aikidoka
{{Short description|Master-level practitioner of aikido}}
{{Wiktionary|aikidoka}}
File:Yoshimitsu_Yamada_Sensei.jpg
Aikidoka (合気道家 aikidōka) is a Japanese term for a master-level practitioner of the martial art Aikido.{{cite web|last=Friedl |first=Sensi |title=List of Aikido Terms |url=http://www.aikidoofashland.net/about_aikido/terms.htm |accessdate=13 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209124941/http://www.aikidoofashland.net/about_aikido/terms.htm |archivedate=9 February 2011 }} The term is rarely heard among native speakers of Japanese, in spite of its common use as a loanword in other countries.
Etymology
In the Japanese language, the suffix {{nihongo|ka|{{linktext|家}}|-ka}}, when added to the name of certain activities, indicates either a person or a profession. In the martial arts, it is used to indicate one who has seriously dedicated their life to their chosen art, or made it a profession; thus karate-ka, judo-ka, aikido-ka and so on, and therefore is inappropriate to use in reference to the vast majority of practitioners.