aikido style differances

[theletch1]

Compare away, my friend. I wanna hear what the differences and likenesses are from all spectrums. I think that far too often folks see a demo of a very soft style of aikido on youtube or something and think, "Ok, that's all there is to aikido" and disregard the style. Hearing how your art incorporates the principle of "going with the flow" may help others realize that their art does the same from time to time.

 

[Monadnock]

Compare away, my friend. I wanna hear what the differences and likenesses are from all spectrums. I think that far too often folks see a demo of a very soft style of aikido on youtube or something and think, "Ok, that's all there is to aikido" and disregard the style. Hearing how your art incorporates the principle of "going with the flow" may help others realize that their art does the same from time to time.

This is very true. I think when Aikido came to the US, it was an eye opener for lots of people because it presented some concepts like "blending" and "ma-ai" and "timing" that people thought were rather unique to Aikido. (Plus there was the whole "not harming your opponent" that got a little out of control in some places).

After I started studying some other Japanese systems, it became evident that ma-ai and timing were not unique to Aikido, and arguably, there were systems that had a more realistic take on them.

What people did not realize is the Aikido they were seeing in the US was sort of the "final product" from Ueshiba's life of training. His style was much harder when he was 50 years old, and probably even more so in the early days.

One question we can ask ourselves is "Would Aikido still exist if the techniques were all lost?" Would the principles still be there? That shows the depth of Ueshiba's philosophy. It's why there are so many books on Aikido in daily life. I do not believe all Aikido practitioners were meant to look and feel the same. We should study it as best we can, then make it our own and incorporate it into our lives as best we can. Not all be clones of one another.

We hope to be making a small video in the near future. Hopefully I'll find a way to share it with you if you are interested.

Thanks,

 

[theletch1]

I'll be looking forward to the video.
The principles of blending, redirecting energy and maintaining proper distance are universal to different aikido styles and taking them from the physical application to the realm of interpersonal relationships is, to me, what marks the beginning of a true understanding of aiki. Trying to redirect someones psychological energy (no, nothing psychic here) during a drawn out exchange can be just as taxing as doing technique. The style that I study is a bit more direct than some others during physical technique but we try to deal with the verbal confrontation (mental tai-sabaki) that precedes the altercation with as much flow as possible.

 

[Yari]

........One question we can ask ourselves is "Would Aikido still exist if the techniques were all lost?" Would the principles still be there? ........Thanks,

Good question. Because principles are human thoughts. Techniques are the way humans move. The reasoning why you move in certain ways is also human. So without the thought process behind, there is no Aikido principle. So if nobody thinks Aikido, there is no Aikido. It's really not a qeustion about techniques...

/Yari

 

[Monadnock]

Good question. Because principles are human thoughts. Techniques are the way humans move. The reasoning why you move in certain ways is also human. So without the thought process behind, there is no Aikido principle. So if nobody thinks Aikido, there is no Aikido. It's really not a qeustion about techniques...

/Yari

I agree. I believe there is a similar quote in the book, "The Art of Peace" about there being no [physical] techniques. And this comes straight from the founder