Aikido’s Branding Problem: Will Aikido Become the Kodak of the Martial Arts?

This post is authored by Ron Cicero. Ron has produced branded content and television commercials for a wide range of Fortune 100 companies and their brands over a 20-year career. His work has collected awards from the Cannes Advertising Festival, The Clios, The D&AD Awards, and the AICP, among others. He practices Nishio-style Aikido at The Dojo In West Los Angeles under 6th Dan, Chikako Bryner Sensei.


The internet hasn’t been kind to aikido. As very thoughtfully pointed out by Josh Gold in last year’s article “Aikido: Confronting a Crisis,” the downward trend in those Googling “aikido”—the inevitable first step anyone under 30 takes before starting a new activity—shows an art speeding towards irrelevance. What is more alarming than the lack of those searching, is what potential students find if they do.

Aikido’s Identity Crisis

Any high school textbook on marketing touts the importance of a brand’s USP, or unique selling proposition. And yes, like it or not, aikido is a brand that is competing for attention just like any other product or endeavor.

A USP simply distills, in a few sentences or less, the differentiating factors about a product or service that will attract the target consumer to exchange their capital (in this case mostly time) for what is being offered (aikido lessons). Sounds so simple that it’s easy to dismiss this concept as amateurish—except it’s often spoken about at length before Fortune 500 brands do anything. I know. I’ve had to suffer through many of these meetings while producing hundreds of TV spots for national and international clients.

The USP is not only a guiding principle for marketing, but for engineering what is being offered. As with anything this simple and yet profound, it often takes a lot of energy and discipline to implement. Take the former $31 billion global corporation Kodak. Their management was convinced for years they were in the film business, because that was their end product. Seems reasonable except … they were wrong.

What some very smart people at Kodak failed to realize is they were actually in the business of capturing memories. See the difference? Film was just the conduit and the emphasis on film prevented the brand’s USP from adapting to changes in the market and technology. The company was not willing to make the changes it needed to survive.

Seems crazy that the company who came up with the “Kodak Moment” and the technology to put cameras in phones couldn’t see this. But we all know how it ended—Kodak went from being one of the world’s most valuable brands to virtual irrelevance because of this mistake in understanding their USP.

So what does this have to do with aikido? Most aikido dojos are no different than Kodak because they don’t have a true understanding of what they are offering. Are they teaching self-defense? Moving meditation? Conflict resolution? Cardio-fitness? Worse, are they claiming they’re teaching self-defense when instead they’re focused on teaching something else?

Note: there is no judgment here. Aikido is remarkable in that it can be any one of these things. But no one dojo can teach a kind of aikido that can be great at all of them. If you cannot honestly and clearly state what your strengths and experiences are as an instructor, and connect that to the desires and expectations of (potential) students, then you are shortchanging yourself and your students and contributing to the decline of the art that we all love. You are making the same mistake as Kodak’s CEO.

Why your USP Matters

Let’s step into the mind of a potential student, a.k.a. the future of aikido. You’re 19 years old. You live in a medium-sized city. You Google “self-defense instruction in [My City].” These two photos come up:

Remember, you’re in the mind of a 19-year-old; a key demographic that many brands target because they represent a lifetime of patronage if you can capture their loyalty. Where do you, as our theoretical future student, go to learn self-defense? Unless you’re into dressing in costumes, I would put my money on you visiting the place on the right.

“But WAIT!” you (the aikido instructor) say, “I look like the person on the left. Hakamas are an important traditional part of the art and our school is self-defense-oriented and super badass.” That all may be true, but… 19-year-olds on the internet don’t care. The wake of great brands is littered with “better” products and services that had incredible histories and pedigrees—all before we could see and compare everything in seconds on our phones. A first impression may be the only impression. And maybe I’m making assumptions, but I’m confident a hakama does not scream “modern self-defense” to most 19-year-olds. As your brand consultant, I would also ask, “By current-day standards and practices, are you really, truly self-defense-oriented?” The instant information on our computer screens has brought assertions based on a limited pool of information into question.

