Karate vs. Aikido
Quick answer
Karate and aikido both developed in their modern forms in Tokyo between the wars and shared students, among them Yasuhiro Konishi and Minoru Mochizuki. Karate works with strikes and kicks at distance and competes in kumite and kata, aikido works with joint locks, throws and falls as a response to a partner’s attack. Karate was an Olympic sport only in Tokyo 2020, aikido is not in the Olympic programme and only some of its schools compete.
At a glance
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Japan | Japan |
| Origin | 20th century (present form) | 20th century (present form) |
| Founder | Anko Itosu (codifier) | Morihei Ueshiba |
| Contact | Semi-contact · Full contact (depending on style) | Light contact |
| Sparring | Medium contact · Full contact (depending on style) | Partner drills only · Light contact (depending on style) |
| Competition format | Point fighting | Mixed |
| Olympic status | Former Olympic sport | Not Olympic |
| Ranks | Yes (belts) | Yes (belts) |
| Rank recognition | fragmented | fragmented |
| Attire | Gi required | Gi required |
| Weapons | No weapons · Weapons optional (depending on style) | Weapons optional |
| Forms | Forms at the core | Forms optional |
| Relative cost | low | low |
| Katas and forms in the encyclopedia | 67 | – |
| Techniques in the encyclopedia | 230 | 14 |
Scales 1–5
Rated for the typical training of an adult beginner in an ordinary club, calibrated across all arts.
What each art is built from
Editorial rating 0–3: how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
History and relationship
Karate and aikido met in their modern forms in Tokyo between the world wars. Each has a different technical base: karate in Okinawan te with Chinese influence, aikido mainly in Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu. They were connected by shared students, while a direct meeting of Funakoshi and Ueshiba we have not been able to document.
- 1922: Gichin Funakoshi demonstrates karate in Tokyo, in June also to Kano at the Kodokan.
- 1924: Yasuhiro Konishi helps Funakoshi found a karate club at Keio University and also studies with Ueshiba.
- 1930–1931: Minoru Mochizuki, a student of Kano, Ueshiba and Funakoshi, spends a year as uchi-deshi at the Kobukan dojo, then opens the Yoseikan dojo.
- Around 1935: Konishi, Ueshiba, Kenwa Mabuni and Hironori Otsuka train together almost daily.
- 1942: Ueshiba adopts the name aikido.
Technique
- Striking and kicking distance: stances, strikes, kicks and blocks from kihon.
- WKF kumite: 1 point for a body punch, 2 points for a body kick, 3 points for a kick to the head, head only with light contact.
- Prohibited in WKF among other things: contact to the throat, attacks on joints, elbows and knees.
- Wado-ryu adds tai sabaki, joint locks and throws.
- Entering and grabbing distance: tori responds to uke’s attack.
- Joint locks and throws ikkyo to gokyo, shiho nage, kote gaeshi.
- The principles of irimi (entering) and tenkan (turning).
- Atemi as a strike to a vulnerable spot or a way to divert attention.
Karate finishes with a strike or a kick, aikido mostly with a joint lock, a throw or a pin. The joint locks that aikido is built on are prohibited in WKF kumite.
Training
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| Pillars of instruction | kihon, kata, kumite | paired kata, the roles of uke and tori alternate |
| Sparring in training | from agreed yakusoku to free jiyu kumite | Shodokan randori, Yoshinkan does not commonly practise free randori |
| Weapons | none or optional, depending on the style | bokken, jo, tanto |
| Emphasis | stances, strikes, kicks and blocks | relaxation, mobility, flexibility and endurance rather than strength |
We have not been able to document the training frequency or the structure of a lesson for either art.
