Aikido was originally developed by two man

The martial art of akido has enjoyed a steady growth since its quiet introduction in Japan following World War II and subsequent spread abroad. While the art has earned much respect for its ethical tenets, the techniques of aikido are often criticized as being too soft and impractical to be of any real use in an actual engagement. I have frequently added my voice to this chorus and maintain that the casual nature of practice in many schools today leaves students with unrealistic expectations of what they can expect to accomplish if their skills should ever be tested in a real-life encounter.

Various improvements have been proposed such as teaching attacking skills, incorporating liberal use of atemi, adding self-defense techniques, etc. The argument is often framed in such a way that the measure of a martial system is based on how exponents fare, or presumably would fare, in a match situation. For example, who would come out on top if fifth dans in judo and karate were to match skills?

Is taekwondo superior to kung fu? Can an aikidoka with no cross-training in another art hold his own against an exponent of any of these more combat-oriented martial arts? Such speculation is endless and has failed to lead to any sort of consensus. The most prominent example of the concept of competition applied to aikido has been the Tomiki system, which was philosophically inspired by the thinking of Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo.

Kenji Tomiki, a prewar disciple of both Kano and Morihei Ueshiba and a successful judo competitor in his own right, devised a sport system of aikido which was launched via the aikido club of Waseda University in the s. Matches in this style consist of one opponent armed with a mock knife while the other acts as the defender. The roles are reversed after a specified time and points are tallied to determine the winner.

In addition to matches, this system of sport aikido includes kata competition.

Aikido techniques

Tomiki Sensei experimented with various modifications to his system and, since his death in , his senior students have carried on under the banner of the Japan Aikido Association, There are perhaps one hundred or so schools and clubs that follow the Tomiki system worldwide. The results of this continuing experiment with competitive aikido have been mixed, and even within this system there are those who prefer to emphasize more traditional practice methods and forego matches altogether.

The Tomiki method has come under attack from proponents of other aikido schools who hold that the principle of competition itself runs counter to the central principles of aikido.