History

Aikido was created by Morihei Ueshiba, Ueshiba Sensei, or O’Sensei (Great Teacher) as he is called, who spend many arduous years training in ‘budo’ (Japanese martial arts). Although he become very strong and won many matches, he was troubled with the idea that winning at someone else’s expense was not really winning. He modified the movements he had learned over the years to express this realization. As a result, Aikido was born as a way to divert harm to one’s self while not inflicting permanent injury on an aggressor.

In Japanese, the word Aikido is made up of three kanji, or characters. The first of these three kanji is “AI,” which means to meet, to come together, or to harmonize. The second kanji is “KI,” which means energy, spirit, mind. The third and last character is “DO,” which means way. Together, these three Japanese kanji, AI-KI-DO, mean “the way of harmony. ”