Abundant Peace

Morihei Ueshiba (1883–1969), the founder of Aikido—whose name means "abundant peace"—was undoubtedly the greatest martial artist who ever lived. As John Stevens, the author of this penetrating biography puts it, “even if we accept every exploit of all the legendary warriors, East and West, as being literally true, none of those accomplishments can be compared to Morihei's documented ability to disarm any attacker, throw a dozen men simultaneously, and down and pin opponents without touching...