Aikido is a martial art that people of all ages can practice comfortably. Unless you have a significant medical condition or disability (which you can confirm with your doctor), you will be able to perform every aikido technique. The techniques are based on simple body movements, so there is no need to get into shape beforehand.
Basic techniques teach the transitions, grips, throws, and falls used in all techniques. In none of these techniques are you expected to perform movements that go against your body’s natural mechanics; especially at the beginner level, it is best to avoid such incorrect movements.
Advanced techniques, on the other hand, are performed by linking the natural movements from the basic techniques in various ways and repeating them multiple times.
Although you might think your body is being pushed to its limits when observing these techniques, they are actually the rapid and fluid execution of simple movements your body is accustomed to, performed one after another. Practice fosters the student’s development in two areas: physical and mental. Every aikido technique, due to the inherent contradiction it contains, requires the practitioner to maintain mental calmness. In the face of an attack, rather than using force, the student must use the attacker’s energy by remaining relaxed, focusing on the technique with composure, and understanding the person attacking them.
In the face of every attack, striving to understand why and how the attacker is attacking—observing every movement from the moment the attack begins
through the movements during the attack—predicting what the attacker will do next, and quickly generating alternatives to these possibilities forms the foundation of aikido. Although this mindset, rooted in the philosophy of Aikido, forms the foundation of martial arts, it actually encompasses two concepts we frequently use in daily life: the ability to empathize and the skill of crisis management.