I recently read two interviews that discussed what some would consider to be mainstays within the current aikido mindset and both interviews concluded with a similar sentiment regarding the future of the art: that is, “everyone needs to unite around the common message, goal, purpose, or understanding of aikido in order to become confident of the art.”[1] This sentiment of a current aikido community that agrees completely on what the definition and purpose of the art is and should be supplemented a larger thought experiment that I have grappled with for a better part of a year and more. What is this common purpose that every aikidoka should adhere to? Given the choices, which purpose would be the best to follow? And where does the individual’s purpose fall into these larger, community and organizational structured purpose statements? These questions plagued my mind as I began to grapple with them. I began first by comparing the larger, more well-known aikido organizations’ purpose statements as my first attempt to provide an answer to these gripping questions.
The largest and most popular aikido organization internationally is Aikikai, following the lineage of Morihei Ueshiba and his family. This organization defines its purpose for training as: “Practice of Aikido is done with the intention of furthering the discipline of body and mind together. […] This disciplining of body and mind happens while partners take turns as tori, the person applying the technique, and uke, the person receiving the technique.” This purpose is vague, almost intentionally, allowing the reader the opportunity to arrive at their own conclusions as to what quantifies “disciplining the body and mind” in aikidoka. The definition, however, does provide further context by saying what aikido is not – or does not make promises of the system that it cannot keep. One such promise that is missing from Aikikai’s purpose is to become strong; another is to learn how to fight, protect oneself in an altercation, transform into an honorable and a functioning member of society – the list can go on. To Aikikai, aikido’s intention is to create a sense of mastery over both the mind and body – nothing more, nothing less. No real specifics, just broad goal strokes.[2]
Yoshinkan, the first aikido organization to form in the initial postwar years in Japan, claims aikido is “Recognized for its effectiveness as a form of self-defense, Aikido also serves as a path to cultivating both physical resilience and mental discipline while promoting overall well-being.” Here, Yoshinkan agrees with Aikikai on the grounds that aikido can develop both physical and mental command, but includes that the art can be beneficial for the whole person and that the art can assist someone in a self-preservation scenario. Yoshinkan, contrary to what Aikikai defined, expanded the definition and purpose of aikido, offering an activity that the enthusiast can tangibly grasp upon first inspection. In a way, the inclusion of self-defense, “physical resilience,” “mental discipline,” and the holistic beneficial byproduct of the practice provides the prospective students a number of goals they can set for themselves when they decide to begin training. Aikikai’s “disciplining of the body and mind” could also serve as a goal for its prospective students, however, Yoshinkan’s purpose specifies different aims, addressing a wider audience.[3]
Ki Society, perhaps in stark contrast to the other listed organizations, does not mention aikido as the practice, using the terms “essential Ki principle,” which is “Mind moves Body.” From this core ki principle, Ki Society stresses “how to maximize the ability that people naturally have,” and “how to respect and lead others.” Originating from Koichi Tohei, Ki Society further describes their practice as being “applied to everything in daily life, and so it is eagerly practiced by people whose fields are in sports, arts, management, education, and others.” Its emphasis on daily life and how ki principles can be used in fields outside of martial arts demonstrates that Ki Society has separated itself from centering around aikido as the main practice, making its practice more akin to yoga, where focus is on the mental, physical, and, at times, metaphysical rather than performing the technique in a refined manner. Here, Ki Society, by far, has been the most specific in what it is trying to achieve with aikido, even if the organization does not explicitly use the term aikido.[4]
