Aikido

Aikido is a relatively new martial art developed in Japan in the early 20th century. Translated, aikido means "The Way of Harmony" (aiki - harmony, do - principle, or Way of life). The founder of this "gentle" martial art was Morihei Ueshiba known to Aikidoka (aikido student) as O'Sensei.

Aikido techniques require years to fully master and depend on perfect timing, coordination, balance and an almost supernatuaral sense of the opponent's balance. That said the accomplished aikidoka is a devastating opponent. Years of training in aikido's flowing movements and practicing it's punishing wristlocks and pain compliance can readily subdue a larger opponent. In confrontations the aikidoka seems to be dancing with the opponent rather than fighting them. Japanese law enforcement personnel are regularly trained in aikido.

Morihei Ueshiba with Kenji Tomiki

While aikido is "the Way of Harmony", keep in mind its techniques are more than capable of injuring an opponent. Aikido jointlocks can easily cripple, its throws can slam an attacker into the ground with enough force to render them unconscious, and the pain from its pressure point applications is incredible. It is at the discretion of the aikidoka how much force to apply.

Shodokan Aikido

The key difference between our Aikido and other styles is the Randori (free play) system where players test what they have learnt in a more realistic manner. Many styles of Aikido teach that this is wrong. Our belief is that Randori is essential in the self discovery process of Aikido, allowing students to recognize their shortfalls faster.

Shodokan Aikido is one of the major branches of modern Aikido first developed by Kenji Tomiki, a direct student of both Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, and Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo. Often in parts of the world Shodokan Aikido is know as Tomiki Aikido or Tomiki Ryu after the name of its founder. However, Tomiki sensei preferred his system to be know as Shodokan.

Kenji Tomiki founder of Shodokan Aikido

Tomiki was the first of Ueshiba's senior students to be awarded a menkyo kaiden in Aikido. This was very prestigious because in the days before the modern Dan ranking system for black belts became widespread, the menkyo was the seal of approval given by a Sensei to a student. After Ueshiba Sensei decided to utilize the modern Dan ranking system for black belts, all menkyo kaidens, including of course Tomiki's, were converted to 8th Dan black belts.

After awarding the 8th Dan to Tomiki, Ueshiba Sensei urged his senior students to go "find their own Aikido." Tomiki Sensei took this advice to heart, and his path led him to a synthesis of sorts between Aikido and Judo, bringing to bear the training methods of Judo--especially sparring and competition--upon the techniques of Aikido. (Click here for a Tomiki Sensei biography.) This synthesis came easily to Tomiki, as he was one of the foremost Judo authorities in the world, and indeed died an 8th Dan in Judo as well as an 8th Dan in Aikido.

Tomiki's contribution to Aikido was to develop a method of full-speed randori and "free-play" such that Aikido practitioners could gain benefits similar to those known to Judo practitioners. Such sparring is safe, but is still full-speed, and is done against an opponent who is doing his level best to frustrate you at every turn. As such, it adds a touch of realism not available through training in kata forms alone.

In addition to randori in practice, tournaments are also held, at which Aikido players can test their skills against others. No one is required to participate in tournament bouts, but tournaments are held regularly, and all are welcome to come and play. However, the un-informed spectator might find the tournaments rather odd, as everyone is friendly and few seem to care if they win or lose. That is because winning is not the goal. The tournaments are held "to raise the skill levels of all the participants," and everyone plays with that in mind.

Tetsuro Nariyama technical director of the Japan Aikido Association and Chief instructor of Shodokan

Before he died, Tomiki Sensei created the Japan Aikido Association to supervise the system of Aikido instruction which he created. His hand-picked successor, Tetsuro Nariyama, (Click here for Nariyama Shihans biography) serves as Chief Technical Director (i.e., head instructor) of the organization, which has its headquarters at Shodokan Hombu Dojo in Osaka, Japan.

What makes Aikido different from other martial arts?

The main difference is one of attitude. The intent of Aikido is totallyself -defensive. Further, the Aikido practitioner always attempts not to hurt the attacker. As such, the attacker is subdued and pinned, so that he can cause no harm, and held until he can calm down.

Aikido is different from other martial arts in that it utilizes the attacker's own attack against him. If the attacker pushes, the defender pulls. If the attacker pulls, the defender pushes. Force is never met with force. Rather, the weight of the attacker's momentum is used against him to unbalance him and knock him down. This makes Aikido perhaps the only martial art whose performance is not enhanced by being physically big, unusually strong, or unnaturally fast. With proper speed and timing, the very small and the very old can effectively use Aikido for self-defence against much bigger opponents.

Frequently asked questions

Check out this link: htttp://ww.shodokan.ch/en/faq.html