Many people, when first introduced to the idea of taking martial arts are overwhelmed by the number of different styles that are available to take, and often choose a well known style (at least by name), like Karate or Kung Fu, since these have become synonymous with martial arts, thanks to movies that show all martial arts to be the same. There was a time when very little information was available on these "mysterious" arts, so people could not educate themselves before choosing a style.  Now there is so much available there is no reason to not learn about the different styles and philosophies to find one that best suits you.  Libraries are filled with shelves dedicated to martial arts, and a lot of information can be found on the internet (you are reading the page, after all, and hopefully you can learn something from it).

Aikido is a truly beautiful art, and I don't think there is anyone who could not benefit from it.  O Sensei's dream was a world where everyone studied Aikido, and it was his wish that everyone could experience this idea of peace in a world without hate or prejudice.  Although this didn't happen in his lifetime, and probably won't in mine, Aikido's popularity grows every day, and it is quite possible that eventually the entire world will be exposed to it.  That is one of the reasons I started this page, for if I can show even a couple of people this beauty, get them to simply try it, then I will have succeeded.

I am not going to attempt to convince anyone to transfer to Aikido, or choose it by condemning the other styles.  I am going to try to show you, the reader what I have gotten out of it, and what potential it has.

For the first year or so that I took Aikido, I was firmly convinced that it was completely different from every other form of martial arts, and in many ways it is.  Before starting Aikido I had taken Karate, and Praying Mantis Kung Fu, both of which concentrated on quick strikes that were devastating to your opponent, and to date, the Mantis Kung Fu is the most brutal martial art I have seen.  However, they do have their similarities.  I am now taking Tai Chi with a Mantis Kung Fu instructor, and he often says things that immediately take my mind to Aikido, as I remember my Sensei saying the same things. For example: "Your power comes from your hips", "Don't look at your opponents eyes, watch his center as his eyes can deceive you," and others.  Of course they still have their differences.  While many arts, Kung Fu and Karate as examples concentrate on injuring your opponent to end the fight, Aikido concentrates on helping your partner.  Please note the different term Aikido uses when referring to an opponent.  Other styles see them as enemies, evil people that need to be dealt with.  Aikido tries to see these people as partners, people that we should care about and try to help.  Click Here to read more about this.

By hurting him, breaking his body, he will only continue to feel anger towards you (obviously), however, if you can take that aggression and show him that there is an alternate path, perhaps he will change his outlook on the situation.  My Sensei once told me that it is ignorant to think you can change someone, and this is true, but I still hold the belief that it is possible to show someone a different perspective, so that they may willingly, and of their own accord change themselves.  This is the beauty of Aikido.  By controlling your opponent, showing an aggressor that we could have beaten him, without actually doing so, we show him that there is another way of solving the conflict; that there are other answers.  Aikido is about peace and harmony, and not about learning how to fight. In fact it is more about learning how to avoid the fight.  My Sensei told me that in the times of the Samurai, if there was a fight, the best students would be in the middle, controlling it, but the master of those students would be far, far away.

Aikido has no competitions, no tournaments, something that many people find surprising. (There is one school of Aikido that views tournaments as a beneficial addition to training, but this is not the norm)  This particular aspect of Aikido is continuously being debated.  O Sensei believed that the goal of Aikido is one of Non-Violence and one of Non-Winning, and a tournament would go against that completely, as the only point of a tournament is to have a victor.  Others believe that tournaments are just a way to improve yourself, by practically testing your abilities.  It is all well and good to be able to perform the techniques in the dojo, in a controlled environment where your Uke (person receiving the attack) is not fighting as hard as he could, but that it is different when fighting someone who is trying to defeat you too, and these people feel that a true test of one's abilities can be had in a tournament.  I am still undecided on this aspect, and encourage comments and opinions.

Aikido is also different from many of the other styles because of the intense mental training involved, as well as physical practice. Of course, any style of fighting requires intense mental work, but Aikido is different in that it requires you to use it all of the time.  Not just when you are at the dojo practicing, or when you are in a fight, it requires you to use it in you everyday life.  To avoid conflict by finding peaceful solutions to problems.  Aikido is not a philosophy of conflict or defense, it is more, a philosophy of life, and should be treated as such.  What is learned in the class should be applied in your everyday life.  There is an excellent example of this in the: Aikido Today Magazine Home Page