Tomiki Aikido has experienced its own share of schisms, however, the two Japanese organizations, the Japan Aikido Association (JAA) and the Shodokan Aikido Federation (SAF), seem to agree on the purpose of aikido. Both stress the benefits of a healthy lifestyle through a lifelong study of the art. Much like Yoshinkan, Tomiki Aikido emphasizes the positive results of physical exercise on one’s general well-being, again, providing students with another quantifiable goal. Moreover, Tomiki Aikido is one of the few styles of aikido that has included a competitive element in the training, pitting aikidoka against one another. At times, each organization refers to Tomiki Aikido as a sport, and it is not hard to see why, as Kenji Tomiki was an avid judoka, which is treated as a sporting activity regardless of country. It is also possible that the use of the term “sport” is to help bridge the gap between those knowledgeable/interested in martial arts and those who are not knowledgeable/interested in martial arts. “Sport” then opens the possibilities to reaching new and different perspective students and offering an aspect many people are familiar with regarding sports: competitions, tournaments, awards, and trophies.[5]
In summary, Aikikai’s aikido practice is to “discipline the body and mind;” Yoshinkan focuses on self-defense, creating physical and mental fortitude, and positive well-being; Ki Society emphasizes ki principles while using aikido as a vehicle to apply these principles in everyday life; and Tomiki Aikido views aikido as a sport, in which a lifetime of studying the art results in healthy benefits. From reviewing the various purposes of aikido according to the five major Japanese Aikido organizations, we can see all of them share a common ground in what aikido training produces or can lead to. Three of the organizations, Aikikai, JAA, and SAF, provide varying degrees of vagueness to perhaps not limit themselves into a box that they would want to try and change later. Four of these organizations, Yoshinkan, Ki Society, JAA, and SAF, concern themselves with a holistic approach to potential students’ health and well-being. One of these organizations, Ki Society, does not place much emphasis on aikido, rather they are concerned with the underlying ki principles in daily life. Lastly, one organization, Yoshinkan, mentions aikido’s use in self-defense. While these major organizations share similar traits and purposes, the resulting goal, or what these organizations want their members to accomplish, differs greatly.
Already, one can see the difficulties in creating a unifying and united message across both major and minor aikido organizations around the world. An aikidoka who is committed to any iteration of the above organizations’ purpose statements would be hard-pressed to welcome a different purpose into their own training after spending years training in another purpose. For example, most aikidoka, regardless of organizational affiliation, do not view the art as a sport and will not include matches between practitioners during classes. Therefore, many practitioners would not implement, or perhaps welcome, a Tomiki-style randori in their respective schools. Another example is the ongoing hostilities between Aikikai and Ki Society, where the emphasis on ki principles and feelings of Koichi Tohei resulted in the first major schism within Aikikai. How Ki Society practices the implementation of such principles, perhaps, would not go over so well within an Aikikai class as the shared history is muddied and such purposes would not align perfectly, even though Tohei’s influence as dojo-cho of Aikikai can still be seen in daily warm-ups and class structures.
Looking outward, there is a Japanese martial art that seems to be unified, almost from the very beginning, and with very little room for misinterpretation. That Japanese martial art is kendo, Japanese swordsmanship. In 1975, the All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF) issued “The Purpose of Practicing Kendo,” which states:
[The purpose of practicing kendo is:]
To mold the mind and body,
To cultivate a vigorous spirit,
And through correct and rigid training,
To strive for improvement in the art of kendo,
To hold in esteem human courtesy and honour,
To associate with others with sincerity,
And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.
This will make one be able:
To love his/her country and society,
To contribute to the development of culture,
And to promote peace and prosperity among all peoples.[6]
For the average kenshi, the purpose of training kendo is to improve one’s character. Kendo’s structure on courtesy and manners, which is part and parcel of Japanese culture, assists students in understanding an aspect of Japanese culture (hence, cultural activity) and how to conduct themselves in everyday life. Regular kendo practice is highly designed, regardless of country, making for very similar training and approaches. From the outside looking in, there seems to be a lack of individual styles of kenshi, if compared to their aikidoka counterparts, where each style of aikido and each individual teacher have an outward, unique approach.
