction
Through the sword of love.

Enlightenment or delusion?
Who is to say which person has which
Like the evening moon they appear and fade
Not one knows exactly when.

I stand in the mountain stream
So pure! The splashing sound of water against the stone
Yet where is the person
Who with such purity can speak (of the Way).

Watch not his flashing blade
Nothing can be seen there
His fists will reveal where he intends to cut

Causing the perverted enemy to attack
I must then stand behind his form
And so cut the enemy down.

It is sincerity!
First cultivate sincerity with all your heart
So realize this truth
The World of Reality and the World of Appearance are one.

Whenever I seem to confront
Another dead end on my path
That precious way of Izu and Mizu
I bring to mind once more

Should you lose the Way
Without a doubt you will enter an "evil path"
Give no reign to the spiritual horse.

In a forest of the enemy's spears
Surrounded!
Then realize that those very spearheads
Are your very shield.

A person who
In any situation
Perceives the truth with resignation
Would never need to draw his sword in haste

Pour your spirit and heart
Into daily technical training
To approach the many through a single principle
This is "The Way of the Fighting Man"

The enemy comes running in to strike
At the instant of the attack
Avoid his strike with one step
And counter attack in that instant.

To see the true things
Harmonize with the voice which shouts, "Yah"
Never be drawn into the rhythm of the enemy

With "Eiii" cut him down!
That enemy that lurks within
Instruct him with "Yah"
Guide him with "Toh"

First master the techniques of Aiki
The way of the Gods
Then no enemy will ever attack

His sword raised to the attack
The enemy flies at the man he thinks before him
But from the very start
I was standing behind him

"To command the forest of enemy blades arrayed before you
Know that the enemy's spirit/mind is your shield."

Rip away from your soul
The shabby rags it wears
Open the way to Heaven’s destiny
So let it shine!

When you assume chudan
Move the enemy's spirit into the midst
And grasp the rhythm in the same fist.

Even through surrounded by a great number of enemy
View them as one person
And so fight on!

The enemy may assume gedan
But stay as you are in chudan
Move your blade neither up nor down.

If you wish to weaken
The enemy's sword
Move first, fly in and cut!

Though the enemy's spears and cuts are before you and behind
With their very weapons as your shield
You must cut in and gain victory.

Without the slightest opening
Nor the least thought of the enemy
And his encircling swords
Step in and cut!

The rays of the rising sun flow in,
My mind is clear
Going to the window, I run about the Heavens
Shining like the dawn.

Stand with the "First-moving Sword" held in the heavens
Close quickly and release your strike
Cutting diagonally.

Even the most powerful human being
has a limited sphere of strength.
Draw him outside of that sphere
and into your own, and his strength will dissipate.

"You must realize this!
Aiki cannot be captured with the brush
Nor can it be expressed with the mouth
And so it is that one must proceed
to realization"

In Jodan
Your every self must become jodan
Then in that way
The attacking spear can be crushed
Victory will be yours

Left and Right
Cut or parry
Discard all thought of them
The human spirit must rush instantly in!

Assume gedan and see
The spirit of the positive (yo) as in shadow (in)
Recognize the cuts and thrusts of the enemy's blade
As merely seigan

Mobilize all (your) powers through Aiki
Build a beautiful world
And a secure peace

Though you may train
In this sword work or in that
What will it mean
Unless you do your utmost

Ah, the precious Izu and Mizu
Together, the Cross of Aiki
Advance with courage
In the voice of Mizu

Izu and Mizu: These two words are taken from the metaphysical works of the Omoto religion and Shinto and are related to the theory of Kotodama, according to the works of Onisabruo Deguchi as presented in the book "The Founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba" by Doshu, K. Ueshiba Sensei, Izu is the word that indicates the actual universal, all encompassing Deity or Principle, while Mizu is a word that is used to name the functioning of that principle of Deity in this world for the sake of saving it. The two sounds are associated with the theory of Kotodama and with the concepts of Yang (Japanese - Yo) and Yin (Japanese - In)