合気道 Aikido 青松館 Seisho Kan: 稽古 Practice 

合気道Aikido is 型武道Kata Budo or martial arts, consisting of a sequence of movements in comparison with 試合Shiai Budo or sparring Budo. 投げNage, a person who executes a technique, works on Kata with the help of受けUke, a person who receives the technique. It is contract practice with no competition. Like any athletic practice, one pursues precision in a repetitive manner. 

Aikido comes from 侍Samurai combat techniques. Therefore, attacks consist of "cutting" opponents and stopping them from "cutting". Uke attempts to cut Nage or stop Nage from cutting by holding their wrist(s). Nage executes techniques against those attacks. As cutting tools, we use hand blades and 木剣Bokken or wooden swords and 竹刀Shinai or split bamboo wrapped in leather bags. 

There are many joint techniques, which were used to capture opponents many years ago. There are also throwing techniques. In throwing techniques, we use the ground as a weapon. In practice Nage is thrown and takes 受身Ukemi or rolling in this case and comes right back, which is a unique aspect of Aikido. Ukemi is useful in daily life to learn since it helps you become friends with the ground. 

As you can see, Aikido is deeply rooted in its origin,剣術 Kenjutsu or classical Japanese swordsmanship. Since “Kenjutsu makes Aikido strong” (by our late Grand Master Y. Kawahara), we practice Heart Reflection style Kenjutsu.

Aikido is for health and being friendly with each other. However, we have one enemy, injury. We despise injuries and practice is always done safely. At the same time we keep the essence of 武Bu, stopping spears or stopping aggression. As martial artists, we train to be able to stop aggression just like Samuari by practicing in a safe manner. After all, injured Samuari were of no use on the battlefield.