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Press.Aikidô
Aikidô is a modern martial system of Japanese derivation, developed by
founder Ueshiba Morihei (1883–1969) over the course of his lifetime.
Aikidô employs the redirection of an attacker’s energy (or ki) into a variety
of holds, locks, and projections, and is probably best known for an exclu-
sive focus on defensive maneuvers and for its unique martial philosophy.
The principle of aiki,a method of defeating an attack through har-
monizing with rather than directly opposing the aggressive motion, pre-
dates aikidô, and it found expression in many of feudal Japan’s sophisti-
cated martial systems. Aikidô’s most direct predecessor art, Daitô-ryû
jûjutsu,laid particular emphasis on this strategy and on the techniques that
employed it most efficiently (many of which would be seen in some form
in Ueshiba’s modern budô [“martial way”]). Indeed, Ueshiba was first
known as a high-quality Daitô-ryû instructor, and he used the terms jûjutsu
and aikibudô for his art through his early decades of teaching.
Among the schools derived from Ueshiba’s pioneering efforts, patterns
in technique and philosophy correlate closely with teachers’ historical as-
sociations with Ueshiba and, later, with Tôhei. Prewar students of aikibudô
retained an emphasis on atemi(striking) and generally expressed indiffer-
ence (at best) about the well-being of an attacker as a result of the defense,
resulting in a flavor closer to aiki-jûjutsu than to the peaceful art developed
by Ueshiba in his later years.
The philosophy of aikidô correlates closely to the art’s techniques, and
though even the orthodox branches of aikidô are not in complete agree-
ment on either, some generalizations can be made. In aikidô an attack is not
responded to with a counterattack, in the classic rhythm of strike, block,12 Aikidô