An Aiki Manifesto

(The Mission Statement of Aiki Arts and Aikido Shusekai)

The mission of Aiki Arts and Aikido Shusekai is to practice and teach aikido as a martial art, as a way of seeing the world, as a way of doing business, a way of conducting relationships, a way of fostering peace, and a way of living a more powerful, more graceful, more fulfilling life.

We draw freely from other styles, and from other arts and disciplines, adopting that which serves our mission and discarding that which does not.

We are not affiliated with any other aikido style, organization, or lineage, and we do not believe that any style, organization, or lineage has a monopoly on good aikido, or knows all there is to know about it.

Just as there is no single right way to live, there is no single right way to practice aikido.

We believe that the merit of any given approach to aikido is best judged by observing the effects it has upon those who spend a long time practicing it.

We reject the authority of any and all schools, teachers, or organizations that seek to establish, maintain, or support any political hierarchy in the world of aikido, whether based on rank, lineage, or any other factor. The traditional hierarchies of rank and authority that still govern much of the world of aikido do nothing to improve the art, and indeed often serve to stifle the free exchange of ideas that is necessary for the continued evolution and refinement of any system. Such hierarchies are neither intrinsic nor necessary to aikido; they are an outmoded relic of the repressive Japanese feudal system, and have no place among a free people.

We are working to help create a world in which people govern their own lives with grace, compassion, and dignity, rather than being governed through fear, greed, and coercion. Such a change in the world must begin as a change within people, and people cannot be changed en masse through preaching or legislation, but only one at a time by their own choice and through their own efforts. We practice and teach aikido as a means of personal transformation, and thus as a means of transforming the world.