Aikido is a modern but traditional Japanese martial art founded by Morihei Ueshiba. Aikido consists of joint locks, throws, pinning techniques and strikes. The art also involves the use of traditional weapons, namely the Bo (6-foot staff), the Jo (4-foot staff), the Ken/Bokken (Sword/wooden sword) and the tanto (Knife). The spirit of Aikido is what makes it unique. While most martial arts consist of self-defense methods with a primary purpose of causing debilitating harm to an opponent, the Aikido practicioner's primary purpose is to neutralize an attack without causing harm to the attacker. This is not to say that the techniques used in Aikido are not effective, quite the contrary they can be very effective, even devestating to a would be assailant, however, the objective is to control rather than injure. This attitude leaves the Aikido practitioner in a calm state of mind which is essential to the effective execution of the various techniques.