The Walking Dead: What Is Aikido?

Tonight's episode of The Walking Dead, "Here's Not Here,' (season 6, episode 4 spoilers ahead), while sidetracked from the Glenn and Alexandria storyline, revealed Morgan's journey and exactly how he found himself.

Along the way, he found a man by the name of Eastman. Eastman taught Morgan that all life is precious and also the practice of "Aikido." Aikido is a Japanese form of self-defense and martial art that uses locks, holds, throws, and the opponent's own movements.

In Eastman's handwritten words, as found in The Art of Peace book he offered Morgan, "Aikido means not to kill. Although nearly all creeds have a commandment against taking life, most of them justify killing for one reason or another. In Aikido, however, we try to completely avoid killing, even the most evil person."

There are different forms of Aikido matches but the training seems similar. In one match, as seen below, the two parties spar in an effort to take the other down.

In another form of sparring match-up, one competitor holds a "tanto," which they have to attempt to "stab" their opponent with, gaining a point for each stab, while the opponent earns points for clean techniques and breaking the opponent's balance.

In any case, it's not quite as graceful as Morgan and Eastman make it out to be, but it requires a discipline, which Eastman seems to have instilled upon Morgan.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 PM ET on AMC.