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Entering into this article, I feel compelled to point out a few things off the cuff. First and foremost, the translation of "Aikido" presented in the title of the article is one of only many ways to translate the term. "Ai" translates roughly as dozens of things, but the most common translation of it is "harmony" where used to describe Aikido. "Ki" is energy, a bastardization of the Chinese word "qi" or "chi". And "Do" is "way", also bastardized from the Chinese word "Tao." Thus, the other most common translation of Aikido is "The Way of Harmonious Energy."

Second, Aikido is not a joint manipulation art. While in its grossest, most basic form it may seem so, it takes only a few months of practice to learn enough body mechanics to negate the need for even the smallest amount of joint manipulation. Aikido is about finding your opponent (and your own!) balance and then taking it away from them. At no point during training are you encouraged to use any sort of pain compliance and indeed the whole reason for the creation of this art by its founder Morihei Ueshiba was to move away from the more violent battlefield martial arts. More on that in a bit. Suffice to say that if you encounter someone claiming to practice Aikido and they utilize joint locks and pain compliance, they are either ignorant or lying.

Finally, Aikido came from violent roots. Its ancestors were used by samurai and their soldiers to kill people on the battlefield. The strikes found in the art are derived entirely upon the concept of sword and knife movements and movements commonly encountered when dealing with weaponry. These movements translate to other forms of striking, but only after much practice.

Aikido is a comparatively young art. It was developed by Morihei Ueshiba during a non-specific period between the late 1920s and the early 1930s. Ueshiba had practiced enumerated martial arts, including several forms of sword, judo, jiu-jitsu, and a variety of others. The core of Aikido is an ancient art called Aiki-jutsu. This was a battlefield martial art used for street self defense and for soldiers who had been disarmed. Aiki-jutsu taught defenses against sword, spear, and bayonet. It emphasized the same principles of balance taking as its progeny, but also included pain compliance, joint locking, and breaking techniques not found in is later incarnation.

Influenced strongly by a neo-Shinto movement, Ueshiba eventually developed from a martial artist into a sophisticated philosopher who sought a way not only to defend himself but to create harmony within himself and those around him. To this end, Ueshiba worked hard to create an art that would allow a person to defend themselves without actually harming their attacker. The core of his belief was that as soon as you hurt another being, in being connected to them you harm yourself as well.

Aikido began global proliferation after a visit to France by one of Ueshiba's disciples. He demonstrated the art, and it was immediately popular, spreading fast. Today, there are several worldwide organizations, each with a headquarters in Japan devoted to spreading the art and, more importantly the harmonious message of Ueshiba around the globe.

As an art, Aikido is deeply sophisticated. It is one of the only purely reactive martial arts in existence today, relying upon fast reflexes and connection with the opponent to facilitate counter-throws and pins. It also has its own branch of sword art, simpler and more rudimentary than more devoted sword arts like Kendo or Battojutsu. The primary purpose of the sword (and cane) fighting is to help illustrate the purpose of the unarmed motions.

Primarily, the purpose of Aikido is self-defense without injury of any significance occurring on the part of defender or attacker. On a deeper level, Aikido is meant to help one find their own center and allow them to become more harmonious with the world around them. As a martial art, Aikido tends to be far more refined in technique than other throwing and grappling arts due to the intense focus upon said technique. Other arts do not focus on not harming the opponent and thus need less refinement of technique. The focus upon reflexive action also guarantees a degree of almost-supernatural reaction time in more advanced students. The downside to these gifts is extreme training time to achieve proficiency. Expected time to be able to use Aikido for even basic self defense is a couple of years (dependent of course upon the student.)

There are roughly three level of training in Aikido, discounting weapons training and Rondori (sparring). At the most basic of levels, Aikido-ka practice at a level of idealization, moving slowly and without significant resistance on the part of the attacker. This allows the students to gain a sense of technique as well as the rudiments of finding their opponent's balance points and what types of movement can arrest an attack and turn it to their advantage. Students spend a great deal of time studying Ukemi (falling technique) with up to a half an hour of every session devoted to that study. Another portion of time deals with shikko (knee walking) which sees little relevance in modern life but is a traditional part of the art. Any technique in Aikido that can be performed standing can also be performed from the position of seiza (traditional Japanese sitting posture on the knees) or from sitting. Basic aikido-ka focus on one-on-one training and techniques.

At the intermediate level, more resistance is applied by training partners and the throws occur faster. More subtlety is introduced to the motions and smaller facets of the technique are focused upon. The ukemi increase in number and complexity. At the upper end of intermediate level, an Aikido-ka has more falling options open than in any other martial art. Shikko is emphasized less, excepting where it can directly affect the way that a throw is executed (for instance, I am 6'4" and typically end up practicing with people up to a foot and a half shorter. Thus, it is sometimes practical for me to move to my knees mid-technique to better execute something!) Also, the reasons behind not needing joint locks and techniques for better arresting balance are trained at this level. Reflexes are emphasized and begin to significantly improve. Internal aspects of the art are introduced at this level along with breathing and meditational techniques. Kick defense also starts to become more important. Intermediate Aikido-ka should be able to take on between 3-5 attackers at once with little slowing.

At expert level, the Aikido-ka has become someone threatened by little. Only expert martial artists from other arts are even remotely dangerous. In class, training focuses primarily upon simplification of technique. An expert Aikido-ka can throw an attacker before they even register the fact that they are on the ground. Advanced meditation and reflex training take place at this level, and advanced psychological training to force your opponent to take the actions that you want them to happens. An expert Aikido-ka is theoretically capable of taking on an unlimited number of attackers without being defeated.

There are extreme levels of refinement within this art. The focus on Zanshin (presence) means than a high-level Aikido-ka has typically gained the ability to intimidate an opponent with nothing more than a glance. Few weapons are any real threat to a master Aikido-ka. The dojo sensei of the academy I attend can actually sense people entering the building and know who they are without even seeing them.

As stated, Aikido is more than just a martial art. It is a path to harmony with yourself and others. In many ways, it is a way of life even more than a way of self-defense. Be at harmony with the world around you and you will always be at harmony with your own center.

*Golf clap* Congratulations on that ... always fun to discover things like that at a time that doesn't seem to suit it ...