Posted by: Prizewriter
Alternative criticism of Aikido - 04/19/10 01:37 PM
Hello all. In an attempt to keep things going on here, I'm starting a topic about an area of Aikido I haven't seen much of on here. Maybe it isn't as interesting to people as the "other" criticism of Aikido (i.e. lack of application to real world violence). Not sure, but hey, I'll put it out there.
Will start this with a quote attributed to the main man himself:
"The primary purpose of Aikido is spiritual development. " M Ueshiba.
Now, many styles, schools, teachers and indeed students of Aikido have felt the need to train in a manner more befitting of a "martial" Aikido. For example, in Shodokan/Tomiki Aikido, fully resistant randori is used in training and competition to "test" Aikido ideas. Yoshinkan Aikido keeps closer to the DR roots of Aikido (so I've been told). Yoseikan Aikido had some Karate and Judo influence (again, as is my understanding).
However, the fundamental goal of Ueshibas Aikido seems to be the development of the spirit/person. I read a criticism from a traditional point of view that was highly damning of the position of many people who study Aikido for "martial" reasons.
So the question for the thread is do you feel that the "Do" of Aikido is more important than the "Jutsu"? In other words, is improving yourself and growing the reason you study Aikido, or is to learn a particular set of martial skills? Is it possible, in the framework of Aikido, to do both? I mean, if a person is still concerned with learning martial skill, are they following "The way of peace and harmony"?
Will start this with a quote attributed to the main man himself:
"The primary purpose of Aikido is spiritual development. " M Ueshiba.
Now, many styles, schools, teachers and indeed students of Aikido have felt the need to train in a manner more befitting of a "martial" Aikido. For example, in Shodokan/Tomiki Aikido, fully resistant randori is used in training and competition to "test" Aikido ideas. Yoshinkan Aikido keeps closer to the DR roots of Aikido (so I've been told). Yoseikan Aikido had some Karate and Judo influence (again, as is my understanding).
However, the fundamental goal of Ueshibas Aikido seems to be the development of the spirit/person. I read a criticism from a traditional point of view that was highly damning of the position of many people who study Aikido for "martial" reasons.
So the question for the thread is do you feel that the "Do" of Aikido is more important than the "Jutsu"? In other words, is improving yourself and growing the reason you study Aikido, or is to learn a particular set of martial skills? Is it possible, in the framework of Aikido, to do both? I mean, if a person is still concerned with learning martial skill, are they following "The way of peace and harmony"?