Aikido (Japanese martial art )

Aikido is a Japanese martial art that has spread across the world. Unlike many other martial arts, aikido uses very little aggression. It focuses on redirecting the attacker's force to use against them. It is heavily influenced by ancient Japanese martial arts, such as judo, as well as traditional Japanese spear and sword fighting techniques.

Aikido was designed to be a way of life. It teaches spiritual enlightenment through the mastery of the mind and the physical self. Many schools of aikido also teach their students to master ki, a mythical life energy that moves through all things.

Background

Japanese martial arts date to the time of feudal Japan, which began in 1185 CE. Feudal Japan was organized into rigid castes. The warrior class, the samurai, were the only people allowed to learn martial combat. They drilled in armored swordplay, spears, shields, archery, and mounted combat. These studies were less philosophical than most modern martial arts and were designed as a practical means of attack and defense during warfare. However, the samurai were also expected to be deadly even if they had no weapons. For these purposes, they developed styles of unarmed combat that were useful even against armored opponents. These styles were the foundation of early jujitsu.

Many modern martial arts focus on striking opponents with fists, legs, or other body parts. However, striking often failed to hurt armored opponents. To remedy this, early jujitsu focused on grappling. Samurai developed many ways to throw other samurai to the ground. If this failed to injure their opponent, they developed a number of joint locks and chokes that also served to debilitate armored opponents. Many samurai even studied ways to fight against armed opponents when their own weapons had been taken or broken.

While samurai were the only Japanese citizens allowed to learn formal martial arts, many citizens studied other schools in secret. More striking-focused martial arts, such as karate and kung fu, were imported from China, India, and other parts of Asia. As the power of the samurai class waned, citizens continued to learn other martial arts to defend themselves from criminals, invaders, and any other oppressive forces. These were influenced by Japanese ground fighting, as well as the weapons forms taught by the samurai.

Jujitsu and karate both influenced the development of judo, a Japanese grappling art. It focused almost entirely on ground fighting, including ways to disable both armored and unarmored opponents. Various other martial arts, including aikido, have been heavily influenced by judo.

Though they have evolved and changed from their original forms, many ancient Japanese martial arts are still practiced today. Leaders of schools called dojos teach the arts to generations of students. The best students then open their own dojos, continuing the cycle. This chain has continued, unbroken, since feudal Japan.

Overview

Aikido is more modern than many of the traditional Japanese martial arts. It was founded by Morihei Ueshiba in the early twentieth century. According to various accounts of his life, Ueshiba studied a variety of martial arts as a young man. He became a master of traditional spear fighting, swordplay, and jujitsu. However, despite his mastery of multiple disciplines, Ueshiba felt dissatisfied and unfulfilled. He felt that he lacked guidance in life and studied various religions in addition to martial arts.

Over time, Ueshiba blended his religious teachings and martial studies into a single, unified system. He believed that through the unified study of both the mind and the body, a greater understanding of the world could be achieved. He considered this approach a budo, a way of life, instead of a martial art. In 1942, Ueshiba named this set of teachings aikido.

Unlike many martial arts, aikido uses severely limited aggression. Instead, it focuses on using the energy of opponents against them. It uses systems of hand holds, wrist locks, strikes, throws, and larger joint manipulations to disorient and disable opponents. Many of these movements are modifications of ancient judo techniques. Others are modifications of traditional sword and spear fighting maneuvers, altered specifically for unarmed combat.

While aikido is intended to serve as a practical art for self-defense, many students of the art do not view it as a way to defeat enemies. Aikido's focus on the redirection of force makes this goal impractical. Instead, aikido intends to reconcile and reunite the people of the world. It diffuses aggressive force, seeking a neutral and peaceful end to conflict through the harnessing of ki, the spiritual energy that fuels all life.

In keeping with Ueshiba's intentions, many modern students of aikido do not practice it to train for combat. They view aikido's strenuous martial study as a means to master their bodies. These students believe that physical mastery of their bodies, coupled with rigorous, dedicated study of aikido's philosophical teachings, will lead to both spiritual enlightenment and true mastery of the self.

Every aikido dojo is unique. Masters that lead dojos are expected to teach their own interpretation of aikido, allowing for innovation within the martial art. Despite this, many aikido dojos can be categorized into specific schools of thought. These schools can trace their lineages back to specific masters who significantly altered how aikido was performed.

One of the most common aikido schools, as well as the most general school, is Aiki-Budo. It was primarily taught by Ueshiba early in his career. For this reason, Aiki-Budo is considered a more traditional school of aikido. Many subsets of Aiki-Budo provide different interpretations of Ueshiba's teachings. Some styles, such as Yoseikan, teach aikido in conjunction with other Japanese martial arts.

Aikikai is a school of aikido founded by Ueshiba's grandson, Moriteru Ueshiba. This style is highly regulated and includes very little weapons training. Instead, it focuses almost exclusively on unarmed combat. In contrast, Ki schools focus more on spiritual matters. They teach their students to harness life energy, and to focus on personal improvement and mastery above all things. Finally, several sporting schools, such as Tomiki-ryu, focus primarily on training for competitions.

Bibliography

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"Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba." Aikido Association of America, www.aaa-aikido.com/history-of-aikido. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

"The History of Aikido." The MIT Aikido Club, aikido.mit.edu/history-aikido. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

"Introduction to Aikido." The Aikido FAQ, 4 Nov. 2011, www.aikidofaq.com/introduction.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

"Life During the Edo Period." Ancient Civilizations, www.ushistory.org/civ/10e.asp. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

"The Martial Arts." Ancient Civilizations, www.ushistory.org/civ/10d.asp. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.