Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba (1883 - 1969) and it's title is often translated as "the way of unifying (with) the universal energy". The first goal in Aikido is the spiritual development of the aikidoka (aikido practitioner) however one seeks to control an aggressor without causing harm.
"The primary purpose of Aikido is spiritual development."
O Sensei
So basically the practice of Aikido is a path to spirituality through daily practice. O' Sensei was heavily influenced by Zen Buddhism and so its philosophy on Aikido is based mainly on compassion.
To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace.
O Sensei
The philosophy of Aikido goes even further when O Sensei said:
"Attackers confront us continually, but in reality there is no attacker there".
This is an expression of the core idea in Zen Buddhism that one should not make any distinction between the subject and the object.
"The thinker of thoughts is just a thought, the feeler of feelings is just one of the feelings and the experiencer of an experience is part of the experience itself."
Alan Watts
I find the quote from "The Zen Mind" (an Empty Mind film) powerful:
"The search for self realization is powered by our anxiety and our fears which feed our ego causing frustration in our daily life, selfishness, jealousy, anger and hate which unconsciously serve to protect us, and in doing so, set us in opposition to everyone and everything."
So when one awakens to the realization of the illusion of the ego, the dissolution of the self happens spontaneously and thus one is able to reflect any attack as he will be one with the attacker. In fact there will be no attack at all because there will be no attacker and no one attacked.
