Aikido vs Iaido

Aikido and Iaido side by side, from the facts recorded for each art.

	Aikido	Iaido
Country of origin	Japan	Japan
Founder	Morihei Ueshiba	—
Type	budō and martial arts	Kobudō and martial arts
Notable practitioners here	90	1
Top countries of practitioners	Japan, United States and France	France
Equipment and weapons	—	Iaitō and katana
Belt ranks	Yes	—

Aikido

Aikido (Shinjitai: 合気道, Kyūjitai: 合氣道, aikidō, Japanese pronunciation: [aikiꜜdoː]) is a modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Aikikai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 140 countries.

From the Wikipedia article Aikido (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Iaido

Iaidō (居合道), abbreviated iai (居合), is a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to sudden attacks.

From the Wikipedia article Iaido (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Facts from Wikidata (CC0): Q43114, Q214410. Practitioner counts are the people with a profile on this site. Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.