The rules of Aikido practice

Aikido is not a sports discipline. It is very much a mind and a body-training practice. The physical techniques are not the main aims of the art; they stand as a tool for a spiritual development as well as for a personal mastery.

You should remember that one throw could kill your offender therefore always listen to your instructor during exercise. Never treat your practice as an opportunity to test your power.

Always listen to your instructor and have his instructions in mind; they always prevail over your personal opinions. No matter how long your practice is you will never exceed your personal borders if you stick to your judgments.

Aikido is an art that requires you to face a group of offenders. It requires your total commitment and focus so that your movements are perfect enough not only to react on the one who is in front of you but also the ones who appear from various directions.

Aikido has emerged as an art to fight attacks from various directions. If you are prepared to face only one offender than you involve yourself in an ordinary fight. Your straight and alerted body together with your calm and relaxed mind are a base of any Aikido exercise.

No student is allowed to use Aikido to hurt others. It is a moral duty of each student to obey this regulation and if not, even dismissal from the school is possible.

One should up-hold their ego while practice. Aikido is not a street fight therefore you should quit your aggressive instincts. Aikido is not about prevailing over an enemy; it is about overcoming your own, personal aggression.

Your boldness, rudeness and aggression are not tolerated during practice. We all have to be aware of our own limits.

You should practice with joy.

It is very difficult to practice carefully for a long period of time but if you do continue you will get satisfactory results without exhaustion.

Some people do think that one has to suffer while practicing but if you are concentrated and relaxed, you will not.

Your instructor's suggestion refers to a tiny part of what aikido practice really is about. You have to study with devotion to achieve results.

Aikido knows thousands of techniques. Some students want to learn all of them but after some time they just realise that they have not achieved satisfactory results and they ambition disappear. Because there are numerous variants of each technique the instructor emphasizes the meaning of the elementary version of each technique. The beginners should always bear that in mind.

If you learn the basic technique you will achieve a certain degree of mastery and you will be able to use it successfully.

Your daily Aikido practice starts off with very gentle movements of your body. They gradually become more intensive. They are easy enough even to elderly people.

In Aikido moderation and gentleness is the key thing - if you exaggerate you will not achieve anything but pain.

Young students sometimes value their power and work on it, meanwhile, if natural and gentle the movements themselves give you the actual power.

Aikido requires your body and soul. It does not aim for a "powerful man" or a "powerful woman"…it aims for a balanced and mature personality.

All of aikido students obey the same rules so they should co-operate with each other with harmony and in peace.

If you are not willing to accept the above rules than, unfortunately, you will not be able to practice in any Dojo, whatsoever.