Aikido

Welcome to Wikiversity's Division of Aikido

Aikido (合気道, aikidō, "the way of spiritual harmony") is a kind of martial arts and philosophy developed in Japan by Morihei Ueshiba in the early part of the 20th century. Central to the philosophy of Aikido is that it is a defensive, non-violent martial art.

Aikido throw techniques demo.

This learning project is intended to promote the study of Aikido and its background. Since Aikido is a martial art, it requires personal practice and training. A web site, however good, cannot replace guided study under an experienced teacher (sensei). Still, there is a lot that can be learned about the history, philosophy, terminology, concepts, and other aspects of the art.

Like many disciplines, Aikido has its own jargon and technical terms. In the spirit of making this material accessible to everyone, Japanese terms (written using Romanji spellings) are used. The w:Aikido entry uses English phrases for attacks and defenses, which is fine for an overview of the art. In general, the Japanese terms for concepts, grips, attacks, defenses, etc. are used. Since this can be especially difficult for beginners, a Glossary has been provided.

Learning Aikido

Properly, the study of aikido requires supervision of a qualified instructor. The articles and learning exercises presented here are intended to supplement study in an aikido dojo or class.

Teaching Aikido

While there are many very good schools for aikido all over the world, very few of them train people in how to be a teacher of aikido. The articles and exercises included here present a curriculum for learning to become a good teacher of aikido.

Creating a Dojo

The time may come when you decide you want to branch out on your own and form your own school. While the personal rewards can be great, running your own school can be very difficult from a financial point of view. These articles and exercises are focused on creating your own dojo.

Recommended readings

See also

External links

This article is issued from Wikiversity - version of the Tuesday, June 02, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.