Frequently Asked Questions

What is Aikido?
Aikido is a Japanese martial art derived from Daito Ryu Aiki-jujitsu. It was developed by Sensei Morihei Ueshiba.Ueshiba Sensei was born in 1883, and was by his 30’s a stellar martial artist, holding instructor ranks in several schools of jujitsu. In his later days, however, he realized that the Japanese martial arts could be used to instruct people in the ways of peace and tolerance, rather than violence and submission. Being a devotee of the Omoto religion, which is totally pacifistic, he created in Aikido a purely self-defensive martial art.In using it to defend one’s self, one is not to do to the attacker whatever one pleases. The presumption is that the attacker is not a bad person to whom anything can be done, but, rather, is a soul who has wandered from The Way.It is the duty of the Aikido practitioner to subdue the attacker without harming him, and to help the attacker back along the True Path.
Where did Aikido come from?
Aikido as we know it today was derived by Ueshiba Sensei from Daito-ryu Aiki-jujitsu, which was a comprehensive martial arts system that had been passed down for hundreds of years within the Takeda family, father to son.The Takeda’s system had been systematized originally by Lord Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu (1045-1147), whose castle was named the Daito. Hence the name Daito-ryu (Daito School). The system was handed down by his family, the Takeda’s of Kai Province (modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture).The family was almost wiped out after the defeat of its lord Shingen Takeda in 1573, by the combined forces of Ieyasu Tokugawa and Oda Nobunaga. (For a good movie about his event, rent director Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha.) Luckily, the art form survived that battle, in which most of the Takeda family’s men of fighting age were killed. Indeed, by an odd twist of fate, the art was elevated and given a safe home. In 1644 Kunitsugu Takeda, a distant relative of Shingen, became a counselor to Masayuki Hoshina, the second son of Hidetada, the second Tokugawa Shogun. Hoshina was lord of Aizu prefecture, and Daito-ryu Aiki-jujitsu was soon made the official system taught to the Aizu palace garrison. And such it remained down to the end of Japanese feudalism in the 19th century. Aikido as we know it today was developed by Ueshiba Sensei, who learned Daito Ryu Aiki-jujitsu from Sokaku Takeda. Ueshiba Sensei combined his vast knowledge of the Japanese fighting arts (he had instructor grade status in several systems of Jujitsu) with his belief in pacifism to create Aikido, which is a totally self-defensive system of fighting. Click here to learn about the modern development of Aikido.
What is Tomiki Aikido?
Tomiki Aikido is one of the major branches of modern Aikido. It was developed by Kenji Tomiki, who studied directly under both Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, and Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo. Tomiki was the first of Ueshiba’s senior students to be awarded a menkyo kaiden in Aikido. This was very prestigious because in the days before the modern Dan ranking system for black belts became widespread, the menkyo was THE seal of approval given by a Sensei to a student. Quite often, a Sensei might go his entire teaching career and only award a handful of menkyo certificates, and only to those students who had truly mastered all that the Sensei had to teach. The menkyo gave official right for a student to teach the Sensei’s system, and as such carried huge prestige and authority. After Ueshiba Sensei decided to utilize the modern Dan ranking system for black belts, all menkyo kaidens, including of course Tomiki’s, were converted to 8th Dan black belts. After awarding the 8th Dan to Tomiki, Ueshiba Sensei urged his senior students to go find their own Aikido. Tomiki Sensei took this advice to heart, and his path led him to a synthesis of sorts between Aikido and Judo, bringing to bear the training methods of Judo—especially sparring and competition—upon the techniques of Aikido. (Click here for a Tomiki Sensei biography.) This synthesis came easily to Tomiki, as he was one of the foremost Judo authorities in the world, and indeed died an 8th Dan in Judo as well as an 8th Dan in Aikido. Judo is a sports version of jujitsu, but one in which only safe techniques are allowed. This element of safety allows its practitioners to spar full speed without having to worry about maiming or killing each other. Such full speed sparing develops the timing necessary to use Judo as a method of self-defense. Tomiki’s contribution to Aikido was to develop a method of full-speed sparing and free-play such that Aikido practitioners could gain benefits similar to those known to Judo practitioners. Such sparring is safe, but is still full-speed, and is done against an opponent who is doing his level best to frustrate you at every turn. As such, it adds a touch of realism not available through training in forms alone. In addition to sparring in practice, tournaments are also held, at which Aikido players can test their skills against others. No one is required to participate in tournament bouts, but tournaments are held regularly, and all are welcome to come and play. However, the uninformed spectator might find the tournaments rather odd, as everyone is friendly and few seem to care if they win or lose. That is because winning is not the goal. The tournaments are held to raise the skill levels of all the participants, and everyone plays with that in mind. All of the matches are very friendly—as indeed are the many toasts made and drunk in the evening following. Before he died, Tomiki Sensei created the Japan Aikido Association to supervise the system of Aikido instruction which he created. His hand-picked successor, Tetsuro Nariyama, serves as Chief Technical Director (i.e., head instructor) of the organization, which has its headquarters at Shodokan Hombu Dojo in Osaka, Japan. Tomiki’s widow serves as the JAA’s President.
What makes Aikido different from the other martial arts?
The main difference is one of attitude. The intent of Aikido is totally self-defensive. Further, the Aikido practitioner always attempts not to hurt the attacker. As such, the attacker is subdued and pinned, so that he can cause no further harm, and held until he can calm down. As a result, the biggest difference between Aikido and most martial arts systems in terms of techniques is that there are almost no punches or kicks in Aikido—as there is virtually no way to punch or kick someone without causing them injury. What few strikes there are, are used just for distraction. Instead of striking, Aikido attacks the physical weak points of the body—the joints. It is a grappling art, with arm bars and wrist locks combined with throwing techniques. Finally, Aikido is different from other martial arts in that it utilizes the attacker’s own attack against him. If the attacker pushes, the defender pulls. If the attacker pulls, the defender pushes. Force is never met with force. Rather, the weight of the attacker’s momentum is used against him to unbalance him and knock him down. This makes Aikido perhaps the only martial art whose performance is not enhanced by being physically big, unusually strong, or unnaturally fast. With proper speed and timing, the very small and the very old can effectively use Aikido for self-defense against much bigger opponents.
Is Aikido a good form of self-defense?
The short answer is yes. The trained aikido practitioner can acquit himself very well in most self-defense situations. No martial art, however, is complete. Aikido, for instance, is greatly deficient in ground fighting techniques. If you feel that you are likely to be in situations where a fight is likely to end up on the ground, you should supplement your Aikido with Judo, wrestling, or one of the grappling-heavy jujitsu systems, like Gracie Jujitsu. Aikido is wonderful for defending against punches, kicks, and grabs, as well as attacks with knives, sticks, bats, etc. Nearly all the submission techniques taught to police officers are either Aikido techniques or very similar jujitsu techniques. As you know, the police lose very few fights.