Kendo’s purpose, as put forth by the AJKF, has nine specific points or results (or promises) each practitioner should be striving towards during training, making this purpose statement the most explicit reviewed thus far. Some of these points are abstract, while others are quantitative by varying degrees. How are these points reached through “correct and rigid training?” What is correct training? Quite simply, the training methods and outward expressions by the AJKF and its representatives. What is rigid training? Interpreting this term may produce two conclusions. The first may refer to hard, harsh, difficult, and/or incredibly structured and disciplined training – training that can create a physical toughness and a mental fortitude that helps practitioners push through previously established limits. The second may refer to the stern or stiff replication of correct training from AJKF-certified instructors. However, through these two aspects of training, kenshi are promised to achieve what is listed in the purpose statement.
Does this mean that aikido organizations and schools should become more specific in defining the purpose of the art? Maybe. In an article that I have cited often, “Aikido’s Branding Problem” author Ron Cicero asserts that aikido instructors (we can include organizations too) “need to know exactly what your benefit is and communicate it well.”[7] By this statement alone, the answer to the above question is: yes, create a more specific purpose where it aligns with what the aikido training reflects and what results the students are to achieve. It is here, however, where individual aikidoka begin to disagree on the purpose of aikido, and what the art is and is not.
Combing through some of the contributed editorials on Aikido Journal – an unfortunate dwindling staple of the American Aikido Community – one can see, just like snowflakes, every aikidoka’s purpose, definition, and reason(s) for the art is different and unique as the next one.
The first editorial, by Robert Savoca, asserts that aikido is akin to the desert of the early Church Fathers and proto-monks: the desert has nothing to offer – therefore, it cannot be exploited, only to help transform people into something else. In Savoca’s own words: “I offer that perhaps Aikido is the same: the fact that there is no competition, no real rank, no awards, essentially nothing to be had is its real value.”[8]
He describes aikido as being martial but not; being a dance but not; a fighting system but not. It is all of these things and yet it is not all of things at once. Because of this conundrum, Savoca feels that “it’s time for its practitioners to stop apologizing or defending their art in regards to this.”[9]
Finding out if a system can triumph over another is shallow training. Training the art for art’s sake is something that many schools and practitioners need to come to terms with if they want to continue to stay true to what aikido actually is. To Savoca, what aikido is: “By its very design, Aikido’s purpose is to reconcile. Its ‘goal’ is to resolve subject and object, to bring heaven and earth together. This is the ideal, and of course it is us that get in the way. However, we must still carry on and try.”[10]
Here, the purpose of aikido training is two-fold to Savoca: the training itself is the purpose of training and to reconcile conflict between the two people. The purpose is both physical and philosophical, almost as if the physical informs the philosophical. Savoca indirectly places this philosophical aspect of aikido as an exercise in conflict resolution in life outside of the dojo. For him, it seems, this daily life application is the deeper reason Savoca trains and teaches aikido.[11]
The second editorial cited, by Patrick Cassidy, similarly asserts that aikido’s purpose is to “address conflict at the physical level through resolution rather than destruction or competition. This vision of aikido concerning conflict is fundamental to the art and translating that vision into the competitive combat arena is contradictory to its nature.” It is a new mode of operating not on the mat, but off the mat. Aikido is a physical practice for aikidoka to function outside the dojo and in the real world.[12]
Aikido, to Cassidy, is a living and an embodied philosophy that transcends the martial practices within the walls of the dojo. In his words, Cassidy asserts that “Aikido offers not only a method to respond to physical aggression but also a way of meeting the challenges of life.” This art, sometimes dubbed the “Art of Peace,” is a physical manifestation or metaphor for conflict resolution within everyday life, hence this “new way to be with the world.”[13]
Being a martial art that has deep philosophical roots in conflict resolution, Cassidy advises instructors to lean into this aspect of holistic training and not place too much emphasis on the martial training, but the ways in which aikido can help individuals “navigat[e] life. […] That perhaps is the next step we can consider for the future of our community.”[14]
Much like Savoca, Cassidy feels that the purpose of aikido training is to inform one’s daily life in confronting and resolving the conflicts and challenges that all people face. Aikido, by Cassidy’s and Savoca’s reckoning, is life advice disguised as a martial art. The physical influences the theoretical application in everyday situations, far from the martial and physically threatening encounters many tend to associate aikido’s application in the real world.[15]
