What is Aikido?

Aikido is a Japanese martial art that was synthesized by its Founder, Morihei Ueshiba, during the Twentieth Century.  This martial art is the synthesis of traditional Japanese ju-jutsu (pinning and throwing techniques), Swordsmanship (ken-jutsu), staff techniques (jo-jutsu), and other internal martial arts traditions to form what is currently called Aikido.  Traditional Aikido utilizes throws, pinning techniques, and evasions to defeat attackers.  Traditional Aikido also includes classical sword and short staff techniques to help develop strength, coordination, and fundamental skills necessary for Aikido.

The best way to find out what Aikido is about is to come try a class. You are under no obligation if you come and try or watch a class. Click here to schedule a trial lesson.

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Who Can Do Aikido?

Anyone can perform Aikido.  Almost any age person, from children to grandparents, can perform Aikido techniques.  Each of us has physical limitations in one way or another (being to tall, short, etc), and we learn to work around these problems rather than becoming overcome by them.  Therefore, anyone can practice Aikido.  While some schools teach children Aikido, our school does not.  We suggest our Taekwondo program for children ages 3-16 (adults are also welcome!).  The youngest age of our Aikido students is 16 or older.

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What Does Aikido Mean?

To understand the goals of this martial art, we may examine the Japanese characters (kanji) that make up its name.

The first character AI is a common word in Japanese that means to match, harmonize, put-together, or blend with something.  In the case of Aikido, this relates to how to match your partner's (attacker's)  movements or attacks.  This harmony is also supposed to carry over into one's personal life, as we learn to harmonize with society and the world.

The second character is KI. KI has many meanings, but it is usually associated with "energy".   This energy is usually associated with internal energy and internal feelings of happiness, well-being, etc.  This also can deal with other people's energy or force. 

If you put together these characters, they make AIKI.  This combination of characters, taken in context with the above meaning, can have a variety of interpretations.  The most common is the idea of matching your opponents' movements for self-defense application.  This could also mean harmonizing within oneself.   It could also mean bringing yourself into harmony with society and the world.   These meanings are all accurate to define AIKIDO. 

DO (with a long vowel sound on the O) means path, road, or way.  This is the same character that is seen in KENDO ("the way of the sword"), JUDO ("the way of gentleness"), KARATE-DO ("the way of the empty hand"), etc.  This character emphasizes not only the application of martial arts techniques against an attacker, but the deeper philosophical path that underlies all of the martial arts.  At first you discover the martial art and self-defense applications of AIKIDO that you are studying, and as you become more adept, you can apply the AIKI principle to your own life on a much deeper philosophical level.

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