Again, before the katanas are pointed my way, know that there is no judgment here. I have seen several successful schools in Southern California that have embraced “aikido as self-defense.” They cross-train in other arts, their students can actually throw a punch that connects, and they train with intensity. They have thriving schools and they are not alone.

I’ve also seen successful dojos that train in a way closer to tai chi and less about combat. And that’s okay too. The instructors know what makes them unique by today’s standards and practices. They aren’t on the internet posting videos titled “Aikido vs. Judo” and getting killed. And why would they? They understand that their USP does not emphasize self-defense, so they wouldn’t compare the two arts any more than a yogi would post a “Bikram vs. Boxing” video.

Knowing and communicating your Unique Selling Proposition is about relevancy and longevity. The clearer it is and the more alignment it has with what is being offered, the more it can attract the right audience and evolve with the times.

Aikido’s Internet Opportunity

Despite the current state of affairs, aikido could have a bright future if we help each other figure out, on a school-by-school basis, what exactly is being offered. There is no shortage of potential students looking for exercise and mind-body training options, especially those with a spiritual component (#yoga).

Likewise, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has exploded. There are close to 20 schools in a five-mile radius of me in Los Angeles. Aikido could be a great addition to, or replacement for, BJJ for a student who wants a grappling art that encompasses standing up and/or is a little easier on aging joints.

Facebook, Instagram and Google provide the opportunity to market to these folks with astonishing precision and cost-effectiveness. But first, you need to know exactly what your benefit is and communicate it well. Otherwise, the aikido dojo could be headed the way of the One-Hour Fotomat.


Editor’s Note: Thanks to Ron for sharing this piece with the Aikido Journal community. I believe the most valuable take-away from this piece is that the aikido community will be well-served if its instructors honestly assess their offerings and continually seek to find the most effective and compelling ways to communicate the benefits of their programs.

In a recent video interview with Christian Tissier (conducted by Seido), Tissier mentions that everyone who practices aikido knows its benefits, but it’s a formidable challenge to tell the story of aikido in a world of social media and an explosion of leisure activities, hobbies, and physical training options.  He says, “So our work is: what image do we want to give? I think it’s the main challenge in the years to come.”

This challenge creates a great opportunity for us to reflect on the art we love so dearly and find new and better ways to communicate about our art, our practice, and the myriad benefits it brings. 

24 comments

  • Great article.
    When I first started Aikido, I was actually looking for a yoga class, but was compelled by aikido’s philosophy of redirecting an opponent’s energy. It seemed like something I could apply in other areas of my life where I had challenges.
    When I was in-between dojos a few years ago, I tried swimming and yoga classes, but was unable to find something that had the community and interaction with other people that aikido has.
    I think I’ve found that aikido forces me to interact closely with others on a level that I normally wouldn’t, and that doing so **sometimes** allows me to overcome negative preconceptions about people or even put past arguments to rest.

  • This is an excellent and thought-provoking article. I was moved to comment, even though I am not an Aikido practitioner, simply an admirer of the art. I do practice Japanese Jujitsu, Judo, and Kenjutsu, as well as the Korean martial art of Hapkido, which is related to Aikido in that it is also descended from Daito-ryu Aiki-jujitsu. I do study and try to learn as much as I can about other arts. I would be practicing Aikido as well, if I only had the time.

    All that being said, what sets Aikido apart from all the other arts, in my mind, are its philosophical and spiritual underpinnings, along with its emphasis on relatively non-violent defense. More than any others, it is a martial art that would appeal to intellectuals, people with an artistic temperament, and those with a spiritual bent. It would make a great complement to yoga practice, as it would appeal to many of the same people who are drawn to the more spiritual aspects of yoga. I think it would also appeal to vegans, PETA members, environmentally conscious individuals, people who practice mindfulness, and others of that type. Those people represent some significant and important demographics in today’s world, as they are segments of the population that can be found in almost every town or city nowadays. Those people could form a great pool of potential practitioners, and it would make a lot of sense to target them with marketing efforts. College campuses would be a great recruiting ground for young people. There are many out there who would be naturally drawn to Aikido, if only they knew about it.

