Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art founded in the early 20th Century by Ueshiba Morihei (1883-1969). After mastering classical styles of Judo, Kendo and Jujitsu, he developed Aikido - a defensive martial art based on spiritual teachings. Although, there are now many varying styles of Aikido taught throughout the world, the basic principles remain the same. The force of any attack is controlled and diffused by using avoidance and balance breaking followed, if necessary, by techniques including a range of strikes, locks and throws.
Conflict Avoidance - It is better not to enter a physical conflict if at all possible. Aikido training will help you recognise alternative ways out of difficult situations, and if some sort of physical action is unavoidable, it will allow you to tailor your response to the threat.
Self Defence - like most martial arts, it allows individuals of any size or strength to effectively defend themselves against both armed and unarmed attack. Students learn a combination of unarmed self-defence and training in sword (bokken) and staff (jo).
Versatility - Aikido's versatility has resulted in its many applications outside the dojo (training hall) including use of variations by police (cool video), armed forces, prison wardens and self-defence classes.
Fitness - important as training progresses and it is a natural result of regular attendance.
Self-confidence - self-confidence grows, having positive overflow effects into all aspects of one's daily life.
Because of its defensive nature and emphasis on technique rather than strength or aggression, Aikido attracts a wide variety of people. Almost all Aikido clubs offer Adult (16+) classes and some Aikido clubs offer Junior classes for children aged 7-15 years with a different syllabus. It is not uncommon for people over 40 to begin training in Aikido and significant numbers of women are attracted to the sport.
Note that this description of Aikido taken from the Shodokan Aikido UK site.
If Aikido was a film, what would the trailer look like? This clip is great, and well worth looking at!
This description is based on my personal views (and short experience), and is not necessarily the views of the club or organisation!
Aikido is a modern martial art founded by Ueshiba Morihei, a japanese martial artist, who was very experienced indeed. It is a defensive martial art - almost every technique is based around defending yourself to an attack. It consists of a set of techniques which avoid or dissipate an incoming attack and allow you to control the situation without injury to yourself. These involve avoidance of the attack: 'balance breaking' or getting your opponent off balance: and then, if necessary, applying wrist or armlocks, or a throw.
Aikido techniques, when done properly, do not require a huge physical effort. Most seem almost effortless, since they depend on timing, posture and balance, rather than muscle power. In my opinion, this makes them very suitable for women's self defence, who often have better timing and balance than men.
You don't have to be super-fit to start aikido - I was relatively unfit when I started. The first few lessons weren't too bad - I was expecting loads of running and jumping, but it was very restrained. As your fitness builds up, you'll find it easier and you will do more. Fitness will come with regular attendance - and it's more fun than a session in the gym! (As it happens, I've lost 7 pounds since starting Aikido - bringing me down to about 15 stone.)
Aikido is definitely about technique, rather than power. This means that everyone can progress and become good by working on their technique - and there is no real advantage from your natural build and size. (I'm 6'4" and 15 stone, and I am quite frequently thrown by even the slimmest and lightest member of the group).
Aikido is descended from the same roots as most of the other Japanese martial arts (Judo, Karate, Jitsu/Jiu-Jitusu, etc). This means that if you've done something else, you will find plenty of familiar things - mat discipline, the language, breakfalls etc. We have several members who have been to other martial arts before coming to aikido, and our Sensei (Andrew) did Judo before Aikido.
Myself, I did a couple of years of Jitsu a long time ago. From my own experience, Aikido feels like a 'pure' art - the focus on technique rather than direct physical competition suits my personal taste. A large part of aikido is also studying your opponent and timing your defence to the attack, which is useful experience for any other defensive martial art.
Aikido is also slightly more traditional than the Jitsu I've done before. We do several sword (katana) techniques, and some sword defences - and even novices get to handle the bokken (wooden swords). While this appears to be less practical than the Jitsu defences from broken bottles, it shows where many of the techniques originally came from, and the defences are easily converted to other one or two-handed weapon attacks - if you can defend against a sword, defending against a stick or an iron bar is easier.
If you've seen a form of aikido before and it seemed too weird (i.e. all walking on knees, bowing to pictures, etc) or heard about it as a 'spiritual' martial art, don't judge us just yet. We're a related to form of Shodokan Aikido, a branch that involves competition and is more 'sporty' than other aikido branches. Our club also seems to be completely practical and realistic, with very little of the 'spiritual' side that some of the aikido books seem to talk about.
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