The third editorial, by Jason Perna, takes a different perspective. Rather than discussing the connection between the physical and metaphysical or philosophical, Perna takes a more direct approach. He discusses the fascination and the need to preserve the teachings and the idea of Morihei Ueshiba. When he first began training aikido, “My teachers still spoke of him often and instilled a very strong sense that O-Sensei was the absolute source and represented the pinnacle of martial understanding, a level that none of us who followed should reasonably hope to achieve.”[16]
Because there was never to be a second coming of Morihei, the way he trained and how he viewed his own art was protected by many of his students, with Perna remembering that such practices were “mostly that of preservation – very careful preservation – without much room for experimentation or innovation.” Years later, this preservation, to Perna, has seeped into how aikidoka ponder the future of the art.[17]
He then compares aikido to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), asserting that “there are probably very few modern jiu-jitsu practitioners who believe Hélio [Gracie]’s game would stand up to the scrutiny of today’s competitors. Competition and daily pressure testing have led to continual refinement and innovation, and, as a result, the modern art has evolved significantly. You know what, I’ll bet Hélio would be very proud of that legacy, proud to have poured his heart into something that has likely surpassed his greatest expectations.” From the description above, the respective communities of aikido and BJJ are completely different. This idea of founder worship is foreign to the average BJJ practitioner that it has allowed the art to grow in a way that is the exact opposite of aikido.[18]
Perna leaves his editorial with a solution to “honor O-Sensei:” push aikido forward “in a way that is sincere, relevant, innovative, and includes the scrutiny that I believe he himself would have demanded.”[19]
Here, we see Perna use this need of preserving everything that is Morihei and point to something perhaps many aikidoka forget to realize: that the founder himself was still continuing his own training until his old age. Training, to Perna, is not to only repeat what was done before but to perform such training in different ways to achieve different results or the same results in a faster, more efficient method.[20]
Lastly, the fourth editorial to cite, by Hoa Newens, follows a similar theme to Perna before him, focusing on Morihei’s training and the results of those trainings. As Perna pointed out this need of preserving what Morihei did and how he did technique, and placing him upon a pedestal, Newens states that “Since the Founder’s passing in 1969, there has been no outstanding exponents of this martial art who achieved his level of understanding.” This lack of deeper or higher understanding, to Newens stems from the lackluster curriculums the multitude of aikido schools implement in an attempt to provide a holistic curriculum to better know aikido. In his words: “The curriculum in most Aikido schools does not include methods that lead to an understanding of Aiki, the universal force oft referred to by O Sensei in his lectures, nor methods to reach the spiritual awareness that caused O Sensei to proclaim that we are one family and Aikido is love.”[21]
To come to this same conclusion as the founder, the aikidoka who conduct such research “find no roadmap for the depth work, no traveled path that leads to the essence of Aikido.” Instead, as Newens argues, these aikidoka implement other arts and disciplines to fill in the gaps leading to Morihei’s understanding of aikido; “oftentimes these elements were imported wholesale into Aikido without the necessary paring and adjustments, resulting in the juxtaposition of incongruent practices with Aikido training.”[22]
To combat these subpar curriculums and cross training events, Newens created an “essential components” for an aikido training program, which includes “Body conditioning (Tanren), Code of conduct (Rei), Basic drills and techniques (Kihon undo), Energy work (Ki undo), Breath practices (Kokyu undo), Personal training program (Shugyo), Study and research (Kenkyu), Connection to the sources (Kishin), Meditation (Chinkon) and prayer.”[23]
From his editorial, Newens seems like he is calling for a more holistic approach to aikido, pointing to Morihei as a source of influence. In a way, however, it also seems that Newens wants to copy or mimic exactly how and what Morihei trained to achieve the conclusion of understanding aiki and aikido is love. While Morihei did leave materials behind for future generations, he was notorious for giving very little in terms of instruction and guidance. Moreover, many can see how his uchi deshi continued their own training to better understand aikido in their own way, whether turning to other martial disciplines, Zen Buddhism, or different activities altogether.[24]
Perhaps we as aikidoka seem to forget that Morihei was deeply religious throughout the majority of his adult life, joining the controversial group of Omoto-kyo in the thrones of dealing with the news of his father’s terminal illness. The combination of his religious and spiritual journey and his martial practice of Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu and what would become aikido transformed Morihei’s worldview. So much so that his vocabulary to explain martial proponents was tied to his religious vocabulary, resulting in many of his postwar uchi deshi being confused and wondering when the physical training would begin again.
