Aikido is a Japanese martial art created by an enlightened Master, Morihei Ueshiba, who had come to realise that a healthy development of mind, body and spirit needs loving, disciplined training. Aikido is a very effective self-defence system.
The Founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba was born in 1883 in Japan when many of the martial arts were still taught by masters in the old tradition. In his early manhood he mastered several martial arts including swordmanship and various forms of unarmed self-defence. At the same time he developed into a deeply spiritual person and evisaged a new system of "budo" (the way of the warrior) which would provide a basis for both physical and spiritual development. This he named Aikido: the way (do) of harmonising (ai) the spirit (ki). By "ki" is meant the creative life spirit of the universe: one's own life-energy...

" True budo is the way of great harmony and great love for all beings" wrote Master Ueshiba.

That he meant Aikido to be much more than a method of self-defence is conveyed in his words " I want considerate people to listen to the voice of Aikido. It is not for correcting other; it is for correcting your own mind".
Unlike most of the martial arts, Aikido seeks to deflect rather than to block an action. The aim is always to harmonise with an opponent or partner's movement and to continue with it while controlling and re-directing connected energy.