Welcome to NOLA Aikido

Practice a Martial Art of Peace in New Orleans

NOLA Aikido was founded in the fall of 2007 in the beautiful historic Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans. We are a group of students of this art of peace (one translation of aikido), a healing meditative art of awareness and movement which provides practice in much more than just self-defense. We come to Aikido for a variety of reasons, but all share a commitment to ongoing personal, spiritual, and societal growth through disciplined and joyful practice. Some call Aikido a form of meditation in motion, and indeed our dojo is intended to be a place for this. "Dojo" means place for practicing a way (of spiritual and personal growth). Aikido is one such way.

We who feel inspired by and called to follow this particular path find at NOLA Aikido a place for ongoing personal and inter-personal renewal in a city in the process of renewing and re-inventing itself in the aftermath of the Storms. We share a commitment to healing and bridging the rifts and barriers which divide us from each other and ultimately from ourselves. We will go on working to transcend divisions of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation, and creating a dojo representative of this diverse and magnificent city we live in, with space for anyone and everyone interested in this particular path of (re-discovering) wholeness.

Our logo contains, among other symbols, a sunrise (rather than a sunset!) This symbolizes the re-birth and revival of our beloved city as well as freshness, a new day for our own bodies, minds, and spirits. May all the work we do here spread out to touch and heal others like rings on a pond.