# Are the same techniques part of all Aikido styles?



## Acronym (Jan 8, 2021)

Are some techniques exclusively to certain styles?

Also, is there any general difference in terms of cardio or other things that goes around in different dojos?

Simply put, how do they differ?


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## MetalBoar (Jan 9, 2021)

Acronym said:


> Are some techniques exclusively to certain styles?
> 
> Also, is there any general difference in terms of cardio or other things that goes around in different dojos?
> 
> Simply put, how do they differ?


I've spent at least a little time in several different branches of Aikido in a number of different schools. In my experience most if not all schools are going to teach the same set of techniques but they are not necessarily going to apply them in the same way. Some will have larger circles or will be more or less flowery. As far as cardio goes, yeah, that sort of thing is going to vary a _lot_ from school to school. A lot of schools I've been to have not done anything for fitness outside of the side effects of training the techniques themselves (and in some cases that was effectively nothing). On the other hand I went to a Yoshinkan Aikido dojo for a while that spent 20-30 minutes of every class on push ups and similar body weight training.


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## Acronym (Jan 9, 2021)

MetalBoar said:


> I've spent at least a little time in several different branches of Aikido in a number of different schools. In my experience most if not all schools are going to teach the same set of techniques but they are not necessarily going to apply them in the same way. Some will have larger circles or will be more or less flowery. As far as cardio goes, yeah, that sort of thing is going to vary a _lot_ from school to school. A lot of schools I've been to have not done anything for fitness outside of the side effects of training the techniques themselves (and in some cases that was effectively nothing). On the other hand I went to a Yoshinkan Aikido dojo for a while that spent 20-30 minutes of every class on push ups and similar body weight training.



Is there any difference in intensity?


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## MetalBoar (Jan 9, 2021)

Acronym said:


> Is there any difference in intensity?


I'm not sure I follow the question. Do you mean intensity of the physical workout? If so, then yes, that can vary a lot from school to school but I suspect it's more a matter of what each instructor wants to focus on and not so much a matter of which flavor of Aikido you're doing. I mean, I'd *guess* that the average Yoshinkan dojo may train with a little more physical intensity than the average Ki Society dojo, but I expect that the individual instructor is more significant by far. Tomiki Aikido (which I haven't done yet) may be an exception in that they are a competitive, sport style and I would, again, _*guess*_ that their training is more physically intense.


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## Acronym (Jan 9, 2021)

MetalBoar said:


> I'm not sure I follow the question. Do you mean intensity of the physical workout? If so, then yes, that can vary a lot from school to school but I suspect it's more a matter of what each instructor wants to focus on and not so much a matter of which flavor of Aikido you're doing. I mean, I'd *guess* that the average Yoshinkan dojo may train with a little more physical intensity than the average Ki Society dojo, but I expect that the individual instructor is more significant by far.



I mean the grappling and techniques applied


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## MetalBoar (Jan 9, 2021)

Acronym said:


> I mean the grappling and techniques applied


I'm not an expert of Aikido, I've just got a few years spread over several schools, so don't take what I say as any kind of gospel. In my experience, and my reading on the subject mostly agrees with this, Yoshinkan is one of the harder styles of Aikido, it's got smaller circles, it's not very flowery at all, and tends to have a greater focus on martial application than some styles. Ki Society Aikido is more focused on personal development and the movements tend to be large and flowery. Iwama is somewhere in between but is usually closer to Yoshinkan than Ki society in my experience. Tomiki Aikido is a sport version and is likely to be more focused on functional application than most other styles, at least by reputation. They all pretty much use the same techniques, but there can be a large difference in how they are executed. Again, individual instructor is going to play a major part in how any style is taught.


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## Acronym (Jan 9, 2021)

MetalBoar said:


> I'm not an expert of Aikido, I've just got a few years spread over several schools, so don't take what I say as any kind of gospel. In my experience, and my reading on the subject mostly agrees with this, Yoshinkan is one of the harder styles of Aikido, it's got smaller circles, it's not very flowery at all, and tends to have a greater focus on martial application than some styles. Ki Society Aikido is more focused on personal development and the movements tend to be large and flowery. Iwama is somewhere in between but is usually closer to Yoshinkan than Ki society in my experience. Tomiki Aikido is a sport version and is likely to be more focused on functional application than most other styles, at least by reputation. They all pretty much use the same techniques, but there can be a large difference in how they are executed. Again, individual instructor is going to play a major part in how any style is taught.