Progression and ranks
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| Student grades | JKA (Shotokan) 10 kyu, kyokushin 11 kyu | kyu with a white belt, the number depends on the organisation |
| Master grades | 10 dan, the higher ones are honorary (Wado-ryu from 6th dan) | dan with a black belt, in Aikikai a certificate signed by the doshu |
| Minimum waiting times | JKA: 1 year between 1st and 2nd dan | we found no minimum waiting times |
| Age | JKA: 3rd dan from age 18 | some dojo set a minimum age for dan |
| Sign of advancement | belt colour, the colours differ by style | in many schools hakama from dan |
A karateka can show their level in competition too, an aikidoka mostly only through an examination, with the exception of Shodokan and taigi in Ki Society.
Physical load and risks
- Zetaruk et al. (BJSM 2005, 114 Shotokan karateka): 30% had an injury with lost training time within a year.
- Meta-analysis of 28 studies of competition kumite (Lystad et al. 2020): 88.3 injuries per 1,000 starts, most often to the head and neck.
- Zetaruk et al. (BJSM 2005, 47 aikidoka): 51% had an injury with lost training time within a year.
- Compared with karateka, a higher risk of injuries to the head and neck, upper limbs and soft tissues.
- Typically joints and fingers, often when tori misjudges how well uke can handle the technique.
Who it suits
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| Competition age | WKF: U14 (12–13 years), cadets 14–15, juniors 16–17, seniors from 18 | we found no age categories |
| Women | at WKF World Championships since 1980 | women’s class at Hombu dojo |
| Older age | veteran categories, for example Shotokan SKDUN up to over 68 years | Ki Society teaches all age groups |
Children
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest competition category | WKF U14 (12–13 years), national competitions earlier, for example Shotokan SKDUN from 10 years | we found no children’s competitions |
| Protection of children in competition | WKF up to 14 years: helmet and body protector, bout of 1.5 minutes | we found no rules for children |
| Programmes | we found no minimum age in clubs | children’s class at Hombu dojo, we found no age or content |
| Injury study | Slovak children’s tournaments: 45.3 injuries per 1,000 starts, most often to the head and neck | we found no study of children |
Self-defence
- Kumite from agreed attacks (yakusoku) to free sparring.
- In WKF, resistance is limited by the scoring rules and light contact to the head.
- Kyokushin fights at full contact, without hand strikes to the head.
- Paired kata, the starting point is a cooperating partner.
- Critics point to conditioned reactions of tori to weak attacks by uke.
- Shodokan tanto randori: resistance against an attacker with a training knife.
Karate trains a strike and the defence against it with resistance, depending on the style. Aikido trains the response to an attack with a joint lock or a throw, but most schools limit the partner’s resistance.
Practical use
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| Older age | 89 people around age 70, 5 months (Witte et al. 2016): improved reactivity and attention | we found no study |
| Balance | 16 people aged 59–90, 5 weeks: faster dynamic balance, no control group | 30 beginners, 8 weeks (Saruhan and Bavli 2023): improved static balance |
| Professional use | we have not been able to document it | Yoshinkan: Senshusei course with the Tokyo police |
The studies concern small groups and short programmes. No general conclusion about suitability can be drawn from them.
Competition
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | only Tokyo 2020, the 2024 and 2028 Games without karate | not in the Olympic programme |
| Who competes | WKF and style organisations, kyokushin at full contact | only some schools, Aikikai does not compete |
| Disciplines | kumite, individual and team kata | Shodokan: tanto randori, toshu randori, embu, Ki Society: taigi |
| Scoring | WKF kumite 1 to 3 points, ends at a lead of 8 points | Shodokan: tanto tsukiari 1, yuko 1, waza-ari 2, ippon 4 |
| World Championships | WKF since 1970, every two years | Shodokan every two years |
Shodokan has competed with a rubber dagger since 1967, which some aikidoka regard as contrary to the spirit of aikido.
