A Brief History of Ki-Aikido
After the death of the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, or O'Sensei,in 1969, his son Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba-Sensei took up the reins as the leader of the Aikikai, or the orginization that runs the martial art of Aikido. The chief instructor of the Aikikai, Kochi Tohei, or Tohei-Sensei, fell into disagreement with Dohshu-sensei during the years following the death of O'Sensei. Tohei-Sensei left the Aikikai in 1971 and went on to form the Ki Society International.
Ki-Aikido places more emphasis on the spiritual aspects of the concept of ki in daily life and sports. In Japan, Tohei-Sensei worked with the baseball player Sadaharu Oh and taught him about the principles of ki, which helped him to to break Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron's home run record in 1976.
Instruction for ki-aikido is mostly similar to aikido instruction. The main difference between the two is there are also lessons where the sensei will sit and teach about nothing but the principles of ki and mind/body unification.