Why Practice Aikido?

Here are a few reasons:

After experiencing the destruction of Japan in World War II, Morihei Ueshiba (know as O’Sensei or Great Sensei) developed Aikido. O’Sensei was already an expert in several martial arts, including the use of weapons. He blended the use of weapons and empty hands (called tai jitsu) saying that was the same as empty hands.

Aikido is a modern budo (martial) art that can be practiced by people of any age. There are  no competition, no tournaments in Aikido, instead, you practice with a partner not an opponent. Partners train together to help each other learn. Aikido works as a martial art by getting off the line (getting out of the way) of an attack then taking your partner’s balance and throwing him/her. The endless variety of techniques in Aikido keep it fresh and constantly challenging. Advanced practitioners help beginners learn.

The Benefits of Aikido are many and varied:

• To get good takes lots of practice and dedication, but it’s also incredibly fun to train.
• You’ll become part of a world-wide community where you can walk into any dojo and receive a warm welcome.
• Because we practice to defend ourselves from multiple attackers, Aikido teaches you to be aware of your surroundings. This helps you learn self defense.
• Aikido is the peaceful martial art. By getting off the line you lean to diffuse difficult, tense situations and improve your conflict resolution skills.
• You can take what you learn on the mat and apply it to your life. You learn to be calm in the face of the attacks on the mat which trains you to do the same outside. You become more grounded and resilient