Aikido is primarily a grappling art in which attacks are neutralised with various types of throws or joint locks. Aikido techniques are intended to be implemented after first blending with the motion of the attacker, so that the defender may redirect the attacker's momentum without directly opposing it, thus using minimum effort.
Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daitô-ryû Aiki-jûjutsu, but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba's involvement with the Ômoto-kyô religion. Many of Ueshiba's senior students have different approaches to aikido, depending on when they studied with him. Today, aikido is found all over the world in a number of styles, with a broad range of interpretation and emphasis. However, they all share techniques learned from Ueshiba and most have concern for the well-being of the attacker.
Aikido was created by Morihei Ueshiba (Ueshiba Morihei, 14 December 1883-26 April 1969), referred to by some aikido practitioners as Ôsensei ("Great Teacher"). Ueshiba envisioned aikido not only as the synthesis of his martial training, but also an expression of his personal philosophy of universal peace and reconciliation. During Ueshiba's lifetime and continuing today, aikido has evolved from the koryû (old-style martial arts) that Ueshiba studied into a wide variety of expressions by martial artists throughout the world.
Initial development
Ueshiba developed aikido primarily during the late 1920s through the 1930s through the synthesis of the older martial arts that he had studied. The core martial art from which aikido derives is Daitô-ryû aiki-jûjutsu, which Ueshiba studied directly with Takeda Sokaku, the revivor of that art. Additionally, Ueshiba is known to have studied Tenjin Shin'yô-ryû with Tozawa Tokusaburô in Tokyo in 1901, Gotôha Yagyû Shingan-ryû under Nakai Masakatsu in Sakai from 1903 to 1908, and judo with Kiyoichi Takagi (Takagi Kiyoichi, 1894-1972) in Tanabe in 1911.
The art of Daitô-ryû is the primary technical influence on aikido. Along with empty-handed throwing and joint-locking techniques, Ueshiba incorporated training movements with weapons, such as those for the spear (yari), short staff (jô), and perhaps the bayonet (juken). However, aikido derives much of its technical structure from the art of swordsmanship (kenjutsu).
Ueshiba moved to Hokkaidô in 1912, and began studying under Takeda Sokaku in 1915. His official association with Daitô-ryû continued until 1937. However, during the latter part of that period, Ueshiba had already begun to distance himself from Takeda and the Daitô-ryû. At that time, Ueshiba was referring to his martial art as "Aiki Budô". It is unclear exactly when Ueshiba began using the name "aikido", but it became the official name of the art in 1942, when the Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society (Dai Nippon Butoku Kai) was engaged in a government sponsored reorganization and centralization of Japanese martial arts.
Physical training
In aikido, as in virtually all Japanese martial arts, there are both physical and mental aspects of training. The physical training in aikido is diverse, covering both general physical fitness and conditioning, as well as specific techniques. Because a substantial portion of any aikido curriculum consists of throws, the first thing most students learn is how to safely fall or roll. The specific techniques for attack include both strikes and grabs; the techniques for defense consist of throws and pins. After basic techniques are learned, students study freestyle defense against multiple opponents, and in certain styles, techniques with weapons.
General fitness and training
Physical training goals pursued in conjunction with aikido include controlled relaxation, flexibility, and endurance, with less emphasis on strength training. In aikido technique, pushing or extending movements are much more common than pulling or contracting movements found in other arts, and this distinction can be applied to general fitness goals for the aikido practitioner.
Certain anaerobic fitness activities, such as weight training, emphasize contractionary power, in which specific muscles or muscle groups are isolated and worked to improve tone, mass, and power. Aikido-related training instead emphasizes the use of coordinated whole-body movement and balance, more similar to yoga or pilates. For example, many dojo begin each class with warm-up exercise which may include stretching and breakfalls.
Roles of uke and nage
Aikido training is based primarily on two partners practicing pre-arranged forms (kata) rather than freestyle practice. The basic pattern is for the receiver of the technique (uke) to initiate an attack against the thrower, who neutralises this attack with an aikido technique.
Both halves of the technique, that of uke and that of nage, are considered essential to aikido training. Both are studying aikido principles of blending and adaptation. Nage learns to blend with and control attacking energy, while uke learns to become calm and flexible in the disadvantageous, off-balance positions in which nage places them. This "receiving" of the technique is called ukemi. Uke continuously seeks to regain balance and cover vulnerabilities (e.g., an exposed side), while nage uses position and timing to keep uke off-balance and vulnerable. In more advanced training, uke will sometimes apply reversal techniques (kaeshi-waza) to regain balance and pin or throw nage.
Ukemi (Ukemi) refers to the act of receiving a technique. Good ukemi involves a parry or breakfall that is used to avoid pain or injury, such as joint dislocations or atemi.
