The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Doshu (the family heir of the founder of Aikido). It is represented globally through the International Aikido Federation.

Aikikai Foundation

The is the original aikido organization. It has been an incorporated entity in Japan since 1940 under the name , then re-registered under the name "Aikikai" after the ban on Aikido practice was lifted by the GHQ in 1948. It is headed by the doshu, the living successor of the founder of aikido.

The Aikikai Foundation operates Hombu dojo, which is also named Aikido World Headquarters. It is sometimes called the Aikikai Hombu to distinguish it from the headquarters of later aikido organisations. It is located in Tokyo. The term "Hombu" may sometimes be used loosely to refer to the upper echelons of instructors at Hombu dojo, or to the Aikikai Foundation itself.

The Aikikai Foundation also currently manages one satellite dojo, the historical Iwama dojo in Ibaraki (about 100 km northeast of Tokyo).

The Aikikai Foundation sends instructors around Japan on a continual basis.

In 1967 the original single-story wooden structure was replaced by a five-story modern building. Training takes place in three rooms which total about 250 tatami in area.

Overseas, there are about 100 foreign aikido organisations recognised by the Hombu. These are ostensibly national aikido organisations that each represent many dojos and many students. The gradings of students in these organisations are certified specifically by the Hombu. (The Hombu has procedures for examinations and recommendations of aikido grades and instructor titles, and ideally this ensures a degree of international consistency and serves to prevent local instructors from boastfully exaggerating their own ranks.) However, regardless of recognition, all foreign aikido groups remain organisationally independent from the Aikikai Foundation.</blockquote>

Kazuo Chiba has implied that the style of training in Hombu concentrated less on physical rigor because of its demographic: <blockquote>"A large portion of the membership at Iwama Dojo consisted of local farmers, hard workers who spent all day in the fields. They had thick bones and great physical strength, combined with a peculiar local character known as "Mito kishitsu," a type of manliness close to gallantry.

Altogether, it was quite an opposite culture from Hombu Dojo in Tokyo. Because it is in the capital of Japan, Hombu’s membership consists of white-collar workers, intellectuals, businessmen, politicians and university students."</blockquote>

It has been noted by aikido researchers affiliated with other styles that many of the senior teachers at the Aikikai spent little time training under Morihei Ueshiba, and that Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Koichi Tohei (and following Tohei's departure, Kisaburo Osawa) were largely responsible for the Aikikai curriculum. As a result, it has been argued that the teachings of the Aikikai are derived from those of the second Doshu, Kisshomaru, and that the art promulgated by the Aikikai differs from that taught by the founder, Morihei Ueshiba.

References

  • "The travelling Aikidoka's guide to practice at Hombu Dojo". Information and answers to frequently asked questions about travelling to Tokyo in order to train at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo.