Aikido – A Martial Art of Harmony, Peace and Balance

aikido

Aikido is a martial art of harmony, peace and balance. It teaches techniques for neutralizing the opponent, blending with their energy and redirecting it to oneself. Its movements reflect the ebbs and flows, curves and waves of nature. Its inner strength comes from a relaxed body, calm mind and integrated breath coupled with the extension of natural energies.

A samurai battlefield warrior, Morihei Ueshiba (1883 – 1969), founder of aikido, developed his art in the 1920’s from jujitsu, sword and staff training. Dissatisfied with the reliance on force and defeat, his spiritual quest led to his development of Aikido, a fundamentally different martial art of refinement, sensitivity and astonishing power. Ueshiba was known as O Sensei (Great Teacher). His Tokyo dojo (training hall) now houses the Aikikai World Headquarters.

ki (spirit/breath)

The foundation of all aikido movement is the use of ki. Techniques are executed from the center of the body, called hara (), which is about two inches below the navel. They are often executed with the lead foot moving forward, allowing the follower to take advantage of the momentum of the attack.

In aikido, the techniques are not pre-planned or memorized. They are developed through aikido training, which is called randori (free-style “all-out” training). Randori provides a variety of opportunities to develop ukemi skills. Mae ukemi are front fall-into positions; ushiro ukemi are back roll-into positions; and yoko ukemi are side falls. These falls allow the aikido student to observe their partner’s response to various attacks, and are critical to learning how to execute proper technique.