Born on December 14, 1883 in Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture, he was the 4th child and 1st son of Ueshiba Yoroku, a middle-ranking farmer, village chief, and his wife Yuki, a member of the locally famous Itokawa clan.

1885-1890

At the age of 7, he entered religious school where he learned to read and write and received Confucian and Shingon Buddhist instruction.
He is so impressed by Kobo Daishi's life that he spends his days thinking about it. Worried about his son's interest in mysticism, his father decided to have him practice sumo wrestling and swimming.
He studied Kito Ryu jujutsu under Tozawa Tokusaburo, and sword from Shinkage Ryu.

1903-1906

Is admitted to Nakai's dojo to study jujutsu in Sakai.

1907-1909

He studied Goto-ha Yagyu Ryu Jujutsu and received his teaching diploma (menkyo-kaiden) from the Nakai Dojo-shu.

1915-1916

Meet Takeda Sokaku, famous teacher of Daito Ryu Jujutsu, who teaches him during the months they spend together the rudiments of his art and gives him a diploma (menkyo).

1919

He was 36 years old at the time.
It is by rushing to his father's bedside that he learns of the existence of Deguchi Onisaburo of the Omoto religion.

1920

Death of his father on January 2nd. Plunged into grief, he decides to move to Ayabe with his family to live a religious life under the guidance of Deguchide the Omoto Kyo. He was offered a house within the religious buildings where he lived for 8 years.
Having gained the trust of the head of this religion, he studied, among other subjects, the "Chinkon Kishin" (a technique of meditation, a mental asceticism, which should lead to serenity and bring one closer to the divine).
He created a bujutsu dojo in his own home, called "Ueshiba Juku".

1921

He was 38 years old and his reputation as a bujutsu master began to spread. Students from outside the Omoto religion and naval officers come to train.
On 11 February, the government decreed a ban on the Omoto religion. Deguchi was arrested, but no action was taken against the dojo.

1922-1923

He is 39 years old.
Onisaburo is released. With his help, the Omoto religion is revived. He became the chief of a rural commune and taught bujutsu. He was intensely interested in Kotodama and his martial studies took a much more philosophical turn.
He abandoned the forms of the ancient bujutsu of Daito Ryu and Yagyu Ryu and developed a technique and rationalism of his own.
He gave the name "Aiki bujutsu" to his art in 1922 but it is known as "Ueshiba Ryu Aiki Jujutsu".

1924

(41 years old)
An Omoto group led by Reverend Deguchi undertakes a journey to Manchuria and Mongolia. He became interested in the spear and incorporated it into Aiki jujutsu and bujutsu.

1925

He was 42 years old at the time. Since his return from China, he has frequently been possessed by some kind of divine force. A naval officer who is an expert in Kendo challenges him, but the Founder foresees all his opponent's movements in advance. It was at this time that he conceived the principle of "Victory without a fight". As he cools down after the fight, his mind and body are suddenly "perfectly crystal clear" and as if enveloped by "rays of golden threads" falling from the sky, which make him feel as if he has been transformed into a "body of gold". After this true transfiguration, he began to understand, among other concepts, the "Oneness with the Universe" that was to form the basis of his future Aikido.
The transformation of jutsu (military technique) into do (way) has begun.
He taught military officers, officials of the Imperial Palace, and some businessmen.

February 1927

At the age of 44, and at the invitation of Admiral Takeshita, he moved to Tokyo with his family on the
express advice of Onisaburo.

January 1928

He moved to another temporary dojo in the Mita neighborhood. Many naval officers came to train and he became an instructor at the Naval Academy (he remained there for 10 years).
Among his students were the president and editor of the Asahi newspaper (later the president of the Senate) and university judo champions.

February 1929

He changed his dojo again to settle near the Sengaku ji Temple in the Shinagawa district. Many artists, actors, etc., come to learn the rudiments of art.

1930

The construction of the final dojo began (he was then 47 years old) in the Ushigome district on a piece of land that would later become family property (site of the current Hombu Dojo).
In the meantime, Mejiro's temporary dojo is honored by the visit of Jigoro Kano Sensei, (Founder of Kodokan Judo), who attends a demonstration and declares, "This is exactly my ideal of budo."
Kano then sent Takeda Jiro and Mochizuki Minoru to the Founder for long-term training.
Miura Makoto, a vigorous army general, shows up at the dojo "to grind it to dust" but soon becomes a student and has the Founder appointed to a teaching position at the Toyama Military Police School. The construction of Aiki's final dojo, "Kobukan", has been completed.

April 1931

Mr. Kamata, Mr. Iwata, Mr. Funabashi, Mr. Shirata and others become uchi-deshi. The first "Golden Age" began for the dojo, nicknamed "The Dojo of Hell", and lasted until the Second World War.

1932-1933

AIKI-BUDO SPREADS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY
Other dojos were created from the Kobukan in Tokyo and Osaka, in particular the dojo of the Osaka police and that of the Asahi newspaper.
The most prominent deshi are Yonekawa Shigemi, Akazawa Zenzaburo, Shioda Gozo, Hoshi Tesshin.

