History

Aikido's founder, Morihei Ueshiba, was born in Japan on December 14, 1883. As a boy, he often saw local thugs beat up his father for political reasons. He set out to make himself strong so that he could take revenge. He devoted himself to hard physical conditioning and eventually to the practice of martial arts, receiving certificates of mastery in several styles of jujitsu, fencing, and spear fighting. In spite of his impressive physical and martial capabilities, however, he felt very dissatisfied. He began delving into religions in hopes of finding a deeper significance to life, all the while continuing to pursue his studies of budo, or the martial arts. By combining his martial training with his religious and political ideologies, he created the modern martial art of aikido. Ueshiba decided on the name "aikido" in 1942 (before that he called his martial art "aikibudo"and "aikinomichi").

Etiquette
1. Bow when you enter the dojo, entering and leaving the mat, and leaving the dojo.

2. Please keep shoes off of the mat.

3. Be on time for class; come to the dojo 10-15 minutes before class begins to change, warm up, and stretch.

4. Be sure to ask the instructor for permission to leave early.

5. Please do not sit with your legs stretched out or leaning against the wall; sit in either seiza or indian style

6. Please keep your fingernails and toenails trimmed.

7. Please keep your gi clean.

8. Please pay monthly payments within the first week of the month.

9. Please treat other students with respect and kindness.

10. Avoid saying "ost" to instructors and to students. Saying "ost" is an extremely threatening gesture, similar to picking a fight.

Information

You can view photos of Aikido in action here.

Vocabulary commonly used in Aikido practice.