    Rather than trying to modify Aikido to appeal to individuals who really aren’t interested in the kinds of things that makes it unique, I would say it makes more sense to put more of effort into targeting the right people who would naturally find the art appealing. I think it’s a mistake to try to promote Aikido on the basis of things that are not at its core. For example, while Aikido can certainly be used with great success for self defense, my understanding is that self development, rather than self defense, is the primary goal of the art. People whose primary interest is self defense would really be better served taking up an art designed specifically for that, such as a civilianized version of Krav Maga, or something along those lines. People who want to learn to fight in a cage, ring, or grappling competition obviously have better choices, such as Boxing, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, to prepare them for that than Aikido. Aikido is really not for those people.

    I would say that Aikido’s unique selling proposition is that it is different. Aikido is for people who want to be reflective and mindful, people who want to develop themselves and continue growing as humans. It is for people who appreciate the beauty of traditional dojos, people who love clean, flowing, graceful movements. Simply put, it is for people who would want to put on a hakama. They’re out there. The Aikido community just needs to look in the right places to find them.

  • Good article.
    Lets find answers to the problem, rather than just point out and discuss the problem. The kodak company’s downfall, is typical for a Japanese company. The same scenario with another large Japanese company (Sony) many ears ago. They were facing financial collapse. They were saved by an american CEO being put into place, who opened up research and development and gave them freedom. They came up wth some amazing products which saved the company and set it on its amazing recovery and re-invention. Once saved, Japan shut down the research and development department, for freedom is a dangerous thing in Japan. Japan itself is the problem. Japan will not allow freedom. It rules with an iron fist. So very similar to the old China ruling faction. Japan refuses to join the world, and relax a little. I would rather share something than sit at the helm as it dies.
    Utilise the amazing business minds around us, and re-invent/market Aikido for the modern world. Not changing Aikido itself, the techniques are fine, but re-packaging the product to more suit the modern world.
    Good luck.

  • Hi Ron,

    your article is alarmist and misleading. Also it’s based on some false assumptions, which are probably understandable when I take into account that you are working in marketing. You have a skewed perspective.

    First, aikido is not a company. It is not “owned” by anybody. Terms like customer-value, mind-share or ROI don’t apply. Aikido is a body of knowledge and tradition that spread out from Japan that was taken up by people that have a certain image of the world, of themselves and their relationship with the people around them.

    Second, aikido’s goal is not self-defense, it should rank fifth’ or sixth’ when taking it up; for people looking for self-defence classes, aikido is a poor choice anyway and they will leave as soon as they realize it.

    Aikido has always been a ‘special interest’ martial art. The number of students is not a meaningful indicator of success. A dojo is a place where like-minded people meet to study a modern, yet traditional budo. I doubt that shiny leaflets, high quality video clips on Netflix or Facebook-campaigns will inspire the type of student that we are looking for.

    I am all in if it’s about making aikido known. But don’t you dare applying your consultant-speak to aikido.

    When I started 20 years ago, there were three aikido clubs in my hometown. Now there are a dozen. Reports about Aikido’s death are greatly exaggerated.

    • First. aikido may not be a company, but every instructor-owed dojo is. So marketing applies just as it does to any business.

      Second, aikido is a self-defense art – if it’s trained that way, as the article specifically states. While self-development is an important aspect – as it is in many traditional martial arts – it does not detract from the fact that the art was developed as a martial art, which inherently is self-defense oriented.

      The only question about any given art for self-defense is how long does it take to develop the characteristics important to self-defense. Some arts – like tai chi – take much longer as a result of how students are trained than others which have simpler principles.

