Martial Arts - Aikido

Associated in the minds of many with the actor, Steven Seagal, aikido is rich and history in tradition, an art that originally started in Japan back in the 1940s.

• street fighting techniques
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There's no mistaking the fact that Aikido is one of the best and most popular martial art in the United States today. The art of Aikido is best associated with actor Steven Seagal, who made it even more popular with his movies. Aikido is rich and history in tradition, an art that originally started in Japan back in the 1940s. The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, was born on December 14, 1883. As he was growing up in modern Japan, Ueshiba witnessed the local thugs vandalize his father.  The young boy decided that he would make himself strong in order to seek revenge against the thugs.  Ueshiba was strong willed, and devoted every waking moment to physical training and the martial arts. He received a lot of certificates in jujitsu, spear fighting, and fencing.  Even though he was very impressive with his abilities, he found himself not happy with his skills.  He knew that there was more to it, and began to look into religion, hoping that he would find a greater significance with life - pursuing martial arts all the while. Ueshiba finally founded the martial art of Aikido by combining both his religious beliefs and his training in martial arts. At that time, the style was known as ai ibudo, it was not until 1942 that he decided to go with the name Aikido.  The style was quite different indeed, incorporating several different styles of Jujitsu, aiki-jujitsu, and spear and sword fighting techniques as well. Even though a lot of us tend to think of Aikido as the ultimate martial art, it is also an art that is based on religion and harmony. Aikido uses joint locks, weight manipulation, and throws to achieve it’s purpose.  The martial art is very effective, which were the intentions of Ueshiba from the start.  Aikido consists of many techniques, and it is the result of the creative and innovative powers of its founder, Morihei Ueshiba. Aside from what many think, there really is no unified belief or philosophy in the martial art of Aikido. While Aikido is indeed rich in heritage and religion, it is a practice based on harmony and peace of the spirit. Ueshiba believed that the human body is capable of anything once an individual has achieved a higher spiritual power. Even though he, himself, wanted revenge, he still stated that Aikido was not about fighting, but rather a way to reconcile with the world and make every human being on giant family. Over the years, Aikido was introduced in America with amazing results.  Steven Seagal is by far the most popular, showing the world the power and harmony of Aikido through his many movies.  There are a lot of martial arts dojo’s around North America that offer Aikido to study, possibly even some in your area.  Not only will Aikido teach you self defense, but it will also teach you harmony of the spirit and how to find inner peace as well. Martial Arts Home