Aikido, a modern Japanese martial art (or correct: a martial
way = “budo”), is a surrogate or synthesis of ancient budo schools where martial skills (bujutsu) and warfare (heiho) as well as spiritual exercises were taught to the Japanese warriors (samurai). In its
unique approach, aikido hands down the essence of Japanese
war culture and samurai tradition (bushido). Aikido is still a martial
way of training and developing body, mind and
spirit, it is still true budo but without being an anachronism to our modern
day world. So, the ancient budo principles, methods, and strategies are no longer used to prepare for the medieval battlefields but for self-defense situations, they are no longer methods of warfare but of conflict resolution. Based on its ethical basis, aikido teaches appropriate and peaceful answers to violence and conflict in modern societies.
