Aikidoka (合気道家'' aikidōka'') is a Japanese term for a master-level practitioner of the martial art
Aikido
Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...
.
The term is rarely heard among native speakers of Japanese, in spite of its common use as a
loanword
A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
in other countries.
Etymology
In the
Japanese language
is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...
, the suffix , when added to the name of certain activities, indicates either a person or a profession. In the martial arts, it is used to indicate one who has seriously dedicated their life to their chosen art, or made it a profession; thus ''karate-ka'', ''judo-ka'', ''aikido-ka'' and so on, and therefore is inappropriate to use in reference to the vast majority of practitioners.
See also
*
List of aikidoka
References
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