Mill Valley Aikido

At Mill Valley Aikido we practice Traditional Aikido as passed down by Morihei Ueshiba, (“O-Sensei”) Founder of Aikido (1883-1969) and Morihiro Saito, Shihan, Chief Instructor, Iwama Dojo (1928-2002) Traditional Aikido, with its historical roots going back many hundreds of years to Jujitsu, provides a broad system of highly effective self-defense techniques.Aikido uses a range of powerful locks, throws and pins to immobilize an attacker. In addition to empty handed techniques, we teach Saito Shihan’s traditional system of Aiki-Jo (wooden staff) and Aiki-Ken (wooden sword). These weapons are critical to the understanding of how traditional Aikido techniques are performed. Aikido develops balance, flexibility and coordination, as well as concentration and self-confidence while being physically attacked.
At Mill Valley Aikido, we stress safety, harmony and non-violence which are central themes in Aikido. Therefore, there are no competitions, tournaments or full-contact sparring. However, the training enables the learning of pragmatic techniques which can be employed to protect oneself with the potential option of limiting damage to the attacker.