Aikido

Morihei Ueshiba and Morihiro Saito demonstrationMorihei Ueshiba and Morihiro Saito demonstration (1954)

Summary

Aikido is a form of martial arts developed in the 20’s by Morihei Ueshiba. It is rooted in several styles of Jujutsu as well as forms of sword and spear fighting. Simply put, Aikido takes the joint locks and throws from Jujutsu and merges them with movements of spear or sword fighting. Ueshiba’s Aikido bases its philosophy on peaceful conflict resolution and only using martial training to improve oneself. The emphasis on gaining control and causing minimum harm is one of the reasons why it is used in law enforcement.

History / Origins

ETYMOLOGY

The word "aikido" is a combination of three distinct Japanese characters or “kanji”:

• 合 - ai – refers to the joining or unification of things
• 気 – ki - refers to spirit, mood or energy
• 道 – dō - refers to a path or way

This means that from a linguistic point of view Aikido can be described as the way of combining forces to achieve a singular purpose.

BEGINNINGS

Aikido was founded by Morihei Ueshiba. Ueshiba was born in 1883. Growing up in Japan, he saw his father subjected to an attack wherein he was unable to defend himself or fight back the aggressors. The incident prompted him to devote his life learning martial arts. He decided to condition his body in a way that he could avenge his father and never turn out to be a victim.

He went on to study Daitō-ryū aiki-jujitsu under Takeda Sōkaku where he learnt the empty handed, joint-locking techniques that are unique to jujitsu. He then went on to study Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū under the tutelage of Tozawa Tokusaburō, Gotōha Yagyū Shingan-ryū with Nakai Masakatsi and Judo with Kiyoichi Takagi. All his teachers were highly regarded masters of their own styles, but Ueshiba found a way to combine the best of each of these styles to create his own Aiki.

Aikido got its official name in 1942 when the Japanese government set out to sponsor the organization and centralization of Japanese martial arts. It was introduced to Europe in 1951 when Minoru Mochizuki travelled to France. In 1952 Tadashi Abe followed Mochizuki. Kenji Tomiki set out to introduce and teach Aikido in 15 continental states of the United States in 1953. Others like Koichi Tomei, Hirishi Tada, Masamichi Noro, Seiichi Sugano, Katsuaki Asai went on to teach Aikido in countries like Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia and Africa.

Ueshiba devoted time to the study of martial art, but he also sought to find a spirituality that he could apply to his physical world. He discovered a religion called Omotokyo which advocated that man should strive to attain Utopia or “heaven on earth”. Omotokyo taught love and compassion should be shown to every man, whether they seek to harm us or not. In Aikido, people learn to receive attacks and deflect them without causing any harm to the attacker. This was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to harm others. Aikido demonstrates this philosophy in its emphasis on mastering martial arts so that one may receive an attack and harmlessly redirect it.

PRESENT DAY

Aikido began evolving into different styles. Yoseikan Aikido was formed in 1931 and the controversial Shodokan Aikido was founded in 1967. A lot of the development or evolution that came to be was a result of some students adopting teaching methodologies that were contrary to the original founder’s methods. At this present moment, there is no one true form of Aikido. This seems to be apt for this martial art which was, after all, initially created from combining different aspects of different types of martial arts.

FOLKLORE

Shikko ("knee-walking"), which is an integral part of Aikido, was a position that feudal lords required their subordinates to assume in their presence. It became a formal movement in ceremonies held by Samurai.

Legend has it that Ueshiba once pinned a Sumo wrestler with one finger.

Ueshiba was awarded the Medal of Honor and the highly acclaimed Order of the rising sun by the Japanese government in recognition for developing what would become one of the most important martial arts in Japanese history.

The Japanese Government has such high regard for Aikido that Police men are required to attain a Shodan (black belt) level. It has made its impact on U.S martial law systems by being the only form of martial art allowed in U.S. Federal prisons.

