Because I live on a college campus, one which has within walking distance only one very bad martial arts school and absolutely no good ones, I find myself training with whichever friends on campus have experience in martial arts and are willing to put in some time to practice. This leads to some interesting training environments, the mandatory mental flexibility of which I have found to be quite enjoyable and instructional. However, it does sometimes cause issues in technique which would not be found when training with students of the same styles.
My main case here is Aikido. Aikido is not actually my primary art, Tang Soo Do is, and I've always found classical Aikido techniques to have an odd interaction with the hard and directed atemi of striking-oriented arts.
Aikido techniques are designed (generally speaking) to work off of the direction and flow of an opponent's energy, correct? That's why Aikido practicioners tend to work more fluidly, using strikes that keep moving or arc a lot. But what happens when you encounter a strike from someone who is firmly grounding their footwork, aiming their punch to an exact spot rather than letting it continue forward with their energy? What I found as I've been training with my friends is that even an Aikido technique which I know very well will prove difficult or impossible to perform successfully. The force of, for example, my opponent's punch, is expended when that punch reaches its intended spot in the air, whether I am occupying that particular spot or not. This forces me to contort my body to match their movements. Even if I try to coordinate carefully with their footwork, to keep near my opponent's body and work with the energy of their technique while they are still executing it, I nevertheless lack the ability to manipulate the flow and direction of the technique and the limb associated with it.
Sorry if this was verbose, I'm finding it difficult to concretely express what I mean. Has anyone had similar experiences, or know of a solution to this? Thanks!
My main case here is Aikido. Aikido is not actually my primary art, Tang Soo Do is, and I've always found classical Aikido techniques to have an odd interaction with the hard and directed atemi of striking-oriented arts.
Aikido techniques are designed (generally speaking) to work off of the direction and flow of an opponent's energy, correct? That's why Aikido practicioners tend to work more fluidly, using strikes that keep moving or arc a lot. But what happens when you encounter a strike from someone who is firmly grounding their footwork, aiming their punch to an exact spot rather than letting it continue forward with their energy? What I found as I've been training with my friends is that even an Aikido technique which I know very well will prove difficult or impossible to perform successfully. The force of, for example, my opponent's punch, is expended when that punch reaches its intended spot in the air, whether I am occupying that particular spot or not. This forces me to contort my body to match their movements. Even if I try to coordinate carefully with their footwork, to keep near my opponent's body and work with the energy of their technique while they are still executing it, I nevertheless lack the ability to manipulate the flow and direction of the technique and the limb associated with it.
Sorry if this was verbose, I'm finding it difficult to concretely express what I mean. Has anyone had similar experiences, or know of a solution to this? Thanks!