Aikido is a martial art that originated in Japan. Its founder was Morihei Ueshiba, who incorporated his philosophy and religious beliefs with his martial arts studies. Aikido translates into “the way of unifying with life energy.” Many times Aikido is seen as the peaceful martial art since it was developed with the intent of defending oneself without causing injury to the attacker. This martial art is at its core one of self defense. Therefore practitioners must pay much detail to the techniques that are used in Aikido.
Aikido is considered to be the way of harmony. using its techniques, one uses the force of the attacker and diverts the force in a manner that it can be used against the attacker in order to subdue him. This is in contrast to most martial arts in which one meets the attack straight on.
Steven Seagal is one of the world’s premier Aikido Masters. Watch this short video in which he talks about Aikido:
