Three Popular Styles in Aikido

Aikido incorporates some fourteen different styles; three of them that remain popular today were developed by Ueshiba's students—Kenji Tomiki, Koichi Tohei, and Gozo Shioda— and in two cases are named after them. Tomiki aikido is distinguished by its practical elements of self-defense, which is why it is often practiced competitively.

As in many martial arts styles, students can choose from several types of competition. In aikido they can compete in forms, which are prearranged movements, performed indi­vidually or in pairs, incorporating various techniques. They can compete in trios in a "free style" format in which tech­niques are performed randomly, and they can compete against one another using knives or short swords. Finally, they can compete in pairs, unarmed, by applying techniques.

At the other end of the aikido spectrum is Tohei aikido, which emphasizes the spirituality of the art, especially the concept of ki. In this style, the student's goal is to harmonize her ki with that of her opponent.

Yoshin aikido, founded by Shioda, is combat-oriented though it doesn't advocate competition. It places less empha­sis on ki, and more emphasis on "hard" training methods. The style incorporates some 150 basic techniques, which enable the student to master the remaining ones, which total some 3,000.

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• Three Popular Styles in Aikido

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