This purpose of aikido, for the founder, was linked tightly to his spiritual and religious practices and beliefs that, to the outsider or even a knowledgeable aikidoka, it would be difficult to separate what was purely aikido and purely Omoto-kyo. Morihei’s purpose for training aikido was not philosophical, conflict resolution, or filling the gaps within a certain curriculum. Rather, his purpose stemmed from something that addressed every aspect of his life, personal and private. He created his own purpose throughout his years and ultimately modified the complex syllabus of Daito-ryu into what has become aikido. If aikidoka are to follow Morihei as a guide through their respective aikido training and journey, then who are they to dismiss his constant change, growth, and conclusions?
Moreover, if an aikidoka cannot mimic the purpose of the founder, do the plethora of uchi deshi not demonstrate a pathway to remotely understanding what Morihei achieved? Many of his students provided different aspects of the overall training regimen Newens describes the founder participated in, including, Gozo Shioda, Koichi Tohei, Kenji Tomiki, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Morihiro Saito, Seiseki Abe, and Kazuo Chiba, among others. These uchi deshi, barring the known resources Morihei left behind, are the best avenues back to the founder himself. These students would find their own purposes in training and teaching aikido, and perhaps, their conclusions are like that of Morihei’s. Without such consistent guidance, these uchi deshi ventured out on their own to find what they thought was missing from their own training, learning, and understanding. By looking at these direct students essentially mirroring their teacher’s change, growth, and conclusions throughout their respective years, it makes it difficult to see the criticism Newens voices regarding the importation of different practices into regular aikido training and curriculum.
Each aikidoka are drawn to different aspects of the art and their understandings differ from year to year and based on their own lived experiences. Morihei was different from his instructor, Sokaku Takeda; the numerous uchi deshi were different from Morihei; the uchi deshi’s students are different from their respective instructors and so on. It should be accepted that what works wholly for one person or a group of people will not wholly work for another, individual or group. Each generation is different and how they arrive at the same, similar or even different conclusions cannot be the same path. What worked for Takeda did not work for Morihei; what worked for Morihei did not work for his students. What worked for Morihei most likely will not work for students three generations after his death. Morihei’s strong connection to martial arts and Omoto-kyo helped him come to the understanding of aiki and this interconnection between people. Such a combination may not be correct for others; how many other religious groups and authorities have proclaimed something similar to a harmonious interconnection with others and the need to demonstrate love to one another, all while not being linked to any martial practice?
One of the biggest adages in the martial arts revolves around climbing a mountain. There is no single way to surmount the height – there are different ways up the mountain to the peak. This peak is symbolic of the conclusions or the end goal each martial system is attempting to achieve. In placing the conclusion of aiki as the mountain’s peak, one can observe that Morihei reached the top following his worldview of the martial arts and Omoto-kyo (others may disagree). He has supposedly cleared the way for others to follow him towards the peak. This path, however, is but just one way upwards. There are more paths to be cleared, explored, and followed that lead both up, around, and down that same mountain. Which path one person chooses is connected to their chosen purpose for training. As demonstrated above, there is a plethora of purposes to train aikido, ranging from the organizational level to the individual. While there are similarities between each purpose, they are ultimately unique to each practitioner. Organizations provide purposes in a manner to unify people under a single banner, however, such descriptions surrounding the purpose of training could be vague to ensure the largest number of practitioners join the organization. Conversely, individual aikidoka create their own meanings and interpretations of these organizational purpose “calling cards” regardless, consciously and subconsciously, to create a training environment or goal that resonates with them.
