The Aikido Yuishinkai syllabus was introduced to the west by Koretoshi Maruyama Sensei in early 2002 and has seen considerable refinement since then. It includes a formal progression of aikido techniques thru 5 levels including static, flowing and  more esoteric ideas together with a robust weapons syllabus. These articles explore the nature of the syllabus and some observations seen through the grading syllabus, as a structure for student development.