      As the article specifically states, you can’t get “like-minded” people to your dojo if you don’t know what sort of person your dojo appeals to. And explicitly restricting yourself to a niche audience gets you a niche dojo – which may not be financially sustaining. Which is not the ticket to expanding aikido’s popularity.

  • For any one that has ever had to defend themselves against a skilled attacker, the idea of aikido being useful for self defense is laughable. In this day and age, self defense must address the needs reflected by modern scenarios. The numerous short comings of aikido at readying its practitioners against this have been recorded and expounded upon ad nausem, even by skilled aikidoka. To present this spiritual path as an effective form of physical self defense is fraudulent, and while there will always be snake oil sales men and frauds bilking the unwitting, if aikido truly wishes to maintain its veneer of dignity and respect, it would do well to not market itself this way. It has other benefits, and there are many who would find those benefits compelling. The call and need for something real calls to many of us, if not all of us, and when you attempt to market it as something it isn’t, it’s going to be called out. Aikido has extremely limited application in modern unarmed self defense and combat, and to claim otherwise only serves to discredit the speaker.

    • Hey Brian-Thanks for taking the time to write a response. The issue of Aikido’s effectiveness is not what I was addressing. I hope the larger message doesn’t get lost because any discussion on Aikido always seems to revert to the equivalent of “Aikido is useless.”

      I think we’d both agree there are very few publicly available self defense programs that meet all the needs of modern self defense. Not MMA (no weapons training), not Kali / Escrima (no handgun training), not handgun training (usually limited in gun protection or any other forms of conflict resolution) and of course, not Aikido (no striking and more). But just because all these pursuits are limited, doesn’t mean they don’t have any merit at all. It’s very black and white thinking to suggest, otherwise.

      The more widespread problem Aikido has, from my experience, is mostly HOW it’s practiced. Aikido shares many techniques with what you probably would label “more self defense oriented” styles. But, if they are not practiced against a resisting opponent, it doesn’t matter what the technique is, it’s not going to magically work when it’s needed. Aikido should, IMHO, be learned alongside other arts—just like BJJ,Boxing, etc. How can you defend against strikes if your partner doesn’t know basic strikes? This will be addressed in another article.

      For now…going back to the piece above…IMHO, an important way to attract students AND refine HOW you teach / practice is by really reflecting on what you are teaching, especially in context of what other options exist, and then stick to communicating those benefits, accordingly.

    • No, the idea of aikido as self defense is NOT laughable. I’ve scared the shit out of some would be attackers over more than forty years of aikido training. Yes… the fact is MOST aikido groups are doing something that would get them killed. I come from a root tradition, one of the oldest groups around, and it is useful for anything from brushing off a drunk to taking down multiple attackers. I was trained, in part, by a police instructor who was sent into mugging areas to take out multiple big muggers. Aikido is unlimited in its self defense capacity. It’s just been taken over, for the most part, by people who wanted something intellectual and pseudo spiritual and who drove “their” aikido in that direction. Real aikido (original, not modified) is perfectly fine for self defense.

    • Spot on. Even if you “market” it. When people do Aikido (as I did for 6 years) you very quickly realise it is next to useless. After leaving for BJJ those views were confirmed one hundred times over in the first few rolls. Doesn’t work. Utterly useless. Japanese tai chi at best. Proof is in the pudding and people will ultimately vote with their feet. Aikido doesn’t have much of a future at all.

      • Hmmm. Having served in the UK armed forces where we learnt very basic Aikido for rioter arrest and restraint; and having done Judo to 1st Dan Level where we trained for competition, I now wouldn’t call Aikido next to useless. Yes, some techniques are very impractical. But some are also very useful, if you have the right martial mindset. What it’s taught me is movement, relaxation and avoidance, followed by a technique – and certainly not in its purest form – At 64, I can’t do the Judo I did. But I can do the Aikido. A 7th Dan Shihan recently told a class “I’m not teaching a martial art – I’m teaching how to do a martial art”. Think about it..

  • Great article for dojos seeking run of the mill black belts grown on a farm, but it ZERO to do with anything related to O-Sensei’s Aikido.