1933-1934

The number of practitioners belonging to the business world is increasing at the dojo.
The Founder is appointed President of the newly formed association "Nihon Budo Senyo Kai" (Japan Budo Development Association).

1935-1938

The Founder became the spokesman for the budo world of the time.
He and others recognize that his art represents something new in terms of Aiki.
The name "Aïki Budo" becomes official.
Nakakura Kiyoshi, the adopted son of the Ueshiba family, began teaching Kendo on a daily basis at Kobukan with the help of other people from the Yushinkan.

1939

At the age of 56, he made a trip to Manchuria, then a Japanese colony, for a series of public demonstrations.
The Director of Physical Education of the "Manchukuo", former sumo wrestler Tenryu, was greatly impressed and became a disciple.

1940

The Kobukan Dojo is transformed into a Civil Society whose 1st Director is Admiral Takeshita. The Management Committee is a veritable directory of the great names of the time.
"Aiki Budo" officially becomes the art of hand-to-hand combat of the secret police of the "Kempeitai" Army.
New tour of Manchuria for demonstrations and lectures, especially at the colony's university, "Kenkoku Daigaku". This was the time when the name "Aiki Budo" came into use.

1941

The Second World War broke out. The deshi and students left for the front.
The young Kisshomaru, then a student, Osawa Kisaburo, the current Hombu Dojo-cho and others took care of the dojo.

1942

At the age of 59, he was invited to the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the "Manchukuo" to perform a demonstration in front of the Emperor of this territory. Having named his son Kisshomaru Dojo-cho of the Wakamatsu-cho dojo, he moved to Ibaraki Prefecture with his wife.
The Founder lives in the countryside of Iwama (Saito Morihiro would later become a tenant) with his wife, in a restored barn, and works to the perfection of Aikido.
From then on, he began to live his ideal of "Budo and rent", since a dojo in the countryside met this ideal exactly.
Throughout the war, Kisshomaru worked to preserve the Tokyo dojo. The war ended on August 15, 1945.

1946-1947

(63-64 years) The Founder remained in Iwama where he taught the local youth and devoted himself to the work of the farm.
The Kobukan in Tokyo served as a refuge for the victims, and training was stopped.
Aikido is only taught in Iwama. Budo and Aikido have lost all official support and social prestige.
The Founder, retired to the countryside, imperturbable, continued his effort to perfect his art.

1948

The "Aikikai Foundation" was officially established, but on the advice of the government authorities, its headquarters were in Iwama and remained so until 1953.
The plaque at the entrance to the Wakamatsu-cho dojo in Tokyo is vaguely written and reads "General Center of Aikikai - Ueshiba Dojo" (Aikikai So-Hombu - Ueshiba Dojo).

1949-1955

(66-72 years) Since the creation of Aikikai in 1948, Kisshomaru has been committed to establishing the foundations of contemporary Aikido.
The Founder is still in Iwama, continuing his life of Budo and farm work, but from 1950 he begins a series of visits for lectures and demonstrations.
When he reached the age of 70, he gave up some of his formidable power to enter the world of "Aiki is ki-love".
In 1954, the management of Aikikai was again officially installed in Tokyo.
The founder's students are Tadashi Abe, Saito, Tada, Tohei... (the latter would also become the technical director of Aikikai).

1956

(73 years old)
The first public demonstration organized by Aikikai takes place in September on the rooftops of the Takashimaya department store and lasts 5 days. The audience and the ambassadors present were very impressed. For the first time, the Founder demonstrated his "divinely inspired technique."

1957-1958

(74-76 years) The interest of the public is manifested by an increasing number of practitioners.
The Founder, whose hair has turned white, delegates the management work to his son Kisshomaru and is satisfied with a quiet life devoted to Aikido.

1957-1958

(74-76 years) The interest of the public is manifested by an increasing number of practitioners.
The Founder, whose hair has turned white, delegates the management work to his son Kisshomaru and is satisfied with a quiet life devoted to Aikido.

1962-1963

(79-80 years)
On August 7, Iwama celebrates the "60th anniversary of the Founder in the world of martial arts".
Aikido is becoming more and more popular.

1964

(81 years old)
He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class, with Star and Ribbon, in recognition of his contribution to the world of budo.
Kisshomaru was appointed head of Aikikai and became his successor in title and right.

1967

(84 years old)
The construction of a new building at the Hombu
dojo, replacing the old structure of the Kobukan, began on March 14 and was completed on December 15.

1968

(85 years old)
On January 12, the Founder performed a demonstration in the new dojo.
A national demonstration is held on October 5 to commemorate the opening of the dojo.
The Founder makes his last public demonstration.

1969

(86 years old)
The apparently healthy Founder attended the annual celebration of Kagamibiraki (a ceremony of renewal, a time when his convictions, goals, hopes and resolutions related to his martial practice were put on the line), but soon after, his health deteriorated rapidly and he died early in the morning on 26 April.