Sugano Sensei came to New York from Brussels, Belgium ten years ago and has been teaching at the New York Aikikai ever since. The other day Aikido East sat down to ask a few questions. Sensei, you have said that Aikido is made up circles, squares, and triangles. These are symbolic shapes directly relating to the technical aspects of Aikido.
Triangles generally represent the hanmi posture.
A square is perfect because each corner has to be 90 degrees. Squares represent precision, you have to be accurate to make a square. In any technique you are aiming for accuracy and precision. The circle represents movement. These three elements encompass every Aikido technique.