Morei Uyeshiba in his study

What is Aikido


Aikido is a modern martial art. It was developed by founder Master Morei Uyeshiba (O-Sensei) and he begun teaching it in the late 1920's. O-Sensei developed Aikido by taking what he considered to be the best features of many of the other martial arts (from fencing to jujitsu) and blending them into the system of self-defence that is Aikido.

At the heart of Aikido is the principle of moving to blend with an attack and then unbalancing your attacker so you can throw them without the use of force. Unlike many martial arts it does not use strikes or hard blocks. For this reason it looks and feels very fluid and relaxed and successful technique does not rely on strength or speed. Aikido includes techniques for defence against weapons as well as dealing with multiple person attacks.

For more information on Aikido have a search for the many great internet sites devoted to the history and practice of the art.