Ep. 177: Did Aikido Come From the Battlefield? - with Ellis Amdur 

It is often taught that Aikido's heritage was the ancient Japanese battlefield, where it's techniques were born. Is this true?
This episode is a conversation which is a follow up to the previous episode (ep. 167) with Ellis Amdur where he goes into the history of aikido back as far as Sokaku Takeda.
In this episode, we go back much farther into Japanese history and cover the development of the samurai, their weapons, and armor.
A link to Ellis' book, which we discuss on the show - Old School: Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions (Expanded Edition)
edgeworkbooks....