Eastern martial arts are not only powerful means of self-defense, but entire religions with their own codes, rules and spiritual practices. The Japanese art of aikido has its own deep philosophy and trains not only the body, but also the mind. It teaches not to kill, but to stop, redirect the enemy.
Instructions
Step 1
Aikido is a synthesis of martial techniques, philosophical and religious inventions. It is not an ancient martial art, but its roots go back to the distant past. The year of the founding of aikido can be considered 1922, when O-Sensei ("Great Teacher") Morihei Ueshiba created his teaching on the basis of several traditional areas, such as martial practices ju-jutsu and ken-jutsu. In addition, the Oomoto-ke religious movement had a great influence on the formation of the new direction.
Step 2
The name "ai-ki-do" comes from the combination of three Japanese characters: Ai - "harmony", Ki - "spiritual energy", Do - "path". Ueshiba described aikido not only as an art of combat, but also as a path of spiritual purification in accordance with the laws of the universe. In other words, this is the path of a warrior whose goal is to achieve harmony.
Step 3
A person who knows aikido is called aikidoka. The opponent (attacker) in aikido is "uke".
Step 4
Aikido is the art of hand-to-hand combat, in which the enemy's aggression is used against him. This means that the aikido master, when attacking him, uses the strength of the enemy, while he himself remains in balance. Aikidoka moves away from the attacker, and does not respond with aggression to aggression, thereby forcing the opponent to stop.
Step 5
Aikido has its own principles, acceptable types of weapons and a system of ranks. The main principle of aikido is constant movement dynamics. Other principles are leaving the line of attack, maintaining a harmonious distance, unbalancing uke, intercepting the initiative, belaying in case of a fall to avoid injury, using special striking techniques.
Step 6
The following types of weapons are used in aikido: • The long sword "Katana" in modern aikido is used extremely rarely and only for educational purposes. It is made of zinc and is not sharpened; • Wooden sword "Bokken" is used for training; • Wooden pole "Jo"; • Long knife "Tanto"; • Short sword "Wakizashi"; • Wooden staff, sheathed with metal "Bo"; • Long sword with a curved blade "Naginata".
Step 7
The aikido rank system consists of apprenticeship and mastery degrees. The student degree is called "kyu", usually there are 6, but 10 can be used in teaching children. The ranking of kyu comes from highest to lowest (6 to 1 kyu, 10 to 1). The master degree is called "dan" and is ranked from the first to the largest, there are 10 in total (from 1 to 10 dan).
Step 8
Aikido exams are held twice a year, and 1 dan exam can only be passed a year after receiving 1 kyu. 10 dan is awarded only to outstanding masters of aikido.
Step 9
There are no competitions in aikido, but kata is practiced. Kata is a repetition of movements that allows the body to make them habitual, teaches us to control space and emotions. Kata is held between two partners who switch places during training: one attacks, the other defends, and vice versa.
