"What is Aikido?" When asked this question, how would you respond?

From a technical perspective, it might be:

- Throwing an opponent without using strength
- Using the opponent's force to throw them
- A martial art that can be practiced regardless of gender
- Manipulating joints

From a spiritual perspective, it might be:

- Harmony
- Etiquette

But these qualities can be found in other martial arts too. So, why not choose another martial art?

Shaolin Kenpo, Okinawa Karate, and the three internal styles of Chinese martial arts (Tai Chi, Xing Yi Quan, Bagua Zhang) come to mind.

Even though each of these martial arts has a different technical system, if we abstract a level up, we find that they can be practiced regardless of gender, involve joint manipulation, use the opponent's force, and do not rely on physical strength.

This doesn't seem to answer the question, "What is Aikido?"

We could say that each martial art has a different founder and technical system, but I want to delve deeper.

From here on, I'll be sharing my current hypothesis.

Broadly speaking, Aikido can be divided into two categories.

These are differentiated by their founders.

One is the "Aikido" created by Morihei Ueshiba.

The other is the "Aikido" developed by Minoru Hirai at the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai.

The Aikido created by Morihei Ueshiba has spread widely to this day, evolving into various branches such as the Yoshinkan Aikido, Aikikai, and Shinshin Toitsu Aikido.

On the other hand, those who know about the "Butoku Kai's Aikido" are in the minority.

I practiced the "Butoku Kai's Aikido" without knowing about it, and I often heard people say, "I've never heard of that style."

That's because the "Butoku Kai's Aikido" was forcibly dissolved by the GHQ after World War II and disappeared from the public view.

These "two types of Aikido", despite having different founders, have a commonality in their origin.

The founders not only mastered Aiki-jujutsu but also weapon arts, and this informed the creation of "Aikido".

Particularly, the Butoku Kai's Aikido was created with the premise of being a "comprehensive martial art" that includes weapon arts.

This implies that "Aikido" is a "comprehensive martial art" that can be practiced with or without weapons.

And at the root of its body movements, the "principles of weapon arts" are deeply incorporated.

That's why I was often told that "the position of both hands when holding a sword is the basic stance" in Aikido.

Therefore, we need to look into the "weapon arts" of the time.

Let's assume "Kenjutsu" among the weapon arts.

"Kenjutsu" was primarily used in "battles".

In the chaotic "battles" with a large number of people, retreating meant risking being trampled by allies.

Hence, the only option was to advance.

Your opponent would also come running at you desperately.

The reason why Aikido values "entering" is to survive in "battles" without being trampled by allies and to defeat enemies.

On the battlefield, weapons could be broken or taken away.

Starting with a spear, then a sword, a short sword, and finally unarmed.

Learning each of these from different schools would be extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

That's why I consider "Aikido" to be a martial art that allows you to fight both with weapons and unarmed, using the same movements.

Therefore, it's somewhat natural that Aikido is not effective in the world of modern martial arts.

In a group battle,

"If you retreat, you're killed by an ally."
"If you stop, you're killed by the enemy."

Hence, "advance" and "rotate to evade" are the principles of Aikido, assuming weapon usage.

On the other hand, in modern martial arts where "you can retreat in the ring" and "fine-tune the distance in one-on-one", these two characteristics are quite different.

If it was a 50 vs 50 battle with weapons, Aikido might be strong, or rather, the chances of survival might be higher.

Therefore, to fight one-on-one, unarmed, in modern martial arts, Aikido needs to incorporate techniques from different systems.

But since Western martial arts and "Aikido" are so different in nature, incorporating them carelessly won't bring out the elements of "Aikido".

"If you're going to move like that, you might as well not do Aikido."

It would be the end if it came to that.

"I find researching this unbearably enjoyable.

You can check out how the battle is going on my social media.

It's a continuous process of trial and error."