What is Aikido?

Aikido, founded by Morihei Ueshiba (commonly referred to as O-Sensei meaning great teacher), is a traditional Japanese martial art and spiritual path. O-Sensei studied classical samurai martial arts and disarming techniques including but not limited to: judo, ju-jitsu, daito-ryu, ken-jitsu, and spear. Over a period of 50 years, he incorporated many of these techniques into the arts that we practice today. Aikido replaced the maiming and destruction of classic ju-jitsu with control and compassion.