Within the world of Aikido a variety of styles exists. The major ones include Aikikai, Yoshinkan Yoseikan, Shodokan Aikido, Ki Society and Iwama. Aikikai is a style led by O-sensei's decendants and remains to be the largest Aikido organization. The Shodokan Aikido use to train with sparring and rule based competitions. Let us focus on one: the Yoshinkan style. Gozo Shioda, like most of the founders of the major Aikido schools, was a student of O-sensei or Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. Shioda's Aikido Yoshinkan focuses on the basics of Aikido. The six basic movements or the kihon dosa are taught repeatedly to Yoshinkan students. Students of this style spend a considerable time of their training regimen repeating basic movements in Aikido techniques.

Yoshinkan Aikidokas will practice the basics in the form of solo movements called kata. Nevertheless, as Yoshinkan Aikidokas gain more experience, their movements become more fluid and will eventually develop spontaneity of techniques. Another distinguishing factor in Yoshinkan is the positioning of the Aikidoka's feet and hips. For Yoshinkan Aikidokas on the other hand, the basic or normal stance involves square hips with the front foot angled slightly out. Training under the Yoshinkan Aikido means repeatedly practicing some 150 basic techniques until you get exactly the correct execution of each movement or technique. Unlike other styles, Yoshinkan does not study any weapon forms and only practices with weapons as part of the Aikido's open hand techniques particularly in the areas of defense movements against weapon bearing opponents. Also, Yoshinkan Aikido does not participate in competitions. The focus of Shioda's Aikido is self defense.