Aikido: It's All About Practicing The Art Of Peace

An art influenced by the religion of Omoto-Kyo, founded by the philosophy and spirituality that influences the religion is the martial art of Aikido. The founder of Aikido is Morihei Ueshiba. By itself the word Aikido is derived from three Japanese words that mean joining, spirit and way or Ai, Ki and Do. An easier way would be to say it is the joining of the spirit in the Aikido way.

Aikido states that the best way to align the mind, body and spirit is by relaxing the mind. Once the mind is relaxed the body and spirit join because there are no thought or other external things in your mind to interfere. This unique combination of being one and being at peace is where the martial art gets its name of being an art of peace. Ueshiba, the founder was a pacifist and Aikido was taught by him as a way to end aggression by peaceful means or so it is thought.

Aikido involves a definite philosophical and spiritual development but this has to be incorporated by the actual execution of the techniques and methods of Aikido. The art of Aikido has two players. The first is the one who is receiving the moves called the uke and the one who is giving the moves and techniques that are being taught is the nage.

Uke and nage can be compared to the Chinese yin and yang concepts because like yin and yang, uke and nage are also part of a whole and two different things. It is based on the give and take theory. Among the different techniques taught by Aikido one of the first is the art of throwing and falling safely. Nage has to ensure that uke does not sustain any injury and learns to land safely.

In the training of Aikido it is the uke or the receiver who initiates an attack on the nage and it is the nage who will then try to defend himself and neutralize the said attack using an Aikido technique or move. Both nage and uke teach each other and the training is not complete if oneness is not achieved by both. This is the basic give and take theory or ki that Aikido is teaching.

These are the basic aspects of Aikido which include flexibility, calm, blending and adapting. The uke is taught to be relaxed and flexible so that he is not caught off guard by nage and thrown off balance. Nage, at the same time is learning to adapt and blend so that the energy emanating from the uke can be controlled and lowered. This is for two players but Aikido teaches and trains for multiple attackers too.

The higher levels of Aikido involve the training in something called the Randori. This is the training given for multiple attackers. Here the training is conducted freestyle which means it is away from the controlled situation that the uke and nage practice in. Here all the techniques and moves of Aikido are incorporated to enhance knowledge. Aikido has various other training methods other than the two mentioned and all of them follow the same values.

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