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What aikido actually is, what your first class looks like, and honest answers to the questions every beginner has before they ever step on the mat.
What Is Aikido?
The way to harmonize energies.
Ai (harmony), ki (energy), do (way) — aikido is a Japanese martial art built on powerful, logical movement rather than brute force. Students learn to take an attacker's own strength and momentum and redirect it, rather than meeting force with force. That's what makes it trainable by almost anyone: a smaller, lighter person can neutralize a much larger one through timing, leverage, and correct technique — not muscle.
It's also symmetrical, whole-body training, which is part of why so many members treat it as cross-training for whatever else they do. The movements are complex enough to keep sharpening your coordination, spatial awareness, and focus for decades — nobody "finishes" aikido.
At Makati Aikido Club specifically, that translates into a few things you'll notice from day one: no hazing and no artificial hierarchy between senior and junior students, a culture built on modern, ordinary respect rather than nostalgia for feudal Japan, and an insistence on getting the basics — footwork, posture, centering, wrist action — right before anything flashier. Every rank the club awards is conferred by Japan Aikikai, the art's world headquarters in Tokyo, so it means the same thing here as it does anywhere else in the world.
What to Expect at Your First Class
Show up. That's most of it.
The MAC is non-bureaucratic — there's no registration form to fill out in advance. Simply show up about 15 to 30 minutes before any scheduled class, change in the men's or women's locker room, and introduce yourself to the instructor or to anyone who looks like they know their way around. They'll take it from there. That is genuinely all there is to it.
You can wear gym pants and an old t-shirt for your first few sessions — no need to buy anything before you know you'll stick with it. Once you're training regularly, you'll want a gi (training uniform) so you can properly experience sleeve- and shoulder-grab techniques; a locally made one runs roughly ₱500–2,000, with imported Japanese gi closer to ₱6,000. An old judo gi works fine too.
Because aikido is physically strenuous, students over 30 are asked to submit a medical clearance, ideally by their 5th session. Students who've had their 14th birthday train in the adult class; the youngsters' class covers ages 7 up to 14.
Feeling clumsy and self-conscious at first is completely normal — every single person on that mat, including the instructors, started exactly where you are. The self-consciousness fades once you stop watching yourself and start engaging with the training. Most people forget to feel embarrassed within a few classes.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions everyone asks.
Am I too old to start?
Am I too old to start aikido?
Almost certainly not. Most of MAC's first-generation students, who started in the 1980s and are today's senior aikidoists in the Philippines, began in their mid-30s. One black belt started at 41, several started just before turning 50, and one student began at 71. Today most members are in their 20s and 30s, but the club has never had an upper age limit.
Mat fees
Is this a paying class? What does it cost?
MAC is not a business, and instructors do not accept payment of any kind — they teach for love of the art. The club does ask students for small contributions toward rent and equipment maintenance, since those costs are unavoidable. For exact current amounts, message the club on Facebook or email macaikido@yahoo.com.
The training experience
How often should I train?
For best results, aim for at least 3 classes a week — there's no minimum attendance rule, but consistency is what actually accelerates progress. You can join the training rhythm at any point; there's no "semester" to wait for.
What's the learning curve like?
Nothing like a university course. You'll revisit the same concepts — footwork, centering, wrist action — again and again, gaining proficiency through repetition and reflection rather than moving through a syllabus once. Most students say the material only really starts to click after they stop trying to "get" it in one sitting.
What's the culture like on the mat?
No hazing, and no artificial hierarchy between senior and junior students. Respect for everyone is simply the norm, governed by ordinary modern values rather than any cultivated mystique about feudal Japan. First-timers are treated with patience — every senior student on the mat was once exactly as new as you are.
What will I gain from training?
What do people actually get out of serious practice?
With consistent training (roughly 3 classes a week), members report real gains across a few areas: cardiovascular fitness, better sleep, posture, and balance on the physical side; more confidence and less day-to-day anxiety; a more open, patient mindset; and — maybe underrated — a ready-made, worldwide network of aikido friends, since the art is practiced the same way in dojos everywhere.
Want more, in their own words? Read essays from our instructors →
Still curious?
Come and watch a class.
Simply show up 15 minutes before any scheduled class and introduce yourself to the instructor or to anyone who appears to know his way around. They will take care of you from that point. That is all.