The Kanji for “ai” in aikido is usually translated as harmony or blending but the ideogram combines a mouth and the gathering of sticks to build a house… this represents a different purpose.

O’sensei, the founder of aikido spoke of gathering in a number of ways in speaking about aikido. He referenced the Kojiki and the creation of Japan…

After them, five or six pairs of deities came into being, and the last of these were Izanagi and Izanami, whose names mean “The Male Who Invites” and “The Female who Invites”.

The first five deities commanded Izanagi and Izanami to make and solidify the land of Japan, and they gave the young pair a jeweled spear. Standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, they dipped it in the ocean brine and stirred. They pulled out the spear, and the brine that dripped of it formed an island to which they descended. On this island they built a palace for their wedding and a great column to the heavens.

This was the analogy most used by O’sensei used to convey the experience of forming aikido techniques or “Takemusu Aiki.” O’sensei opened demonstrations with a jo with which he would circle above his head, then dropping the jo to his center; this is a practice of bringing the spiritual back to the physical world.

O’sensei would also say, “As my enemies surround me I see the as one.” The practice of this is seen as a circle of attackers attempt to strike; in avoiding one O’sensei avoids them all.

Lastly, O’sensei wrote, “Aiki is not a technique to fight with or defeat the enemy. It is the way to reconcile the world and make human beings one family” This is extended by something O’sensei said to Robert Frager Sensei… [The relationship between aikidoist and attacker is…] “like between and parent and a child.”