Gear and costs
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | karategi and belt | keikogi usually white, in many schools hakama |
| Training aids | weapons depending on the style, mostly none | bokken, jo, tanto |
| Competition equipment | WKF: gloves, mouthguard, body, shin and instep protectors | Shodokan: rubber or padded knife |
| Relative costs | low | low |
Availability and organisations
| Karate | Aikido | |
|---|---|---|
| World organisation | World Karate Federation | International Aikido Federation since 1976, alongside it independent schools |
| Other organisations | JKA, JKF, IKO and other styles | Aikikai, Yoshinkan, Shodokan (JAA and SAF), Ki Society, Iwama, Yoseikan |
| Who awards dan | the style’s organisation, there is no central register | the school, Hombu dojo also certifies recognised foreign organisations |
| Recognition of grades | we found no general rule | grades are not interchangeable between organisations |
Switching and combining
- Kyu, dan, dojo etiquette and Japanese terminology remain.
- New: mastering falls (ukemi) and the role of uke.
- Learning wrist locks, irimi and tenkan.
- Kyu, dan, etiquette and working in pairs remain.
- New: kihon, meaning stances, strikes, kicks and blocks.
- For WKF kumite, controlling contact to the head.
On the left the transition from karate to aikido, on the right from aikido to karate. Both arts were connected by Yasuhiro Konishi and Minoru Mochizuki. Mochizuki’s son Hiroo introduced karate in France and in the seventies created Yoseikan budo with ties to aikido, judo and karate.
Philosophy
- The suffix do: a path with a spiritual dimension, the dojo kun stresses character, effort and courtesy.
- Funakoshi’s Niju kun: humility, respect, patience.
- Goju-ryu: hardness and softness in breathing.
- Masakatsu agatsu katsuhayabi: the aim is to overcome oneself.
- Takemusu aiki and the influence of the Omoto-kyo movement.
- Ki Society: One Point, Relax Completely, Keep Weight Underside, Extend Ki.
Karate names its aim as the development of character, aikido as overcoming oneself.
Forms and terminology
Karate puts solo kata at the centre of instruction, across the styles there are roughly a hundred of them, and their meaning is examined through bunkai. In aikido the main form is the paired kata of uke and tori, Shodokan has the Junanahon set with 17 techniques.
When Konishi demonstrated the kata Heian Nidan to Ueshiba, Ueshiba advised him to abandon such ineffective techniques. The kata Seiryu, which Konishi put together around 1935 with Kenwa Mabuni, combines the principles of karate, aikido and jujutsu and also came about with Ueshiba’s feedback.
Training culture
- The Shotokan dojo in Tokyo’s Mejiro, built in 1936, was destroyed by an air raid in 1945.
- In WKF team kata, both an opening and a closing bow are mandatory.
- Hombu dojo in Tokyo trains seven days a week.
- Some dojo offer an uchi-deshi programme, life in the dojo.
- The film Above the Law (1988) with Steven Seagal, the first American film with aikido in its fight scenes.
Common misconceptions
- Aikido never competes: Shodokan has held competitions since 1967, Ki Society holds a taigi competition.
- Karate has no joint locks or throws: Wado-ryu practises them alongside strikes.
- Kyu and dan are an old Okinawan tradition: Funakoshi adopted the grade system from Kano in 1924.
- Steven Seagal was a student of Ueshiba: Ueshiba died in 1969, before Seagal came to Japan, and his claims of study are disputed.
Which to choose
Frequently asked questions
Did the founders of karate and aikido know each other?
We have not been able to document a direct meeting of Gichin Funakoshi and Morihei Ueshiba. They did have shared students, though: Yasuhiro Konishi taught karate with Funakoshi and studied with Ueshiba, Minoru Mochizuki was a student of both.
Where are there more injuries, in karate or in aikido?
The study by Zetaruk et al. (2005) compared 114 Shotokan karateka and 47 aikidoka: an injury with lost training time within a year occurred in 30% of the karateka and 51% of the aikidoka. We found no other direct comparison.
Is karate or aikido Olympic?
Karate was on the programme only in Tokyo 2020, the 2024 and 2028 Games do not have it. Aikido is not in the Olympic programme.