Welcome to Genesis Aikido Club Website!

I hope that by visiting our website you will learn not only about our club but more importantly about AIKIDO, an efficient method of self-defense developed by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) - considered to be the greatest martial artist during his time. As Aikido practitioners, we call him O’Sensei, meaning ‘The Great Teacher”. He studied different forms of jujitsu and kendo. Immediately prior to his discovery of Aikido, he was an instructor of Daito-ryu Jujitsu under Grandmaster Sokaku Takeda. Hence, it can be said that Aikido has its roots from Daito-ryu Jujitsu. Asked about when he discovered Aikido, O’Sensei said that it was around 1925 when he had his first vision of Aikido. The name Aikido was officially registered with the Ministry of Education in Japan in 1942. The basic self-defense technique of Aikido is to get off the line of attack, harmonize with it, and use the power of the opponent against himself.

The word AIKIDO is derived from three Japanese characters - ai, ki and do. Ai means harmony and coordination and is synonymous to love. Ki refers to spirit or energy. Do means the way. Directly translated from its etymology, Aikido is the way of harmony with the spirit. Many Aikido proponents define Aikido in different ways. Some practitioners define it as a method for mind and body unification. Others define it as simply the way of harmony. Morihei Ueshiba O’Sensei, Founder of Aikido, himself defined Aikido as a way to reconcile the world and make human beings one family. You and me, we can make our own definition of Aikido based on our experiences in practicing the art. Personally, I would define Aikido as a way of developing harmony within my own self, harmony with others, and ultimately harmony with the whole world. Harmony should begin within oneself. This is what O’Sensei calls masakatsu agatsu or “true victory is victory over oneself”. When you are attuned to yourself, you project that positive feeling to others thereby harmonizing with them automatically. And when everybody is attuned to each other, then universal harmony is attained, which is the ultimate goal of Aikido.

Aikido is practical - practical in the sense that its principles can be applied not only inside the dojo but in everyday life as well. Harmony in Aikido can be translated to different areas of our lives. In practice, it means blending with the movement and energy of your partner. In dealing with other people, it is the ability to control encounters for the good, changing a hostile approach to a healthy encounter or an attack into a handshake.