What is Aikido? The encyclopaedia will tell you that It is a non-competitive Japanese Martial Art developed by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969).
To us, however, Aikido is to dance. To learn Aikido is to learn to dance. There is a rhythm of connection, that cannot be ignored, to ignore the rhythm is to make all things more difficult.
A San Francisco Aikidoist, Terry Dobson describes the essence of Aikido as reconciliation in an incident in Tokyo during the 1980s. His story well describes the awakening that is felt by all that study Aikido.