Ethos

Manchester & District Aikikai Aikido

What is Aikido?

Aikido is a Japanese martial art based on elements from Daito-ryu Aiki-Jutsu and certain sword and spear movements. Morihei Ueshiba was the man who created modern Aikido.

 

His Philosophy of Ai (harmony) Ki (Energy) requires blending with an attacker’s movement in order to control them. The principle can be applied to other areas of our lives.

Because Aikido is a true martial art, there is no competition. In real confrontations, there are no rules. Similarly, in Aikido there are no rules (the attacker is considered totally unpredictable all times). There are however, fundamental Aiki principles, which are always applied. Once absorbed through regular training, these principles can be applied to any and all attacks.

Casual observers often misunderstand the method of learning these principles. Specific forms are practised in a non-competitive manner in order to absorb the principles. Large slow movements are sometimes employed in order to study techniques in expanded form.

 

This method ensures correct shortening of movements at speed and under stress. Similarly, regular training appears to consist of distracting strikes, throws, and joint controls. In fact in real-life application of Aikido there is no distraction - strikes are throws and throws are strikes the movement is identical. Any weapon may be utilised in any technique without modification. This level of application takes time - Aikido is not a collection of tricks but rather, a few simple principles, which can be applied to any situation.