Style Differences

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[Jordan Kinden]

I've been considering studying the Martial Arts for a long time now, and Aikido always surfaces as the one I'm most interested in.

The nearest school to me teaches "Hombu Aikikai". I'm curious as to whether or not this differs from a place that teaches "Aikikai"? Or is it essentially the same thing with a more formal name?

Please forgive my ignorance ;)

[guest1234]

There are many different styles of Aikido (perhaps as many as there are Aikidoka, but formally less than that :) )...
I believe Hombu just refers to the main or home dojo, so even each style could have a 'hombu'...I'd suggest just going and see if you like it, if you do, it doesn't matter if it is 'the one true form' as each style will feel that they, of course, are...:rolleyes:

My first dojo we said Christian prayers before class, greeted each other in Hebrew, and did not bow. Now that I've seen a few other places, I can safely say this is not the norm...but I learned there an awful lot of very good Aikido by most folks standards, and the other dojo in town, which would occasionally get us transferees, felt it was a place that taught great ukemi...we 'refugees' were immediately recognised by our breakfalls.

[Edward]

Well, it must be Aikikai definitely. The Sensei has probably studied at the Hombu Dojo and wants to emphasize this fact. Why don't you ask the Sensei to give you more information about the school's affiliation? I'm sure he will be very happy to provide you with that.

It is always a good idea to inquire about the style and affiliation of any school before joining, and looking it up on Aikiweb for example, as you might end up studying something that you did not intend to learn initially.

[tedehara]

Originally posted by Jordan Kinden
I've been considering studying the Martial Arts for a long time now, and Aikido always surfaces as the one I'm most interested in.

The nearest school to me teaches "Hombu Aikikai". I'm curious as to whether or not this differs from a place that teaches "Aikikai"? Or is it essentially the same thing with a more formal name?

Please forgive my ignorance ;)

Hombu means headquarters and has commonly refered to the mainstream Aikido organization of Aikikai World Headquarters (http://www.aikikai.org/about/index_e.html). It is actually more of a political organization than an actual type of Aikido style. There are many different sub-organizations within Aikikai. Some have a hard or linear style closer to Yoshinkan while others have a softer, circular style closer to Ki Society, yet all are members of Aikikai. Aikikai is the organization that came from Morihei Ueshiba's (the founder of Aikido) original dojo.

So your guess is correct. Hombu Aikikai is a more formal name for Aikikai.

[Greg Jennings]

Originally posted by tedehara


Hombu means headquarters and has commonly refered to the mainstream Aikido organization of Aikikai World Headquarters (http://www.aikikai.org/about/index_e.html). It is actually more of a political organization than an actual type of Aikido style. There are many different sub-organizations within Aikikai. Some have a hard or linear style closer to Yoshinkan while others have a softer, circular style closer to Ki Society, yet all are members of Aikikai. Aikikai is the organization that came from Morihei Ueshiba's (the founder of Aikido) original dojo.

So your guess is correct. Hombu Aikikai is a more formal name for Aikikai.

I would say that "Hombu Aikikai" is an attempt at being slightly more specific than just "Aikikai" or "Hombu".

Strictly speaking, the "Aikikai" is more formally the "Zaidan Hojin Aikikai" which roughly translates to "The Aikikai Foundation". It is a organizational/legal entity.

As someone once said "there are as many styles of aikido as there are people practicing aikido".

It should come as no surprise that, even at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo, obviously distinct styles of aikido are taught.

Personally, I think that's a good thing :) .

Regards,