Initial attacks
Aikido techniques are usually a defense against an attack; therefore, to practice aikido with their partner, students must learn to deliver various types of attacks. Although attacks are not studied as thoroughly as in striking-based arts, "honest" attacks (a strong strike or an immobilizing grab) are needed to study correct and effective application of technique.
Many of the strikes (uchi) of aikido are often said to resemble cuts from a sword or other grasped object, which may suggest origins in techniques intended for armed combat. Other techniques, which appear to explicitly be punches (tsuki), are also practiced as thrusts with a knife or sword. Kicks are generally reserved for upper-level variations; reasons cited include that falls from kicks are especially dangerous, and that kicks (high kicks in particular) were uncommon during the types of combat prevalent in feudal Japan. Some basic strikes include:
- Front-of-the-head strike a vertical knifehand strike to the head.
- Side-of-the-head strike a diagonal knifehand strike to the side of the head or neck.
- Chest thrust a punch to the torso. Specific targets include the chest, abdomen, and solar plexus. Same as "middle-level thrust" and "direct thrust".
- Face thrust a punch to the face. Same as "upper-level thrust".
Beginners in particular often practice techniques from grabs, both because they are safer and because it is easier to feel the energy and lines of force of a hold than a strike. Some grabs are historically derived from being held while trying to draw a weapon; a technique could then be used to free oneself and immobilize or strike the attacker who is grabbing the defender. The following are examples of some basic grabs:
- Single-hand grab one hand grabs one wrist.
- Both-hands grab both hands grab one wrist.
- Both-hands grab both hands grab both wrists. Same as "double single-handed grab".
- Shoulder grab a shoulder grab. "Both-shoulders-grab"
- Chest grab grabbing the (clothing of the) chest. Same as "collar grab".
Weapons training
Weapons training in aikido traditionally includes the short staff (jô), wooden sword (bokken), and knife (tantô). Today, some schools also incorporate firearms-disarming techniques. Both weapon-taking and weapon-retention are sometimes taught, to integrate armed and unarmed aspects, although some schools of aikido do not train with weapons at all. Others, such as the Iwama style of Morihiro Saito, usually spend substantial time with bokken and jô, practised under the names aiki-ken, and aiki-jô, respectively. The founder developed much of empty handed aikido from traditional sword and spear movements, so the practice of these movements is generally for the purpose of giving insight into the origin of techniques and movements, as well as vital practice of these basic building blocks.
Mental training
Aikido training is mental as well as physical, emphasizing the ability to relax the mind and body even under the stress of dangerous situations. This is necessary in order to enable the practitioner to perform the bold enter-and-blend movements that underlie aikido techniques, wherein an attack is met with confidence and directness. Morihei Ueshiba once remarked that one "must be willing to receive 99% of an opponent's attack and stare death in the face" in order to execute techniques without hesitation. As a martial art concerned not only with fighting proficiency but also with the betterment of daily life, this mental aspect is of key importance to aikido practitioners.
Ki
The study of ki is a critical component of aikido, and its study defies categorization as either "physical" or "mental" training, as it encompasses both. The original kanji for ki was, and is a symbolic representation of a lid covering a pot full of rice; the "nourishing vapors" contained within are ki.
The character "ki" is used in everyday Japanese terms, such as "health", or "shyness". Ki is most often understood as unified physical and mental intention, however it is often found in traditional martial arts related with "life energy". Gôzô Shioda's Yoshinkan Aikido, considered one of the 'hard styles', largely follows Ueshiba's teachings from before World War II, and surmises that the secret to ki lies in timing and the application of the whole body's strength to a single point. In later years, Ueshiba's application of ki in Aikido took on a softer, more gentle feel. This was his Takemusu Aiki and many of his later students teach about ki from this perspective. Koichi Tohei's Ki Society centers almost exclusively around the study of the empirical (albeit subjective) experience of ki with students ranked separately in aikido techniques and ki development.
Uniforms and ranking
Aikido practitioners, commonly called aikidôka, generally progress by promotion through a series of "grades" (kyû), followed by a series of "degrees" (dan), pursuant to formal testing procedures. Most aikido organisations use only white and black belts to distinguish rank, but some use various belt colors. Testing requirements vary, so a particular rank in one organization is not always comparable or interchangeable with the rank of another.
The uniform worn for practicing aikido (aikidôgi) is similar to the training uniform (keikogi) used in most other modern martial arts; simple trousers and a wraparound jacket, usually white. Both thick ("judo-style"), and thin ("karate-style") cotton tops are used. Aikido-specific tops are also available with shorter sleeves which reach to just below the elbow.
Most aikido systems also add a pair of wide pleated black or indigo trousers called a hakama. In many styles its use is reserved for practitioners with black belt (dan) ranks, while others allow all practitioners or female practitioners to wear a hakama regardless of rank.
