General

What are some of the benefits of practicing Aikido?
What does the word Aikido mean?
What does the word sensei mean?
Do I have to be in good physical condition?
Do I need any martial arts experience to participate?
Is Aikido competitive?

What are some of the benefits of practicing Aikido?

• Conflict resolution
• Centering and stress reduction
• It's a total discipline for mental, physical and spiritual growth
• Learn how to fall and roll
• Nonviolent self-defense

What does the word Aikido mean?

Aikido can be roughly translated as "The Way Of Harmonizing Energy". The word Aikido can be broken down as follows:

AI = Harmony
KI = Energy
DO = Way

What does the word sensei mean?

The word sensei basically means teacher. In other words, whomever is leading the class is sensei. Morihei Ueshiba is often referred to as O-Sensei or "great teacher". More information on the word sensei can be found at the following links:

Article 1 (Links to aikiweb.com)
Article 2 (Links to aikiweb.com)

In general, any senior teacher is also referred to as sensei off the mat as well. For instance, if you go to a seminar, the safest practice is to refer to the teacher as sensei when talking to them off the mat.

Do I have to be in good physical condition?

There is no exact answer to this question. People of all ages, sizes, and shapes practice the art of Aikido. People come to the art from varying physical backgrounds and all of them make progress at their own speed. While being in good physical shape certainly doesn't hurt you, it's not a requirement in the way it might be with other practices.

Do I need any martial arts experience to participate?

Absolutely not! Come as you are, it's our job to take care of that.

Is Aikido competitive?

The short answer is no. Aikido is practiced in a noncompetitive manner with the goal of mutual growth. The longer answer is yes and no. Certain styles of Aikido (Tomiki is one example) have a competitive element to the practice. They believe that including competition helps them to grow and improve their technique. Also, human beings such as they are, very often compete with each other. It's probably impossible to completely remove competition from any activity involving at least one person.