There are a variety of reasons for misunderstandings around conversations like this one-never mind the media itself: language and idiom come to mind, along with some really basic questions as to what we're talking about:
Which "aikido" are we talking about?
Which "
aiki?"
Which "ki?"
For that matter, most importantly of all (if you really want to
arrive at an answer)
which Ueshiba?????
'cause there was this one:
Then there was this one:
And, finally, there was this one-who's the one most everyone alive to have seen remembers:
(Notice him looking to see if anyone "gets it?
I'm just going to say one thing-if true aikido is "beyond strength, and beyond self-defense" what is the way
beyond something? 'Cause I've never known anyone to get "beyond" anything without going through it, and the "way beyond' is usually
through. The Founder was, by all accounts, a remarkably strong man-and one who knew what self-defense really was.
To go beyond strength, you have to get strong.
Oh, and, the old man himself:
In a real battle, atemi is seventy percent, technique is thirty percent
And, just because it's my favorite (not because it's, like,
relevant or anything....:lfao: ):
Depending on the circumstance, you should be: hard as a diamond, flexible as a willow, smooth-flowing like
water, or as empty as space