    • Osensei was pretty chaotic and didnt care to systematically promote his creation Aikido. Without his son Kisshomaru who systematically and actively started to promote and market it to certain demographic groups, such as university students, Aikido would have stayed an obscure and marginalized budo.
      Without his vision and his selfless efforts of promoting Aikido to other people, including foreigners, Aikido would not have become populair worldwide.
      We can enjoy an Aikido that is so accessible, thanks to Kishomaru Ueshiba.
      We always must be aware what we are doing, why, and who are we reaching out to. Marketing, refining your thoughts WHAT are you doing and WHO do you want to reach to and become a future aikidoka.

  • It’s inspiring to see the thought and love that went into the lead article and how it inspired considered responses. I connect to the idea that each Aikido dojo can gain from an inward search for its own “brand” and “message.” However, I think, for most dojos, the 19-year-old self-defense demographic may not be the ideal demographic. This is a demographic with high turnover and many dojos may be looking for people who connect better with “the picture on the right” than “the picture on the left,” even if they have a deep interest in the martial aspects of Aikido.

    Opher

  • Hakamas should be part of the marketing strategy. Aikido is basically for people who like to dress up in traditional clothes, pretend to throw others around, and pretend to be thrown. That’s what it is. Market that, not self-defense. If people want stand up, they can do Judo.

  • Hi Ron and Josh,

    This is the best and most analytical article I read on the subject that should concern and relate to each and any Aikido teacher and practitioner.
    This was also one of the main topics that was raised between Sahar Talmor, head of Talmor Martial Arts Academy (ShiDoKan) and myself for the past few years. We understood that trends are changing, youth look for more realistic and practical ways, and old terms such as tradition, spirit, way of the warrior and peaceful warrior lost their weight and sometimes even their meanings.
    We also saw teachers try to transform the art of peace into a simple self defense method, or tried to use it in the ring without understanding of why it didn’t work.
    Many times we saw teachers and practitioners use unnecessary force to demonstrate the “effectiveness of the technique” while their partner (not opponent) willingly subdue himself and dedicates his movements to help them teach or learn and improve.
    We understood that something needs to be changed.
    For our perception, people where looking for the aggression and superiority in the wrong places and the branding or “adoption” of Aikido on the internet was taking some very strange turns.
    So, in the begging of this year, we split the trainings into 3 categories:
    1. Self defense course – practical, always evolving, aggressive, survival based training.
    2. Brazilian Jujitsu (gi and no gi)- sporty, honorable, challenging,
    full contact, winning based training
    3. Yoshinkan Aikido – traditional, clean, beautiful, boutique derivative of the classical martial arts with all the philosophy and understanding of flow while keeping the timing and intentions of the origins of the art.
    While each of the 3 paths leads to a different understandings and fulfils different needs and desires, we still have many students that attend all 3 courses in order to get a more comprehensive understanding of the martial arts world and the way of how each path complements the others.
    Nevertheless, we always remind our students to separate the 3 since they start from different starting points, different state of mind and they have different goals.
    We don’t push our students to learn Aikido although this is the spinal cord of our dojo, but we congratulate those who wish to challenge themselves not against unknown attackers or a rival to the medal/cup/championship but against themselves since the long study of Aikido through the years is not easy and one can compare himself only to himself during this time.

  • As a yoga teacher, and teacher trainer, for 16 years, I have found an increasing number of young people searching for practices that have depth. By this I mean, practices that satisfy a yearning to connect with the body, to have space for the mind to clear, to connect with other people meaningfully, and to explore consciousness. This is post-Hippy and post-New Age (I went through the latter).

    Yoga increasingly attracts young people who are sensitive, caring, and looking for ways to relate non-violently and harmoniously with community and with the environment. These are the kind of people whom, I believe, would be attracted to aikido. As a yoga teacher I did not have many students, but the students I DID have really appreciated my classes, and some remained for many years and even became teachers. When I stopped teaching, they expressed great regret, but also gratitude for the relationship we had, and the life-changing learning they gained.

