he 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 teacher at that time. Today I have practiced aikido for 35 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 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 it's an art - endlessly intriguing, infinitely variable, never perfected. What else could it be?

Stefan Stenudd

Aikido glossary
A dictionary of aikido terms and their meanings.

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

My aikido book
The Peaceful Martial Art. Here is my aikido book in English, presenting the principles and basic concepts of aikido. It is not about the aikido techniques, but the thoughts and ideas behind them.
More about the book here.


AIKIBATTO
Now, I have written a book about aikibatto, the system of sword and staff exercises for aikido students. Apart from what you find on my website, there are some additional chap­ters: about practical and spiritual aspects of the sword arts, equip­ment for training, teaching and learning aikibatto.
More about the book here.

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

Ikkyo
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.

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

Nikyo
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.

Sankyo
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.

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

Video clips
Video clips from an aikido seminar in the Czech Republic, where I do rather improvised versions of some basic and some not so basic techniques. Also some other aikido videos.

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

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

Jo 31 kata
The jo 31 kata in four directions. The traditional 31 kata 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.

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

Tanden, the Center
About tanden, the Center, what it is, how it works and how to exercise it.

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

Aiki Batto
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).

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

Osensei and Einstein
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.

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

Aikido is true
The overwhelming experiences of the beginner. How I got into aikido. Translation from the foreword to my Swedish book on aikido.

Aikido - die friedliche kampfkunst

About me

Links
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.

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

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Aikido directory on DMOZ
Aikido directory on the DMOZ search engine - the directory behind it all.

Search Amazon for books about aikido:

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