For its founder, Morihei Ueshiba, aikido was not regarded as a sport, but rather as ‘Misogi-Waza’ (loosely translated as: ‘mi’: body; ‘Misogi’: to scrape, rub or cut the body).
There are no competitions in aikido!
Partners work together so that each can perfect their technique. Grades are awarded on the basis of a demonstration of various techniques, without the partners facing each other as opponents.
Training sessions consist largely of kata-geiko: the roles of attacker and defender are fixed, as are the attack and defence techniques, which are generally predetermined.
It is only once one has become an experienced aikido practitioner that one begins, little by little, to move beyond the forms; initially, for example during free practice sessions, attack and defence are no longer strictly prescribed; subsequently, one begins to move beyond the division of roles between uke and tori.
Whilst in some schools, kata are only practised with the bokken and jo, in most Aikido schools, kata practised with a partner – that is, kata-geiko – form the main form of training.
The aikidoka strives to achieve a certain freedom in their own movements and to stop thinking about every single movement. The sequences of movements must become second nature.
Regular practice improves flexibility and, through complex sequences of movements, enhances concentration, coordination, gross and fine motor skills, as well as physical and mental wellbeing.