Re: Good beginner Aikido book or DVD
A couple of new books might work well for you: "Aikido: Essential Guide to Mastering the Art" by Bruce Allemann (this is a very visual book, with excellent photography), and "Aikido: Basic and Intermediate Studies", by John Litchen (this book is written as a scholastic textbook, with many drawings).
Also fairly recent is "Aikido Basics", by Phong Sensei and the fellow whose response precedes this entry, Lynn Seiser, who humbly neglects to mention his own book, so I will. This book is an excellent and balanced introduction to Aikido, including those aspects beyond the purely technical.
Two other good bets are "Best Aikido: The Fundamentals" and "The Aikido Master Course: Best Aikido 2", both by Moriteru Ueshiba Doshu. There are dozens of other worthy suggestions, but these five should get you well on your way. Don't be content with just one or two books. Experience as many as you can, and get in the dojo and TRAIN.
P.S. For an Aikido-specific language primer, find a copy of Michael Taylor's "Aikido Terminology". It's got translations galore, all cross-referenced, and kanji, too.
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