Gekitotsu! Aikido (1975)

"Those who seek the truth, hit a wall at least once"

The Defensive Power of Aikido aka The Power of Aikido starred Sonny Chiba’s younger brother, Jiro, as the creator of Aikido-Morihei Ueshiba. A by the numbers fictionalized martial arts biopic, it was easy to watch, but not memorable.

Morihei Ueshiba has moved to a farm in a village in Hokkaido. He practices jujutsu with his workers easily defeating them. When he helps a young boy running from the work camp he meets his match in Natori Shinbei and his karate. Morihei becomes determined to improve his martial arts skills and seeks out new teachers to guide him. After he defeats a karate sensei, the school seeks vengeance and he has to defend himself from vengeful students while learning new skills.

Chiba Jiro was not nearly as charismatic as Sonny, nor was his fighting style. He gave a satisfactory performance as a farmer who worked his way up, learning new martial arts skills, eventually developing his own style. The movie wasn’t very clear on what those specific moves were that defined his aikido. Sonny’s Natori broke the mold of brainless, revenge-fueled fighter which was a relief given all the other tunnel-visioned students looking for blood. Shihomie Etsuko from Sonny’s Street Fighter franchise made an appearance as a student well able to take on a gang of men.

The fight choreography was adequate with some fights better than others. As with many old martial arts films, the kicks often missed by a mile, thankfully the actors and stuntmen were able to sell the action. And there were a few super human throws. The fights improved as Morihei went from being owned by his opponents to being able to use their power against them.

The Power of Aikido had the requisite training sequences as Morihei sought to improve his fighting skills and reach enlightenment. There were those who lent a hand to and those who betrayed the determined fighter. Very little was shown of Morihei’s personal life and family. Entertaining, but not enthralling. Rated on a pre-1990s kung fu curve or in this case generous karate kurve.

27 August 2026

Trigger warnings: A rather large snake carried about in one scene. An arm lopped off in another.

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