The Martial Art Of Aikido The topic of oriental Martial Arts is one of the most memorable presents of Asia

to the world. Who will not keep in mind that Bruce Lee was first and foremost a martial arts athlete before becoming a movie star? Martial arts pictures are a huge hit with the ever-increasing popularity of Asia n cinema like 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'The House of the Flying Dag gers'. The Chinese are the first nation that come to mind when you think of such sports , but the Japanese are just as sporty with a rich heritage of body contact sport s in their past. Modern Japan still gives honour to the martial arts by holding tournaments and marketing their martial arts in foreign countries. Aikido is one of these. It is fascinating to observe the fact that the word come s from three Japanese characters from which is derived the one word. Ai is 'join ing', Ki means 'spirit' and Do means 'way'. From this we can see why Aikido lies beyond only the physical skills of it stude nts, especially since its first proponent, Ueshiba, focused on the spiritual and philosophical development of his students. In Aikido, one is not educated in violence rather, one is trained to be in harmo ny with the opponent so that you are able to defeat him more readily. This might seem strange but it really works. When fighting an opponent, the aim of the Aikido practitioner is to be one with the adversary so as to be able to tackle him where he is weakest and in so doing , deflect or immobilize him, but never to kill him. This is where Aikido becomes an art form. Art is something beautiful to look at and something constructive and Aikido is all that. At least one of the contestan ts involved in the combat is looking for concord and concord can only be achieve d if there is grace in the actions. The moves might be calculated, but there is an air of elegance in performing the se actions. Not a feminine grace, but a grace that comes from peace. The 'art of peace' is what they call it in Aikido. It is one of the most affirmative influences of Aikido on its students and to ev erybody else who decides to learn about this Japanese martial art. Some of the techniques in Aikido include the following: Ikkyo is the first technique. Using this technique, you direct an adversary by u sing one hand to hold his elbow and one to hold near the wrist. This action is s upposed to permit you to pin your adversary down to the ground. Nikyo, the second process, is when you perform a wrist lock which empowers you t o twist the arm of your opponent which will in turn cause nerve pressure. Sankyo, the third technique, is a process that creates upward-spiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder. There are many other techniques but the first three are enough to give you a basic insight. When studying Aikido, it is vital to keep in mind that, along with building phys ical strength, you will have to improve your mind to be able to overpower your c hallenger. Just like in any other art form, it takes a lot of training and disc ipline to reach the peak of the art of Aikido.

The vital thing to bear in mind is that anyone who wants to get into the art sho uld have the determination to give honour to the art by performing it in the bes t way that they can. Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now concerned with <a href="http://mixedmartialartsquotes.com/mixed-martial-art s-for-kids.html">Mixed Martial Arts for Kids</a>. If you would like to know mor e, go to our website at <a href="http://mixedmartialartsquotes.com">Mixed Marti al Arts Quotes</a>