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Early in O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba's life, he watched his father receive a severe beating by local thugs who disagreed with his fathers political beliefs. At this time, the young Morihei Ueshiba vowed to search for physical strength and martial skills. This vow led to years of severe discipline and training in both martial and spiritual disciplines. His training in these areas led to the development of aikido. This development can be seen through three major areas of O'Sensei Ueshiba's life: his military experience, his martial arts training, and the influence of the Omoto religion.

O'SENSEI IN THE MILITARY

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Japan competed for influence, trade, and territory with Western countries in China and Korea. After failing in negotiations in 1903 with Russia to get that country to withdraw from Manchuria, Japan severed relationships and sought a solution with its modernized military. The Russo-Japanese War lasted from 1904 to 1905. This conflict grew out of the rivalry of the imperialist ambition of Russia and Japan in Manchuria and Korea. The campaigns of 1904 focused on a series of indecisive naval engagements at Port Charles on the Liaotung peninsula in south Manchuria. Port Charles finally fell in early 1905, allowing the Japanese army to attack northward. Facing its own internal unrest of the Russian Revolution of 1905, Russia elected to negotiate peace. The war ended in mediation by President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States. The defeat of Russia by the Japanese shocked the world. It was the first non-Western victory in a large military conflict. It was inspiring to many noncolonial independence movements. Without this rivalry and with the Western world distracted by World War I, Japan began the efforts to dominate the East. These efforts led to World War II in the Pacific. After World War II, many Japanese historians would look nostalgically on the time of leadership in a sustained effort to liberate the oppressed.