| Aikido
emphasizes evasion and circular/spiral redirection of an attacker's aggressive
force into throws, pins, and immobilizations as a primary strategy rather
than punches and kicks.
Origin:
History:
| Aikido
was founded in 1942 by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969). Prior to this time,
Ueshiba called his art "aikibudo" or "aikinomichi". In developing aikido,
Ueshiba was heavily influenced by Daito Ryu Aikijujitsu, several styles
of Japanese fencing (kenjutsu), spearfighting (yarijutsu), and by the so-called
"new religion": omotokyo. Largely because of his deep interest in omotokyo,
Ueshiba came to see his aikido as rooted less in techniques for achieving
physical domination over others than in attempting to cultivate a "spirit
of loving protection for all things." The extent to which Ueshiba's religious
and philosophical convictions influenced the direction of technical developments
and changes within the corpus of aikido techniques is not known, but many
aikido practitioners believe that perfect mastery of aikido would allow
one to defend against an attacker without causing serious or permanent
injury. |
Description:
| The
primary strategic foundations of aikido are:
(1)
moving into a position off the line of attack;
(2)
seizing control of the attacker's balance by means of leverage and timing;
(3)
applying a throw, pin, or other sort of immobilization (such as a wrist/arm
lock).
Strikes
are not altogether absent from the strategic arsenal of the aikidoist,
but their use is primarily (though not, perhaps, exclusively) as a means
of distraction -- a strike (called "atemi") is delivered in order to provoke
a reaction from the aggressor, thereby creating a window of opportunity,
facilitating the application of a throw, pin, or other immobilization.
Many
aikido schools train (in varying degrees) with weapons. The most commonly
used weapons in aikido are the jo (a staff between 4 or 5 feet in length),
the bokken (a wooden sword), and the tanto (a knife, usually made of wood,
for safety). These weapons are used not only to teach defenses against
armed attacks, but also to illustrate principles of aikido movement, distancing,
and timing.
|
Training:
| A
competitive variant of aikido (Tomiki aikido) holds structured competitions
where opponents attempt to score points by stabbing with a foam-rubber
knife, or by executing aikido techniques in response to attacks with the
knife. Most variants of aikido, however, hold no competitions, matches,
or sparring. Instead, techniques are practiced in cooperation with a partner
who steadily increases the speed, power, and variety of attacks in accordance
with the abilities of the participants. Participants take turns being attacker
and defender, usually performing pre-arranged attacks and defenses at the
lower levels, gradually working up to full-speed freestyle attacks and
defenses. |
Styles:
| There
are several major variants of aikido. The root variant is the "aikikai",
founded by Morihei Ueshiba, and now headed by the founder's son, Kisshomaru
Ueshiba. Several organizations in the United States are affiliated with
the aikikai, including the United States Aikido Federation, the Aikido
Association of America, and Aikido Schools of Ueshiba. |
Other
Major Variants:
| The
"ki society", founded by Koichi Tohei, yoshinkan aikido, founded by Gozo
Shioda, the kokikai organization, headed by Shuji Maruyama, "Tomiki aikido"
named after its founder, Kenji Tomiki. |
Click
Here to view video clips of Aikido techniques.
|
