Concepts for Coding : Aikido’s Lessons for Programmers

Photography by Bruce Busia

Aikido, a martial art known for its focus on harmony and fluidity, shares profound similarities with the practice of coding. In Aikido, masters teach the art of using an opponent’s energy to one’s advantage, finding balance in motion.

What if while coding, we are able to apply a similar concept?

Rather than opposing the complexities of a programming language or problem with force, instead, just like an Aikido practitioner, it may serve us best to strategically align with the idiosyncrasies and flow of the code or the task at hand. This approach allows us to leverage the incoming momentum of the program’s logic or sequence of executing commands to arrive at a more elegant, frictionless solution.

Both Aikido and coding require one to engage with a situation as it is, using precision, prediction and anticipation to redirect opposing energies towards a desired outcome. Through this more harmonious approach, the coder and the Aikido master alike transform confrontation into an art form, allowing them to flow with the code, not fight against it.