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Discipline
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COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
TIME OF ORIGIN: c. 1920's
PRACTISED: Approx. 99  years
FOUNDERS:

Morihei Ueshiba

FOCUS: 

Grappling, Softness

ALSO KNOWN AS: -
PARENTHOOD:

Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu

DESCENDANTS:

OLYMPIC SPORT: No

NOTABLE FEMALE PRATITIONERS

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NOTABLE MALE PRATITIONERS

Christian Tissier
Gozo Shioda
Kisshomaru Ueshiba
Koichi Tohei
Mitsugi Saotome
Morihiro Saito
Moriteru Ueshiba
Steven Seagal
Yoshimitsu Yamada

Aikido Supplies

Essential Writing Tools

Discipline
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NATIONALITY:
DATE OF BIRTH:
AGE: Approx. 99  years
BORN:

RESIDENCE: -
ALSO KNOWN AS: -
OCCUPATION:

Grappling, Softness

JOB TITLE:

Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu

RELATED FEMALE INDIVIDUALS

Coming Soon!

RELATED MALE INDIVIDUALS

Christian Tissier
Gozo Shioda
Kisshomaru Ueshiba
Koichi Tohei
Mitsugi Saotome
Morihiro Saito
Moriteru Ueshiba
Steven Seagal
Yoshimitsu Yamada

Aikido Supplies

Essential Writing Tools

Discipline
flag
COUNTRY: Japan
LOCATION: -
FOUNDED: c. 1920's
OPERATIONAL: Approx. 99  years
FOUNDERS:

Morihei Ueshiba

ALSO KNOWN AS: -
SECTOR:

Grappling, Softness

DESCRIPTION:

Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu

WEBSITE:

ACOSSIATED INDIVIDUALS

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ACOSSIATED ATHLETES

Christian Tissier
Gozo Shioda
Kisshomaru Ueshiba
Koichi Tohei
Mitsugi Saotome
Morihiro Saito
Moriteru Ueshiba
Steven Seagal
Yoshimitsu Yamada

Aikido Supplies

Essential Writing Tools

Practices

PHILOSOPHY

The application of Aiki involves understanding the intent and the rhythm of the attacker in order to work out the best position to counter such an attack. This is what Judo is based on. Similarly, each martial art form carries a philosophy of its own.

Contrarily, since Aikido is formed by combining different forms of martial arts each with a distinct philosophy, it does not have a unified philosophy. Instead, because of the founder’s interest and study of Omotokyo, there is an ethical belief that all Aikidoists share. The main philosophy is the cultivation of internal power or spiritual energy; which is not meant to be a weapon to defeat enemies. In accordance with Omotokyo the body is seen as a part of the whole which unifies everything in the universe. There are two basic common threads that run through the ideal espoused by Aikido as Ueshiba prescribed:

1. That man should first be committed to a peaceful resolution when conflict arises
2. That man should improve themselves through training

TECHNIQUES

Information coming soon

TRAINING

There are no real rules for Aikido, but rather codes of conduct for when training. The four fundamental codes are:

  1. Aikido can be dangerous and should therefore not be practiced needlessly. The instructor should be obeyed at all times.
  2. You need to learn to face multiple opponents at the same time. This means you should learn every move and counter move from every direction.
  3. Practice should not be approached with dread, but with pleasure.
  4. You can only get better with practice. Build your body up gradually. There are possibly less than twenty basic techniques, but thousand of different ways to implement them.

RANKS & GRADING

Information coming soon

WEIGHT CLASSES

Information coming soon

Rules / Rulesets

RULES / RULESETS

Aikido training involves two partners practicing pre-arranged movements or Katas. There is a receiver who neutralizes an attack with an Aikido technique. The receiver is known as being in uke while the attacker is said to be in nage. Nage applies attacking energy and the uke has to be flexible and calm enough to receive the attack and apply a reversal technique. The receiver has to be aware of the environment and pay close attention to the technique being applied in order to safely receive what could possibly be a serious strike.

Organisations & Historical Places

ORGANISATIONS

Information coming soon

HISTORICAL PLACES

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Popular Culture

POPULAR CULTURE

Information coming soon

Useful Links

USEFUL LINKS

  1. Aikido Journal (Blog)

References

REFERENCES

1. Discovering Aikido by Rupert Atkinson
2. Aikido’s frequently asked questions

COLLABORATORS

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