Our Aikido curriculum consists of several different types of drills, katas, and activities. While these are not the only elements of how we teach and learn Aikido, some of our major tools include:

Falling Practice

One of the most important elements of practicing aikido is being able to escape from the techniques safely by falling correctly. While done correctly at an advanced level, the falls can be spectacular and exciting, we teach falling in a safe, methodical method.
We have a series of drills and exercises which teach how to fall correctly, without ever overextending our student's abilities. We use thick athletic mats (sometimes called crash pads) for extra safety.

The Walk (Tegatana no Kata)

The Walk is a solo exercise containing the basic movements of Aikido. We practice it in class as a group, and encourage our students to practice it at home.

Release Movements (Hanasu no Kata)

The Release movements are a series of exercises showing how to escape when being grabbed. They are not techniques in themselves, but contribute to learning techniques later.

23 Basic Techniques (Ni Ju San no Kata)

Big 10 (O Waza Ju Pon no Kata)

The Big 10 techniques teach how to apply the Aikido principals when moving away from the attacker, which is important when the attacker overwhelms the defender by being too close, too fast, or too strong.

Koryu Dai San no Kata

The 50 techniques in the San Kata teach a variety of lessons, including how to apply Aikido principals from a variety of situations, weak positions, and against several types of weapons such as a (wooden) sword, stick, or knife.

Koryu Dai Yon no Kata

The techniques of Yon Kata extend the fundamental release movements, making them into effective techniques, and teaching subtle principals of timing, movement, and distancing.

Randori

Free practice, where both participants use the principals of Aikido. Properly practiced, randori is not about "winning" but rather about both people improving their Aikido skills.