The term ‘Aikido’ is produced by the combination of three characters in the Japanese language. ‘Ai’, which means ‘joining’; ‘ki’, which signifies ‘spirit’ and ‘do’, which which means ‘way’. These three words in fact actualy do encapsulate the essence of Aikido as a type of martial art: ‘the joining of the spirit to find the way’. It was only in the period from 1930′s to the 1940′s that the name Aikido was officially accepted as the name of this martial art type.
Aikido employs techniques that do not fatally injure or kill unlike different types of martial art. The techniques and skills being taught are just intended to distract attention or stop people. This is possibly the reason why most people prefer Aikido, because of its focus on peace and harmony as opposed to violence and conflict. In fact, Aikido developer, Morihei Ueshiba, is of the conviction that to have power over anger without causing any harm is the art of peace.
Ueshiba, who is also called Osensei, which signifies ‘Great Teacher’, formed Aikido from the doctrine of Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu. He incorporated the methods of the ‘yari’, the spear; the ‘juken’, the bayonet; and the ‘jo’, which is a short quarterstaff. But what ultimately distinguishes Aikido from other types of martial art is the fact that its proponents can strike while empty-handed. Proponents require no arms for their protection.
As a young child, he was greatly into physical fitness and conditioning. This was because of his oath to avenge his father’s attackers. Eventually, his studies and actions brought him to the discipline of the various martial arts. He studied several of them. He even has qualifications for fencing, fighting with spears, etc. He has learned it all. This is perhaps the reason why Aikido is such a disparate and multi-disciplinary form of martial art.
Yet despite his knowledge, he remained discontented. He felt that there was still something lacking. It was then that he turned to the religions. He studied under a religious guide, Onisaburo Deguchi of the sect named Omoto-kyo in Ayabe. Deguchi trained him to take care of his psychic development. He then pooled his spiritual beliefs and his mastery of the different martial arts and Aikido was formed.
His involvement with this charismatic spiritual leader Deguchi also paved the path for his introduction to the elite political and military personnel as a martial artist. Because of this association, he was able to launch Aikido and even pass on his teachings to students, who have, in turn, created their own styles and techniques in Aikido.
Aikido is a combination of the diverse styles of jujitsu as well as some of the ways of sword and spear fighting, of which Ueshiba was an expert. To get an overall picture, Aikido combines the joint locks and throws of jujitsu and the movements of the body necessary when fighting with swords and spears.
Oriental in origin, it was brought to the West by Minoru Mochizuki when he visited France in 1951. He introduced the Aikido techniques to students who were studying judo. In 1952, Tadashi Abe came to France as the official Aikikai Honbu spokesperson. Then in 1953, Kenji Tomiki toured throughout the United States while Koichi Tohei stayed in Hawaii for a full year where he set up a dojo. Aikido then spread its influence in the United Kingdom two years after and in 1965, it reached Germany and Australia. At present, Aikido has centres all over the world.
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Filed under Uncategorized by on Jul 29th, 2010. Comment. 
The sphere of Martial Arts is one of the most important gifts of Asia to the world. Who will not remember Bruce Lee and the fact that he was first and foremost a martial arts competitor before being a film star? Martial arts films are a huge hit with the escalating popularity of Asian movies like ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and more recently ‘The House of the Flying Daggers’.
The Chinese are the first nation that come to mind when it you think of these things, but the Japanese are equally as sporty with a rich heritage of body contact sports in their past. Modern Japan still gives honor to the martial arts by holding tournaments and promoting their sports abroad,
Aikido is one of these. It is interesting to note the fact that the word comes from three Japanese characters from which one derives the meaning of the one word. Ai means ‘joining’, Ki means ‘spirit’ and Do means ‘way’. From this we can understand why Aikido lies beyond merely the physical skills of it students, particularly since its first proponent, Ueshiba, focused on the spiritual and philosophical development of his students.
In Aikido, one is not taught aggression instead, one is trained to be in harmony with the adversary so that you are able to defeat him more easily. This might seem strange but it really works. In approaching an opponent, the aim of the Aikido practitioner is to be one with the opponent so as to be able to attack him where he is weakest and in so doing, divert or put him out of action, but never to kill him.
This is where Aikido becomes an art form. Art is something beautiful to look at and something positive and Aikido is all that. At least one of the people involved in the combat is searching for harmony and concord can only be achieved if there is elegance in the actions. The moves may be calculated, but there is an air of elegance in performing these movements. Not a feminine grace, but a grace that emanates peace. The ‘art of peace’ is what they call it in Aikido and it is one of the most affirmative influences of Aikido on its students and to everyone else who chooses to learn about this Japanese martial art.
Some of the techniques in Aikido include the following.
Ikkyo is the first technique. Using this technique, you manipulate an adversary by using one hand to hold his elbow and one to hold near the wrist. This action is supposed to allow you to pin your opponent down to the ground.
Nikyo, the second technique, is when you perform a wrist lock which allows you to turn the arm of your opponent which will in turn cause nerve pressure.
Sankyo, the third technique, is a technique that directs upward-spiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder. There are many other techniques but the first three are enough to give you a fundamental insight.
When you are studying Aikido, it is important to keep in mind that, along with building physical strength, you will need to improve your mind to be able to overpower your adversary. Just like in any art form, it takes a lot of training and discipline to perfect the art of Aikido. The chief thing to remember is, that anyone who wants to get into the art, must have the determination to give honour to the art by performing it in the best way they can.
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Filed under Uncategorized by on Jul 11th, 2010. Comment.