“Under Emperor Kanmu’s supreme authority to promote martial chivalry, the Butokuden (Hall of Martial Virtues) was established 794 A.D. to encourage the Bushi warriors to develop their military prowess. They say that May 5th of 818 A.D. by the imperial order of Emperor Saga, the Yabusame ceremony (Archery on Horseback) was conducted in honor of the warriors’ tradition to promote aristocratic authority of the imperial majesty in the Butokuden (Hall of Martial Virtues) located near Heian Shrine(circa 781A.D.) in Kyoto, Japan. Since then, Butokuden became the center of all martial arts training throughout the history of Japan. From the late 9th century, the rise of fighting men with military and martial skills began to dominate the fate of Japanese history. ”
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“There comes a time for many of us where there are not enough classes in the week to train. In actually the dojo is a place to learn and refine as opposed to repetitively drill and strengthen, so we should all be doing home practice anyway. So when we are without our fellow students what can we do and how effective is it?
“Martial Art techniques are generally taught through the physical realm as the primary, or in most cases, the only significant process used. When a student first enters the dojo (a place to train in the Martial Way), the main goal is to teach that student physical movements as they’re associated with the art being learned. Although attention to this detail is very important, it often becomes the central and only focus of training. This has been traditionally true in the West.
The caption for the photo states that Kano was highly impressed with O’Sensei’s budo. I’m wondering about the effect that Kano had on O’Sensei. The fact that Kano had ‘synthesized elements of old-style jujutsu schools with his own principles and philosophy of education to create modern judo’ sounds quite similar to what O’Sensei had done with Aikido. Knowing what Kano had done with Judo must have given O’Sensei some incentive to also create a ‘martial art’ that was ‘for the entire world’.
“An important quality to posses as a teacher, any teacher, is the ability to continuously stay open and question the known. This necessarily involves taking risks, having an attitude of acceptance towards change, being open to making mistakes and holding an understanding that mistakes offer a great potential for learning. Continuous exploration and learning promotes growth in the art as well as maturation of the Human Being.
“There are a variety of aikido styles. The larger and better known styles each have their own headquarters in Japan and an international breadth. The first generation style aikikai is still associated with the family of the founder of aikido (合気道 ,aikidō?), Morihei Ueshiba.[1] Second generation styles were founded by direct students of the founder.[1] A number of additional styles of developed over time, some of which are notable in their own right through their size or historical association. These styles are distinct from independent dojos or small dojo clusters.
The article below has been selected from the 
“Stanley Pranin began publishing a small magazine called Aiki News in 1974. He is a historian and through careful study and interviews with many of the active participants in aikido built a thorough knowledge of aikido history. Aiki News has gone through a number of changes over the years and now is web based as Aikido Journal. The Encyclopedia was an attempt by Pranin to collate much of the info he had “discovered” over the years into an easy reference volume. I suspect that the hard copy of the Encyclopedia is out of print and out of date and not worth pursuing. But Aikido Journal now publishes an online version of the Encylcopedia. ”
We have just uploaded a new addition to the Aikido Journal channel on Youtube.com. Aikido Journal Editor Stanley Pranin describes the circumstances of how he began publication of Aiki News and Aikido Journal the forerunners of the aikidojournal.com website. Check it out to learn about the antecedents of the Aikido Journal website.
“In 1954, Kanshu Sunadomari, a pre-war uchideshi of the founder of Aikido, opened the first professional Aikido dojo in Kyushu. The dojo was given the name “Manseikan”. Using the Manseikan Dojo in Kumamoto City as a base, Sunadomari Sensei began disseminating the art of Aikido throughout the Kyushu area After the founder’s death in 1969, Sunadomari Sensei took his group of affiliated dojos independent. The headquarters dojo was established in Kumamoto City and the name of the practice was changed to “Manseikan Aikido.”