O-Sensei always stressed that “Aikido is budo” and “Budo is aikido’s source of power.” If we forget this, then aikido will mutate into something else—a so-called “art of living,” or something more akin to yoga.
However, this essential quality is not clearly manifested in the individual techniques so much as it permeates the art as a whole and exists as a latent potential. It allows an approach to an ethic sought by modern spirituality; in other words, the shinmu fusatsu that represents the highest ideal of Japanese budo: “to kill not.
