Part 5: Military and Hokkaido
There are some amusing anecdotes regarding UESHIBA'S attempts to gain that elusive inch which would enable him to enter the military such as hanging upside down from a tree for hours on end and perhaps anticipating his treatment at the hands of superior officers beating his head against a wall to harden it. This action may have had some merit as it is recorded that at least one officer damaged his hand striking the aforementioned head.
Thankfully for the trees and walls of the area UESHIBA finally gained the inch and was accepted into the military. During his time in the army UESHIBA gained a reputation as an excellent soldier and martial artist in particular in his mastery of bayonet fighting. During his enlistment he enrolled in the YAGYU JUJUTSU RYU of MASAKATSU NAKAI. The techniques of this school were most likely classical JUJUTSU and would gave included strikes and throws and weapons training. These would have been valuable aids in the development of his own art.
After his discharge in 1906 UESHIBA continued his training in YAGYU JUJUTSU RYU. He received a certificate from either MASAKATSU NAKAI or MASANOSUKE TSUBOI. The GOTO HA YAGYU SHINKAGE RYU was an offshoot of the main YAGYU SHINKAGE RYU which was centred in MIYAGI prefecture. UESHIBA'S certificate does not have the YAGYU seals on it therefore there is some doubt about it's authenticity . It is most likely that the seals were kept in SENDAI.
Another chapter in UESHIBA'S life was about to unfold. An event which led directly to the most important meeting in his life to that date.
In 1910 UESHIBA went to HOKKAIDO to investigate and evaluate the government plan to develop land and populate the area. His evaluation being positive UESHIBA returned to HOKKAIDO as the leader of a group of settlers from KII province . His followers settled in SHIRATAKI in KAMI WABETSU VILLAGE in MOBETSU HOKKAIDO. It is here that UESHIBA found the type of lifestyle which suited him best. Farming ,hard work and intensive spiritual training. The adventures ,successes and trial that he met during this period would fill a book by themselves. There are tales of how he uprooted young trees single handedly and "made friends with the wild bears of HOKKAIDO". Despite (or perhaps because of) the intense hardship and austerity of pioneering life in HOKKAIDO this was a most happy time in his life. UESHIBA thrived in this inhospitable land and on the day to day challenge of carving a life from the land.
Soon he was to face an even greater challenge than that offered by pioneering life. This challenge came in the person of SOKAKU TAKEDA master of TAKEDA AIKIJUJUTSU
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