    As a marketing consultant myself, I believe we need to get over trying to “market” aikido, and just go out and teach what is true to ourselves, and we will attract students who resonate with us. Being true to ourselves, we don’t just offer a set of techniques, we offer a relationship that allows profound self-discovery. That is the way of Do, there is no short cut. Not everyone is ready for this. Let them go to the quick-fix self-defence classes. It will not be financially easy for many of us, but it will have integrity. Hold on to it.

  • I am an aikido practitioner for more than 48 years and have studied under Sensi Henry Kono for most of my life. Mr. Kono taught what the true essence of aikido was all about as did Yoshimitsu Yamada. Self defense was only a small part of the art and the true understanding of every technique takes sometimes years to understand. Does it work? I can truthfully say yes it does.

  • Aikido will only flourish in the world so far as the capacitance of wisdom of kuzushi is understood; two moons, friends, broken apart by the crushing mountain of fixed views. The etymology of reconciliation, is to make friends again after having been crushed and separated. And how does one begin? A path is the practice and potential for realization through the practice of aikido. It gains valence through compelling realization, and then progresses to penetrating ikko, marubashi, take musu aiki, and kotodama.

    Every moment, work on this wisdom, investigate it, put into practice. The practice, is the marketing. Make good practice, the rest will happen. Make bad practice, the rest falls apart. This is marubashi.

    Very strong uke? No complain. Resisting uke? No complain. Soft easy uke? No complain. Sloppy uke? No complain. This is the practice. Very strong world leaving little room to grow aikido? No complain. Very resistant world to aikido philosophy? No complain. Soft easy world? No complain. Sloppy world? no complain.

    This… this… is aikido.

    Leave it better than we found it, and do with the spirit of shugyo, of austerity. Renounce destructive ways, renounce manipulative ways, renounce self driven tendencies. Penetrate emptiness, realize naturelessness of phenomena, realize the movements of nature. This is shizen, natural.

    “Oh this class is so big!!!” exclaimed O’Sensei when three students were on the mat, sensei [will]speak[ed]. Concern for the adoption of followers is mistaking aikido for aiki-follow. We are not practicing aiki-follow-me, we practice aikido.

  • I started Tomiki Aikido in the early 90s and I was in my early 40 s.
    8 years later, the week pryer to my black belt test. My dojo closed suddenly and in the confusion that followed, never did test.
    I said to my self the belt was mine
    But it really wasn’t important.
    So I practiced here and there for the next year at different schools, but never pursued the belt… I would wear a white belt.
    Then I quit altogether, except us in my my training in my everyday life.
    Especially at work , where erasing ones mind and hyper focusing on problem solving became the norm.
    I miss working out , but alas I’m out of shape and have afib.
    I still consider myself Aikikai.

  • I practice aikido for over 25 years and was teaching too, years ago. I do see a decline in traditional martial arts including Aikido, but I believe it’s not due to miscalculated marketing strategy.
    In fact I believe that traditional martial arts have lost something valuable and being too strict in their nature they lost adaptability to another era and another culture that doesn’t know them.
    Aikido had lost its quality since old times since it focuses on form rather than quality, awareness and interaction. In practice we shouldn’t distinguish between self defense and self awareness or… Spirituality. They are the same!
    It is an art that should and can unite both attitudes. But if students stick to “forms” they become merely technicians and not martial artists. Since promotion is based mostly on politics and dues it had established a whole generation of technicians and that emphasizes blind mimicking instead of perfection. Sad but that’s what’s killing the art. I believe we should bring back what the real Senseis tried to develop!

  • Very true. Awareness of Aikido is the need of the hour. I have my dojo where I specifically designed it to promote Aikido but for past 2 years I have been trying to reach out to qualified instructors . Have also been talking to many about aikido in my dojo but it sounds like Greek to them. So let’s hope i start soon.

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