The Magic of Aiki: A “Partial Arts” Approach to Meeting Life’s Challenges

About the Class:

We will be practicing simple movement exercises, drawn from the martial art, “Aikido,” Its name tells all. Ai-ki-do consists of three Japanese characters: “Ai,” meaning “harmony or love,” “ki,” meaning “breath, internal energy or life force,” and “do” (pronounced dõ), meaning “way, path or method.”

Aikido is unique in the martial arts in that it deliberately avoids injury to the attacker. No kicks or punches are taught. Through rapid, fluid, circular movements, an attacker’s energy is gathered up, joined with, or deflected…In this style of movement comes clues for a way of life. The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, was a man obsessed not only by martial arts, but by religion and social justice, as well. At the end of his life he himself claimed to be ‘only a Beginner’ in the quest for peaceful power, saying ‘The only true martial art is love.’” (Dan Palmer, Asheville Aikikai).