Through this editorial and thought experiment, unifying under one singular training goal, purpose, and understanding of the art for all of the international aikido community is, quite frankly, impossible. To quote Shin-Budo Kai’s Warren Wynshaw, “Reaching a common agreement about anything in aikido is unlikely, and that’s both a good and a bad thing.”[25] There is an organization and style for anyone who wants to join and participate. With this in mind, the international aikido world would be hard pressed to come together in an organizational sense and become unified. Perhaps what the international aikido world can be unified on is to allow the space for others to pursue their own training purposes and goals, without judgement and without disrespect. Such training may be different or similar from one’s own training and purpose, but this does not immediately grant anyone the right to degrade another person’s purpose. One does not need to participate in different trainings or schools or purposes, but to simply allow those practitioners the space to grow and explore new ideas, concepts and philosophies, as others have done with older purposes and trainings of yesteryear, is something each aikidoka can do today to create a more positive future for the community.
[1] Josh Gold, “Interview with Christian Tissier: The Order of the Rising Sun, 60 Years on the Mat, and the Future of Aikido,” Aikido Journal, March 10, 2026, Josh Gold, “The Fracture and the Future: Jacques Payet on the Evolution of Yoshinkan Aikido (Part 2),” Aikido Journal, March 3, 2026,
[2] Aikikai, “What is Aikido?,” Aikikai, 2025,
[3] “FAQs,” Aikido Yoshinkan Honbu Dojo, Aikido Yoshinkan Honbu Dojo, 2025,
[4] Ki Society, “About Shinshin Toitsu Aikido,” Shinshin Toitsu Aikido Global HP, 2026,
[5] Shodokan Aikido Federation, “About Aikido,” Shodokan Aikido Federation, 2021, Japan Aikido Association, “General information,” Japan Aikido Association, 2026,
[6] All Japan Kendo Federation, “The Concept of Kendo,” 全日本剣道連盟 AJKF, n.d., accessed June 11, 2021,
[7] Ron Cicero, “Aikido’s Branding Problem: Will Aikido Become the Kodak of the Martial Arts?,” Aikido Journal, September 4, 2018,
[8] Robert Savoca, “What Aikido Is, What It Is Not, and Why It Is of Value,” Aikido Journal, November 19, 2020,
[9] Savoca, “What Aikido Is, What It Is Not, and Why It Is of Value.”
[10] Savoca, “What Aikido Is, What It Is Not, and Why It Is of Value.”
[11] Savoca, “What Aikido Is, What It Is Not, and Why It Is of Value.”
[12] Patrick Cassidy, “Aikido: Past, Present and Future,” Aikido Journal, December 17, 2020,
[13] Cassidy, “Aikido.”
[14] Cassidy, “Aikido.”
[15] Cassidy, “Aikido”; Savoca, “What Aikido Is, What It Is Not, and Why It Is of Value.”
[16] Jason Perna, “A Future to Honor O-Sensei, by Jason Perna,” Aikido Journal, June 28, 2022,
[17] Perna, “A Future to Honor O-Sensei, by Jason Perna.”
[18] Perna, “A Future to Honor O-Sensei, by Jason Perna.”
[19] Perna, “A Future to Honor O-Sensei, by Jason Perna.”
[20] Perna, “A Future to Honor O-Sensei, by Jason Perna.”
[21] Hoa Newens, “Aikido Training Needs an Overhaul by Hoa Newens,” Aikido Journal, January 11, 2024,
[22] Newens, “Aikido Training Needs an Overhaul by Hoa Newens.”
[23] Newens, “Aikido Training Needs an Overhaul by Hoa Newens.”
[24] Newens, “Aikido Training Needs an Overhaul by Hoa Newens.”
[25] Antonio Aloia, “Interview with Longtime Shin Budo Kai Practitioner Warren Wynshaw: A Future of Aikido,” Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, December 4, 2024,
