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Provenance
- where did it come from? What's it all about?
Aikido (The Way of Harmony with the Universe) has its roots in Ju-jitsu, a
martial art mainly consisting of painful locks and holds, and Judo, a
well-known martial art which is sports-orientated, mainly consisting of
throws and holds executed from hugging distance. The painful bits from
Ju-jitsu were toned down, as were the stronger sporting elements and very
close working distance of Judo.
The Founder, Morihei Ueshiba,
was a student of Jigoro Kano,
the founder of Judo. He created a martial art (originally called Aiki-jutsu, among other names), which relies on using the
movement, power and aggression of your opponent against them in order to
throw them. This makes Aikido an ideal martial art for smaller people,
as doing the technique correctly should overcome doing it wrongly with lots
of muscle! The evolution of Ueshiba's Aikido had
many influences, including a change of religion which he underwent while
travelling through Japan.
Most Aikido is correctly done by using circular movements in all directions, and
feeling & following the movement of your opponent. There are eight basic
points between which we move while doing Aikido. These can be seen reflected
in the logo of the British Aikido Association 
What about nowadays?
There are various branches of Aikido today. The style which I practice is
known as Tomiki-style Aikido, after its creator.
Professor Tomiki wanted to introduce Aikido to Waseda University, but needed to introduce a sporting
element in order for it to be accredited. Though still one of the
lesser-known martial arts, Aikido is becoming more heard-of through people
who have had enough of the mindless aggression of some other 'martial arts',
people who want one of the most effective and effortless methods of
self-defence, and through the films of Steven Seagal.
At the time of writing, he is graded as a 7th Dan, the same grade as John
Waite, the senior grade of my club, Kikusui Kai.
Where can I find out more?
In addition to the BAA and Kikusui Kai, here
are some more links: www.aikiweb.com,
Japan Aikido
Association Official Page, www.aikido-world.com, www.aikidojournal.com
This is me throwing a young Japanese black belt in probably the
oldest dojo in Japan. It belongs to the family line of Senta
Yamada, who is considered by even the top Shihans in Japan
(privately) to be one of the two or three top Tomiki
practitioners alive. I am honoured to have spent my entire Tomiki Aikido career under the direct line of his tutelage, having trained both with him and, at some point, all the ten-or-so top Japanese Tomiki practitioners, both in dojos in Japan and the UK. Mr. Yamada, in turn, was tutored by Professor Tomiki, Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, and Jigoro Kano, the founder of modern Judo. Mr. Yamada stands on the left of the photo, behind the student
that I’m throwing.
In Japan, you keep a white belt for years until one day you are given a black
belt, unlike our Western system of many coloured belts.
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