The video above is from 2007, at my present dojo Enighet in Malmö, Sweden. The photo to the right is from 1974, with an adolescent me as uke to Ichimura sensei, my aikido teacher at that time.

     Now, I have practiced aikido for 40 years. How many hobbies will last for that long, and remain fascinating? Normally I am impatient, to say the least. Anything that I have to repeat over and over will very quickly lose its attraction.

     Not so with aikido, the gentle martial art from Japan. I keep on doing those exercises, keep on struggling to refine the aikido techniques - and my fascination increases. This is an anomaly, a koan if you will, that can only be comprehended if aikido is seen neither as a sport nor a system of self defense, but as an art.

     Of course aikido an art. Endlessly intriguing, infinitely variable, never perfected - what else could it be?

     Apart from this website I have written some books about aikido and such: Aikido Principles, Attacks in Aikido, Aikibatto: Sword Exercises for Aikido Students, Qi: Increase your Life Energy.

Tables of all the aikido techniques and attacks, and their combinations. With comments and explanations.

A dictionary of aikido terms and their meanings.

Texts and video clips on ikkyo against several different attacks. Ikkyo, the first technique of aikido, can be done in many ways and against many attack forms. Here are most of them.

Kogeki, the attack techniques in aikido. Photos and comments about the most common attack forms used in aikido, and tips about how to do them.

Several aikido video clips - both from seminars and from instructional recordings. In some of them I do rather improvised versions of basic and not so basic aikido techniques, in others I stick to basic forms for clarity.

Tantodori, aikido defense against knife attacks - some techniques. This is focused on how to take the knife from the attacker at the end of the technique, something that many aikidoka do without enough care.

The jo 31 kata in four directions. The traditional 31 kata practiced in aikido is in two directions - front and back - but that is odd for a kata with so many movements. At my dojo, we have allowed ourselves to modify it into a four directions kata. See how we do it, and see if you approve or not.

Aikido sword exercises with partner and bokken, or solo like iaido. There are some very complex systems of sword exercises in aikido, often demanding a high strain on one's memory at the cost of properly exercising the sword technique fundamentals. This is a simple exercise system we use at my dojo. I call it aikibatto, since it combines aspects of aikido with those of iaido (batto).

There's much discussion about aikido as self-defense. Does it work, and if so - how to do it? This text tries to answer some such questions and explore what "realistic" really means.

How to do kogeki,
the attack techniques
My book about all the attack techniques in aikido, and how to do them correctly. The book also contains lists of the techniques and attack forms of aikido combined.
More about the book here.

The aikido technique koshinage against a few basic attacks, described in text and videos.

The aikido technique yonkyo and how to apply it, described in text and video.

Basic Concepts of the Peaceful Martial Art
Here is my aikido book in English, presenting the principles, philosophy, and basic concepts of aikido.
More about the book here.

The aikido technique kotegaeshi against different attacks, described in text and videos.

Video clips and explanations on the basic aikido pinning technique nikyo, against a couple of particularly difficult attacks - mainly katadori, shoulder grip, and munedori, collar grip. A relaxed way of training nikyo is also shown.

In addition to what you find about aikibatto on this website, the book also contains chap­ters about practical and spiritual aspects of the sword arts, equip­ment for training, and how to teach and learn aikibatto.
More about the book here.

Video clips and explanations on the basic aikido pinning technique sankyo, against a couple of typical attacks. A relaxed way of using sankyo to control the partner's body is also shown.

About ki, the life energy, middle syllable in the word aikido, and essential in training. Explanations and exercises.

About tanden, the Center, what it is, how it works and how to exercise it - not just in aikido.

The ups and downs of running your own aikido dojo. What my experiences have taught me.

My columns at the AikiWeb.com aikido website.

Photos of me and my friends on the aikido tatami, from my dojo and others, in Sweden and abroad.

Aikido principles in celestial mechanics. Originally, I wrote this article as a chronicle for a Swedish Martial Arts magazine, then I translated it for the Aikikai Hombu dojo leaflet The Aikido. It compares some aspects of aikido with those laws of gravity revealed by Einstein.

A commented selection of my favorite books about aikido, and about things related to it.

The overwhelming experiences of the beginner. How I got into aikido. The foreword to my book on the aikido basics and principles.

I wrote my first book on aikido in Swedish, which was translated into German by Sabine Neumann. Here you find the complete German translation of the book, page by page, both as regular webpages, and as an Acrobat PDF file. There is also an English version of the book, as mentioned above.

A short Aikido biography of yours truly.

Here is information about my aikido seminars in Sweden and other countries.

A personal selection of Aikido links. It's not a big list at all, but I hope that you find these links of interest. I do.

Express your own views. Please let me know what you feel or think about some or all of what you have found here.