The name aikido is formed by the combination of three characters in the Japanese language. Ai means "to join," Ki means "spirit," and do means "the way." The essence of aikido as a form of martial arts can be summed up in these three words: joining the spirit to find the way. The name "aikido" wasn't officially accepted as the name of the martial arts style until the 1930s and 1940s.
In contrast to other forms of martial arts, the techniques used in Aikido do not hurt or kill. The moves and skills that are being taught are just meant to take people's attention away or stop them from moving. This may be why most people prefer aikido, since it emphasises peace and harmony instead of aggression and conflict. In fact, Morihei Ueshiba, who created aikido, thinks that the art of peace is to control anger without hurting anyone.
Ueshiba, who is also known as Osensei, which means "Great Teacher," took the ideas of Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu and used them to make aikido. He used the techniques of the spear (yari), the bayonet (juken), and the short quarterstaff (jo). But what really sets aikido apart from other forms of martial arts is that its practitioners can attack even when they don't have their hands up. Practitioners don't need weapons to keep them safe.
As a young child, he was very into working out and getting in shape. This is because he swore to kill the man who killed his father. His activities and studies eventually led him to the discipline of the different martial arts. He read everything. He has even gotten certificates for fencing, spear fighting, etc. He knows everything. This may be why aikido is such a wide-ranging and multi-faceted form of martial arts.
Even though he knows a lot, he is still not happy. He thought that something was still missing. He turned to religions at that time. He learned from Onisaburo Deguchi, the spiritual leader of the sect Omoto-kyo in Ayabe. Deguchiof showed him how to look after his spiritual growth. Then, he put his spiritual beliefs and his knowledge of different martial arts together. Aikido began to grow.
Being close to this charismatic spiritual leader, Deguchiof, also helped him become known as a martial artist to the top people in politics and the military. Because of this connection, he was able to start aikido and teach it to his students, who then went on to create their own ways of moving in aikido.
Aikido is a mix of different styles of jujitsu and some sword and spear fighting techniques, which Ueshiba knew a lot about. To give you an idea of how aikido works as a whole, it combines the joint locks and throws of jujitsu with the way the body moves when fighting with swords and spears.
It comes from Asia, but Minoru Mochizuki brought it to the west when he went to France in 1951. He showed students who are learning judo the moves of aikido. In 1952, Tadashi Abe went to France as a representative of the Aikikai Honbu. Then, in 1953, Kenji Tomiki went on a tour of the United States while Koichi Tohei spent a whole year in Hawaii, where he set up a dojo. Two years later, Aikido spread to the United Kingdom, and in 1965, it reached Germany and Australia. There are now places where aikido is taught all over the world.
