Physics of Aikido Essay - 2127 Words

Aikido is the martial art that focuses primarily on redirection and control of ones opponent (uke. Pronounced OO-kay). This consists of a set of throws and holds which are intended to subdue and control an uke without permanently harming them. On a spiritual level, Aikido is focused on bringing harmony of the body into harmony of others. Roughly translated Aikido means The Way of Harmony of the Spirit which holds true today, though different schools place different emphasis on the spiritual aspect. Aikido was first created approximatly 80 years ago by Morihei Ueshiba, and took a great many techniques from Jujitsu, Judo and Kenjutsu and modified them. Ueshiba focused on forming a martial art that placed a great emphasis on moral and†¦show more content†¦Highly related to Judo, an art which also seeks to rob an uke of stability, Aikido incorporates many other martial arts as well, all of which contribute to the basic idea of unbalancing your uke by using their own energy against them. Equally important to making an uke unstable is retaining your own stability. A great deal of emphasis is placed upon the ability of an Aikidoist to stay centered. In terms of physics, this is the control over the location of your center of mass. The movement of the center of mass from within ones body to a point where that person is no longer in equilibrium is the reason why people fall down. Well take a closer look at how an Aikidoist manipulates his own center of mass, and the center of m ass of others to perform techniques. Newtons Laws All three of Newtons laws can be applied to Aikido and the techniques therein. Lets take a look at them one at a time. 1) An object in motion tends to remain in motion. An Aikidoist realizes that an object moving in a direction will probably continue in that direction. A giant thug charging at you is not going to be stopped easily, so why bother stopping him? By simply getting out of the way, and avoiding the attack an Aikidoist has already begun a technique. Certain techniques take advantage of the fact that a body in