Aikido
Aikido
AI (Love) KI (Spirit) DO (the way of)
Aikido is a Japanese self-defense art that was once kept secret and taught only to the nobility class of Japan. When it’s originator, Master Ueshiba made it public after the Second World War, there was an immediate public demand because its principles were so profound.
Unlike other self-defense systems that are based on arousing a fighting spirit, as seen in most of today’s popular self-defense, the art of Aikido is based on harmony, non-resistance and love. We believe like spirits attack and arouse their likeness so that violence breeds more violence and that competitiveness and aggressiveness arouse the same in others in a vicious cycle. Violence need not be countered with more violence if we can find a better way. In Aikido, we study that Way. The defensive techniques and movement in the art of Aikido express this study.
In fighting or competing, one gains victory at another’s expense. One wins because the other loses. Aikido is not concerned with winning over others but improving and advancing with others harmoniously. For this reason, Aikido teaches defensive movements only and includes no competition. An Aikido practitioner is forbidden to provoke or accept challenges and learns the clear difference between a fight and an attack. A fight always involves two willing participants.
In Aikido, we win by winning over our own mind of discord.
Aikido techniques are based on non-collision and non-resistance rather than strength so that anyone, young or old, man or woman can practice them. An attack is never stopped; it is met and guided in a way that causes the attacker to be thrown by the directional force of his own attack. In addition to throws, Aikido also employs wrist and arm pins. Although these techniques can be extremely painful and can drive an aggressor to the ground almost immediately, they are not designed to break bones or cause severe injury. All wrist and elbow bending is based on the natural movement of the body with muscles being stretched and joints being stimulated in a healthy way.
Aikido holds that the mind and body act as one. We need not struggle against another’s strength. If we lead his mind, his body will follow. However, to lead another person’s mind, the Aikidoist must be calm and relaxed and in control of his or her own mind and body. To be overcome by anger or fear is to lose this control and thus Aikido training is aimed at more than only physical discipline. One of the most valuable aspects of Aikido is that it trains its students to be more relaxed in stressful situations and more aware of their bodily and mental reactions in such situations. With awareness comes control. These things can be carried into our daily lives and help us to become better and more effective people.
Aikido is the way to health; a way to keep physically and mentally fit as one progresses in the art of self-defense without harming others. It is a non-aggressive, non-violent and non-competitive art aimed at evolving oneself to a higher level of consciousness and on to ultimate victory.
O-Sensei and Aikido
In the struggle to achieve a balanced existence in a volatile universe, we face many temptations and easy solutions. We are constantly looking for ways to make our lives more productive and fulfilling. Perhaps the hardest task of all is a place to begin, a structure that will provide a direction
and at the same time allow the individual the freedom for personal growth. One way to begin such a journey is to attain a state of mind united with nature. This is the way of Aikido.
Professor Morihei Ueshiba, the developer of Aikido, was a master of many Japanese martial arts and a profoundly devoted student of the human spirit. His studies led him to a martial art that would “harmonize ourselves with the movement of the Universe and bring ourselves into accord with the Universe itself.”
The premise of Aikido is that the mind and body is a single unit. Through Aikido’s physical discipline of repetition of basic movements and exercises, we learn to adapt safely to all outside stimuli. Practice is done with a partner so that a learning situation is fostered where protection for the individual extends to the protection of others as well. Students learn concentration and relaxation that lead to a centered physical and mental state. They gain a deeper knowledge of many aspects of themselves, develop their sensitivity and build self-confidence.
But Aikido is not an instant cure all. It is a discipline. Its goals are achieved through a concentrated effort of sincere, daily practice, and a spirited desire to learn how to pour forth innate energies in a positive way. The aim of those who study Aikido in not merely to produce a strong body but to create an integrated person.
Morihei Ueshiba, or O-Sensei, as Aikido students know him, was proficient in a multitude of martial arts. He was skilled in many styles, ju jitsu, kendo (fencing), and sojutsu (spear arts). He was also a deeply introspective man who sought spiritual depth in his endeavors. O-Sensei was concerned that people spent their time trying to be stronger than others or competing for victories that are meaningless. He realized that victories of strength are relative, that there will always be people stronger than oneself. Our energies are more fruitfully directed building inward strength and learning how to harmonize with others rather than fighting with them.. O-Sensei sought something lasting; a martial art that would bring people together through mutually beneficial practice, not set up divisive competition, setting them against each other. Aikido was the fruit of his efforts. He developed principles of natural movement and techniques that reflect his philosophy in a very practical way. It became not a martial art to defeat an enemy, but a way to defeat the discord within oneself.
O-Sensei established his main training hall (dojo) in Tokyo as the Aikikai Foundation. Though he passed away in 1969, the Aikikai Foundation continues to teach his Aikidoto students of all countries and serves as Aikido world headquarters, presided over by his son and successor, Kisshomaru Ueshiba. As the growth of Aikido reached world-wide proportions, the need and desire for international cooperation and protection for Aikido spurred the organization of the International Aikido Federation in 1976. The provision of representation in the IAF is the recognition of one official representative body from each nation that desires to join. In response to that, the United State Aikido Federation was established to represent this country in the IAF.