Aikido is a martial art founded by Morihei Ueshiba (1883 – 1969), also called, O-Sensei, “the great teacher”. The Founder developed and demonstrated a way of martial training to achieve harmony and peace that could reach beyond the dojo and potentially to the world through the practice of his redefined martial art.

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Aikido offers a way to enhance personal growth and compassion through the practice of techniques that teach how to remain safe while under an attack and by taking a winning position to end or prevent conflict. Our goal is to understand O-Sensei’s paradigm that “aikido is love” and apply it by carefully analyzing our actions and marital practice.

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The essence of our approach integrates the effectiveness of Japanese sword and staff movements, using bokken and jo (wooden sword and staff), respectively, as instruments to complement and enhance understanding the flow of empty-hand movements. Also, as part of the training, students are introduced to Aiki Toho Iaido, a form of iaido developed from aikido techniques by Shoji Nishio Shihan (1927–2005).

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The strategies drawn from iaido transfer to the empty-hand techniques; the sword movements are transformed into techniques that enhance concentration and awareness.

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While learning effective self-defense techniques is a major part of Aikido training, it is not the primary goal. A more immediate goal is training mentally and physically to gain the confidence to prevent and avoid conflicts. This was expressed by O-Sensei in his lectures, poems and calligraphy and demonstrated in his techniques and echoed by Nishio-Sensei in his approach.

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With practice, the potential of this art becomes clearer and less mystical as one begins to realize that O-Sensei’s path of Aikido is a continuing work in progress on a path of transformation.