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Frequently Asked Questions

Can women train Aikido?

Of course. There is no discrimination in Aikido. Men and women, young and old, everyone trains by the same program. Aikido classes are designed to leave the choice of tempo and level of energy they input into training, to the practitioners.

 

What is the upper age limit for Aikido training?​

There is none. One of Aikido's qualities is the fact that you can practice it over your entire lifetime. Surely and 80-year old's Aikido will differ from that of a 20 or 30-year old, but in Aikido the difference in understanding and execution of techniques and principles most often is in favor of older Aikidoka.

 

Are there competitions in Aikido?

No. Aikido is, like Judo or Karate, a traditional Japanese Martial Art. But unlike those, Aikido has never been adapted to a competitive sport (with a few exceptions).

The very nature of Aikido techniques is ill-suited for full contact sport competition, due to the enormous risk of small joint injuries.

 

How effective is Aikido "on the street"?

The answer to this begs for a deeper explanation. Aikido philosophy and values that the Founder Morihei Ueshiba sought to convey to his students forbids fighting and violence of any kind. Should we accept the idea that all men are brothers on a fundamental level, and that love is the only thing worth feeling in this short lifetime, the concepts of enemies and conflict lose their gravity.

In everyday life though, even if you are an enlightened soul with no hatred for any living thing, you are still not immune to actual physical attack by someone on a lower spiritual level.
 

Aikido forms were conceived out of centuries of perfected mutilation, murder, disarmament and control of another human being. As such, observing only their "outer" application, they are very effective in every "real" situation. 

On the other hand, on every single training session in our dojo we cultivate an atmosphere of cooperation and a way of performing techniques which lead to resolution of conflict in such a way that neither the attacker nor defender suffer any injury whatsoever.

It is considered that learning to defend oneself doesn't take much time or effort. What interests us is that level of mastery at which conflict is resolved while simultaneously avoiding any and all harm to attacker, defender and their surroundings.

 

What is the difference between the various styles of Aikido?

In the world today, and so in our area as well, there operate many different styles, schools and systems, all using the name Aikido. Founder Morihei Ueshiba's students all learned and practiced one and the same thing, but each one of them was a strong individual with a penchant for innovation and creativity. After the Founder's death, each of his students went his own way, whether leaving Japan to disseminate Aikido (as they saw it) around the world or to stay and uphold the "traditional" ways.
And so today we have Aikikai, Ki Aikido, Yoshinkan, Iwama, Tomiki and many other less renowned styles that have grown into federations over the subsequent years.
Technically, some are drastically different than others so much so that the Art can barely be recognized from dojo to dojo. And yet the fundamental Aikido principles are shared by all. Thus the choice of where to train depends on one's needs and wants, as well as physical capabilities.

The Aikido style practiced within Fudoshinkan dojo belongs to the Aikikai federation, to the line of the late Fumio Toyoda Shihan. By our methodology we fall under the "harder" Aikido styles, meaning that contact is not avoided but encouraged during practice, and that pins and other techniques are executed to their full physical potential - naturally at the practitioners' discretion.

What is the ranking system in Aikido?

It has been mentioned that Aikido has no competitions or medals, and that no one can be a world champion. We train for completely different reasons and motives.

But, as a traditional Martial Art, Aikido does have a ranking system.
 

There are seven student ranks (kyu) in our Aikido style for which appropriate candidates are tested, the system of which was set in place by the late Fumio Toyoda Shihan.

The ranks are valued by descending order, so 7th kyu is the first test that beginners take and 1st kyu is the last and highest student rank.

There are ten masters' rank degrees (DAN) and their order is the opposite of kyu ranks. Thus the first and lowest master's rank is 1st DAN, and the highest is 10th DAN. Degrees up to 5th DAN are tested for, and starting with 6th DAN they are awarded by the Doshu of Hombu dojo.

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