Aikido.
I’ve dabbled in a few martial arts in past years with the thought that training would keep my body in shape. I have taken Karate, Kung Fu, and most recently Aikido.
Some of you might wondering “what is Aikido?”. It is a form of non-competitive martial art that is not based on inflicting damage but instead relies on avoiding and redirecting attacks into submission holds and pins. Loosely translated Aikido can mean “The way of the harmonious spirit”. The founder Morihei Ueshiba was displeased with the violent nature of martial arts that he was taught. He meditated frequently on what he later formulated into the basic philosophy of Aikido.
I’m taken by Aikido’s almost business like manor of execution. Using space, time, and feigned threats as negotiation tools to meet a mutually beneficial end to conflict. It think that it also suggest an ideal of equality in that it teaches that we all have different goals in life and sometimes conflicts arise but we must respect one another and negotiate a working solution for moving forward without irreparably harming each other. The application of pain is reserved for gaining the attention of an aggressive individual and giving incentives to comply with requests to cease aggressions. Thus far in my training the only sorts of pain that are taught are those that result from stretching muscles or pressing certain nerve points which result in pain that last only so long as the technique is applied.
Aikido also focuses on mutable techniques that are individualized and adapted according to each encounter. Each person may perform the technique slightly differently and so long as the desired results are achieved the technique is preserved. Most of the techniques I’ve been exposed to are defensive in nature but I’m not certain that all are strictly defensive. Some advanced techniques I’ve witnessed seem to be preemptive attacks or attacks of distraction.
In the small amount of research I’ve undertaken concerning Aikido, I’ve found that there are many schools of Aikido with some philosophical differences. The particular school I joined believes that Ki or spirit is the manifestation of coordination of movement, thought, and maintaining balance. There are some schools that focus more on Ki as a distinct spiritual aspect apart from physical technique that must be cultivated separately. I’m glad that my school approaches Ki in the manner that they do because as a slightly skeptical individual it causes me less mental discord and thereby presents less distraction.
I’m really enjoying practicing Aikido and I would like to devote more time towards its practice than I’ve afforded myself. If you want more information I suggest visiting Wikipedia.org they have a series of articles that I used to fill in some of the gaps in this blog entry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aikido
Some of you might wondering “what is Aikido?”. It is a form of non-competitive martial art that is not based on inflicting damage but instead relies on avoiding and redirecting attacks into submission holds and pins. Loosely translated Aikido can mean “The way of the harmonious spirit”. The founder Morihei Ueshiba was displeased with the violent nature of martial arts that he was taught. He meditated frequently on what he later formulated into the basic philosophy of Aikido.
I’m taken by Aikido’s almost business like manor of execution. Using space, time, and feigned threats as negotiation tools to meet a mutually beneficial end to conflict. It think that it also suggest an ideal of equality in that it teaches that we all have different goals in life and sometimes conflicts arise but we must respect one another and negotiate a working solution for moving forward without irreparably harming each other. The application of pain is reserved for gaining the attention of an aggressive individual and giving incentives to comply with requests to cease aggressions. Thus far in my training the only sorts of pain that are taught are those that result from stretching muscles or pressing certain nerve points which result in pain that last only so long as the technique is applied.
Aikido also focuses on mutable techniques that are individualized and adapted according to each encounter. Each person may perform the technique slightly differently and so long as the desired results are achieved the technique is preserved. Most of the techniques I’ve been exposed to are defensive in nature but I’m not certain that all are strictly defensive. Some advanced techniques I’ve witnessed seem to be preemptive attacks or attacks of distraction.
In the small amount of research I’ve undertaken concerning Aikido, I’ve found that there are many schools of Aikido with some philosophical differences. The particular school I joined believes that Ki or spirit is the manifestation of coordination of movement, thought, and maintaining balance. There are some schools that focus more on Ki as a distinct spiritual aspect apart from physical technique that must be cultivated separately. I’m glad that my school approaches Ki in the manner that they do because as a slightly skeptical individual it causes me less mental discord and thereby presents less distraction.
I’m really enjoying practicing Aikido and I would like to devote more time towards its practice than I’ve afforded myself. If you want more information I suggest visiting Wikipedia.org they have a series of articles that I used to fill in some of the gaps in this blog entry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aikido
posted by JC at 4:03 PM
3 Comments:
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hmm my first fragging advertiser within like 4 minutes of posting... Nice.
Thanks for the overview of Aikido. I have been practicing T'ai Chi for about a year and a half, and I was interested to find some unexpected similarities -- unexpected because I didn't realize, before I started studying it, that T'ai Chi is a martial art, and because I didn't realize that Aikido is primarily a defensive martial art, a characteristic it shares with T'ai Chi. I, too, have been trying to devote more time to the practice :-).
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