I mostly agree with your comments , but allow me to nitpick . To call something Aikikai style doesn ' t really mean that much except to say it follows the traditional style you might see at Hombu dojo , usually in contrast to some of the larger schools within the IAF , such as the Iwama style taught by Saito Sensei , or the Birankai style taught by Chiba Sensei . As for the hardstyle distinction , this is more slippery . Prewar aikido , such as Yoshinkan , tends to be called hardstyle , and later offshoots like the Ki Society tend to be labeled soft , with Aikikai somewhere in the middle . Within the IAF , Iwamaryu used to be considered hardstyle , but this can vary tremendously from dojo to dojo and some Iwama dojo are quite soft , while Birankai is most certainly considered a harder style . Both have very clearly structured syllabi , and both focus on fundamentals and precision . In my opinion , what makes something hard or soft is often the role of uke in a soft style , uke ' s job is a bit like a dancing partner , while in a harder style there will be a lot more resistance and faster moves . All in all , the hard and soft distinction starts to blur at yudansha levels .