About the meaning(s) of Aikidō (合氣道)

There are many ways to explain Aikidō in words. To be honest, each of them sounds slightly different. And each is a description that does not come close to the experience. However, one approach that can be outlined relatively quickly is via the meaning of those characters – called kanji – which are then rendered in English with the syllables „ai“, „ki“ and „dō“.

The three characters on which the word Aikidō is based stand briefly for the following terms: ai (to unify, adapt, connect, harmonise), ki (life energy of the individual, but also of the entire universe) and dō, which means path. (cf. Fürst 1999, 29).

If you look up the first character (合) in a dictionary (see entry in the online dictionary Wadoku), it spits out around 200 possible translations, word and character combinations. The same applies to most other kanji, which usually have several meanings on their own and whose number increases many times over when combined with other characters.

One way to gain more clarity, however, is to break down the individual symbols into their component parts and find out their origin.

合

The first symbol is made up of three elements: The roof-shaped structure at the very top is derived from the character 人 for hito (man or human being, mankind). The horizontal line in the centre (一: hi) means one. The square shape at the bottom (口: kuchi) symbolises a mouth, an opening and can also be translated as language, beginning, idea, etc. A possible overall interpretation would therefore be: “Humanity with an idea. Unity, harmony. In a broader sense also love.” (Shewan, 2006; kanjivision.de, 2015)

氣

The second symbol (氣) in Aikidō is pronounced „ki“. Ki is a rather meaningful term in the Japanese language that cannot be translated into a foreign language very well. Life force, character, consciousness and intention are just some of the possible translations. The character itself symbolises a cooking pot filled with boiling rice (kome, 米), from which steam (ki, 气, also: breath, spirit) rises, suggesting an association with power or energy. (see: jisho.org, 2015; Langenscheidt 2003; Shewan, 2006)

道

Finally, “dō” (道), the pronunciation of the third and final character in German, is derived from the Chinese Tao or Dao. Way, path or route are common translations.

Dō is made up of the components ⻌ (shinyou), for passing or moving, and 首 (kubi: head, neck). The character in turn contains 自 (mizukara) for self, 目(ma: eye) and 并 (awaseru: connect). (cf.: Hadamitzky, 2012, 92; jisho.org 2015; Taylor 2004, 8)

From a philosophical perspective, however, doctrine and principle also lend themselves as superordinate meanings for 道. In terms of a martial art, as I understand it at the moment, dō points out the addition of spiritual components to a technical-artistic concept (術, jutsu: method, means, technique, etc.). According to Niponica Magazine, “treading” the numerous paths (Ken-do, Ka-do, Sho-do, Sa-do, etc.) is ultimately about self-knowledge through repeated practice of traditional basic forms, so-called kata (see: Niponica, 2015).

If you take everything together, you might come up with a translation such as “path to harmony by means of life force” or – even simpler – “path to harmony” or – even better -, “path to unify by means of vital energy”. However, as mentioned at the beginning, all of this hardly says anything about what Aikidō ultimately is in practical application or what it can mean for the life of every practitioner. For this, it is essential to practise and experience this martial art.

^{This article has first been published in German on September 25th, 2015.}

Quellen:

Fürst, Wolfgang R. (1999): Aikido, Dojo und andere Unverständlichkeiten

Hadamitzky, Wolfgang (2012): Kanji und Kana: Die Welt der japanischen Schrift in einem Band

Niponica (2015): Discovering Japan, Magazin-Ausgabe Nr. 16

Langenscheidt (2003): Universal-Wörterbuch Japanisch

Shewan, Malcolm T. (2006): Lehrgespräch (Transskript)

Taylor, Michael W. (2004): Aikido terminology. An essential reference…

Web:

en.wiktionary.org (2015)

jisho.org (2015)

kanjivision.de (2015)

wadoku.de (2015)

Author’s note: I do not wish the articles I have written to be understood as the last resort, and I make no claim to completeness. Rather, I hope to be able to make a contribution to a juxtaposition of interpretations and a lively debate about Budo. I would also like to politely invite all readers to comment, critically scrutinise, edit, supplement, etc. Thank you very much.