Five Basic Principles of Aikido
Extending Your Mind
The extension of ones mind is directly connected to the extension of Ki. A person who extends their mind becomes aware of everything around them and naturally extends Ki. A person who extends Ki, naturally extends their mind.
Know Your Partner's Mind
To know your partners mind is to know your partners “intentions”. This can only be achieved with the free extension of Ki.
Respect Your Partner's Ki
From a self defence stand point, respecting your partner's Ki would be to blend with an attack rather than meeting it head on. In daily life you can think of this as respecting someone's opinion and not dismissing them out of hand.
Put Yourself In Your Partner's Place
In Aikido this can literally mean swapping places with someone. In daily life it is the same. We consider how we would feel if we were the person in a difficult situation.
Perform With Confidence
A person who has no confidence will always hesitate and perform poorly. This is true in Aikido as in daily life. When a person performs with true confidence they are relaxed, focused and fully aware.
Aikido Techniques
What are Aikido Techniques?
Aikido techniques are a series of exercises designed to teach students awareness of their surroundings and how to move with coordination.
Aikido techniques involve throws or projections and immobilisation's. Students learn to deal with a range of attacks including pushes, kicks and punches. At a higher level students learn to deal with multiple attackers and begin training with weapons. The Jo (short staff), Bokken (sword) and Tanto (knife) are all used in Aikido.
To help students develop their technique we also have the five principles of Aikido which serve to remind students of the basic steps a student must go through when performing any Aikido technique.