Posted by: Zanaffar
Greetings and a question - why does Aikido exist? - 12/16/06 01:36 PM
First, I'd like to say "hello" and introduce myself. My name is Max Bado, I'm 21 years old, and I've studied martial arts since I was 9 years old. Formally I've spent 9 years in Taekwondo and 3 years in Aikido which I'm continuing to this day. Now, onto my question.
This is the exact copy of a post I made on another forum:
On the other forum I received a few good responses; however, due to the nature of the forum, many were rather inflammatory - but that's ok, that's why I love that place.
Some of the reactions I received about my post regarded my opinion as an attack on the practicality of Aikido. This is not what I'm attempting to put in question. I quote myself in saying:
and I finish up on the following note:
So, in conclusion, it appears to me, and I quote one of the replies to my post, "sounds like Aikido is the icing on the cake, and they've taken away the cake." How can such advanced techniques and concepts be developed as something other than the natural evolution of one's fighting style?
This is the exact copy of a post I made on another forum:
Quote:
Have you ever sparred your instructor/fellow student/super duper grandmaster and felt like, after years of training, you had absolutely no clue how to fight properly? I mean, they made winning against you look so easy, you might as well have dropped your pants and bent over instead of trying. Practice seems to have that effect on people, specifically, good, proper, alive training. After getting hit with the two thousandths punch to the face, one might learn to avoid them, possibly learn to judge their distance, range, and so on – all in the effort to not block that punch with their face again. Now, what does this have to do with Aikido as we see it today? Well, pretty much nothing, but this is sort of the point.
You see, it appears, to me at least, that Morohei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, seemed to know a thing or two about actual combat. I’ve only read books and articles on the man and heard varying accounts of his prowess, but, from these references, it appears that the man knew how to handle himself. Whether natural talent played into the equation, I don’t know. Did the man get into a ridiculous amount of real life confrontations? Not sure to be honest (maybe one of you can help me out with these details). However, if my original conjecture about Ueshiba’s fighting ability is coherent and justified, then the commulation of his fighting skills and his world views and philosophies into what he called Aikido is logical and not very far fetched. It’s kind of like being really freaking good at slipping punches and avoiding hits, but also being able to catch a bunch of wristlocks.
This type of ability does not, by any means, come from a vacuum. Continuous stress testing of techniques is the only method of learning how to actively avoid getting hit. You can practice doing footwork or working on your guard for hours on end, but without someone trying to cause you harm, it’s a wasted effort. Thus, it is my hypothesis that was Ueshiba termed Aikido was what his own, stress tested, badass, fighting ability evolved into – being badass while not getting hit. But why in the world is this being taught like it is the starting point of martial arts? I cannot comprehend any one person gaining the ability of evasion that Aikido teaches without, first, requiring the necessity for such evasion to exist. Aikido training simply does not provide this.
My conclusion, therefore, is that the art of Aikido is a flawed conception. It might have worked for Ueshiba in the same way that avoiding getting hit worked for Muhammad Ali – it was the evolution of their OWN technique from their OWN experience. Something like Aikido cannot be learned without a stress tested environment – and no, Aikido randori, by any means, is not a stress tested environment. Whether Ueshiba possessed superior fighting skills, I cannot say for certain, but I would conclude that if the man was able to evolve his combat skills into a practice that resembles what modern day Aikido tries to mimic, then that’s one man I wouldn’t want to tango with.
I’m sorry if this ended up too long, but it’s been on my mind for a while. I was just wondering if you guys find any coherence in this or not. Thanks in advance for the feedback.
On the other forum I received a few good responses; however, due to the nature of the forum, many were rather inflammatory - but that's ok, that's why I love that place.
Some of the reactions I received about my post regarded my opinion as an attack on the practicality of Aikido. This is not what I'm attempting to put in question. I quote myself in saying:
Quote:
It simply appears to me that teaching someone Aikido is like teaching someone the mathematics involved in String Theory physics before they've learned long division.
and I finish up on the following note:
Quote:
I'm not debating the practicality of Aikido techniques and concepts. In fact, I'm almost certain that those techniques and concepts worked just fine for its founder. But it's the nature of those techniques and concepts that I'm trying to put into question. How do you properly teach something that is the evolution of one individual's philosophies and fighting skills when the element of fighting and stress testing is taken out?
I think I might be having some difficulty getting my point across, and I hope I'm not contradicting myself. It's just that I wouldn't suddenly go up to someone and say "I learned how to apply awesome wrist locks against real-life resisting opponents! They really work! Now let's practice them in this prescripted manner."
These views are based on my 3 years of studying Aikido. It feels too forced and artificial, as if I'm trying to learn to walk in someone else's shoes.
So, in conclusion, it appears to me, and I quote one of the replies to my post, "sounds like Aikido is the icing on the cake, and they've taken away the cake." How can such advanced techniques and concepts be developed as something other than the natural evolution of one's fighting style?