Is KI society akkikai?


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## MetalBoar (Jan 9, 2021)

Acronym said:


> Is KI society akkikai?


Ki Society - Wikipedia


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## JP3 (Jan 10, 2021)

MetalBoar said:


> I'm not sure I follow the question. Do you mean intensity of the physical workout? If so, then yes, that can vary a lot from school to school but I suspect it's more a matter of what each instructor wants to focus on and not so much a matter of which flavor of Aikido you're doing. I mean, I'd *guess* that the average Yoshinkan dojo may train with a little more physical intensity than the average Ki Society dojo, but I expect that the individual instructor is more significant by far. Tomiki Aikido (which I haven't done yet) may be an exception in that they are a competitive, sport style and I would, again, _*guess*_ that their training is more physically intense.



For the Tomiki-ryu that I came up training in, that assumption would be incorrect, but to be fair, we didn't do the competition side of things as it was so rule-based that it no longer made sense at all from any objective measure.  Well, I guess in any sense at all except to set up some rules for a game and then go try to win the constructed game, e.g. badminton.

For y'all that don't know, Tomiki aikido has a competition side (tanto-dori) which is "sort of" styled off of judo competitions.  The uke has a plastic training knife, and nage is unarmed and is supposed to defend against the knife using Tomiki aikido techniques (more on this statement in a second, while I get rid of this explanation/differentiation), there are timed rounds, uke attacks, nage defends, and you score points by applying successful techniques. Then, at the end of the round, the competitors swap roles, and begin again. The scores are compared and you'll get a winner and if not there's "overtime," so to speak.

   However, it's become so stylized that the players don't recognize any longer, even to pay it lip service, that things would be COMPLETELY different if that was a live blade, with a cutting edge and not just a pointy-end.  So, to anyone who's ever done any knife defense training... shoot, even Thought about it seriously for a minute, that person would call B.S. on the whole thing as being "martial."  Energetic, as to the O/P and MB' spost above, sure. Martial, effective, meaningful in any sense other than an attempt to get a ribbon or a cheap plastic trophy, Nah.

    What I think Acronym is asking about is addressed more I think by pointing out that a Lot of Tomiki Aikido dojo also have partnered/linked judo programs, since the training paradigms are parallel, though the techniques themselves aren't. Principles are Exactly the same, quoted off of each other. In fact, we often say Tomiki Aikido is Judo from a greater distance.

   So, like in my own Wasabi Dojo, which was patterned off of my aikido/judo instructor's school, and his from his own (That'd be the deceased Karl Geis), we do judo class, with its full-tilt physical bodyweight conditioning, and then when judo's over, some folks would hang out to do aikido. Some people would only show up for judo, some for aikido of course, but the die-hards did both, in a row, and (in my opinion) got exponentially better training results.  So, in that sense, yes, a school such as what I just described would have better physical conditioned people than a Ki Society school, who (I imagine) sit in seiza and say "ooohhhhmmmmmm" a lot).  J/K

  Oh, and nomenclature.  I've yet to find a Hambu school, Aikikai program or other branch of aikido technique that isn't also contained in Tomiki, and vice-versa.  What changes is the name and how/when the technique is taught/expressed, but they're there.


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## C Sal (May 12, 2021)

Acronym said:


> Are some techniques exclusively to certain styles?
> 
> Also, is there any general difference in terms of cardio or other things that goes around in different dojos?
> 
> Simply put, how do they differ?


I've done Tomiki, Iwama Aikido, and Aikikai and yes the difference is quite obvious. The grip alone is a BIG difference. In Iwama Aikido, the grip is full power, it's like a Vice Grip. Tomiki Aikido is very sport-oriented, where randori is present at the end of all classes. Aikikai is more flowing and has a lot of emphasis on ki no Nagare. My statement here is an oversimplification of schools. But if you look at the core of the technique they have a lot of similarities. They all have 'aiki' or 'awase' in the technique. Ideally there's no clash in energy.


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