 | The body movements of Aikido are developed from an appreciation of dealing with an attacker carrying a weapon, principally the sword. The philosophy of our training syllabus, as developed by O’Sensei at the Iwama Dojo and passed on to Morihiro Saito Sensei in the 23 years he studied with the Founder, involved the close integration of three martial art systems: |
| tai-jutsu Body techniques from a seating or standing position, performed slowly to develop power and structure or flowing with the partner to develop movement and harmony; aiki-ken Practice of the techniques of using a bladed weapon, but using a bokken (wooden sword) aiki-jo The techniques of using a wooden staff (jo) either against someone carrying a sword (ken-tai-jo), a jo (kumi-jo) or without a weapon. |
Each of these three systems share basic principles of body movement, application and philosophy, that were developed to complement each other and create a strong foundation for the complete art of Aikido.
In our training of Aikido, body techniques must have a foundation in Aikido weapons techniques, and likewise, body movement in Aikido weapons must be able to translate to body movement in Aikido hand techniques. The primary focus of aiki-ken (Bokken) and aiki-jo (Jo) training is not aimed at teaching separate systems of weapons practice, but rather to develop the understanding of a combined approach to movement with or without weapons. However, the aiki-ken and aiki-jo bequeathed to us by O’Sensei, are practical techniques which when understood, provide a dynamic and effective self-defence system.
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