Tomiki Aikido??

[OldManJim]

Hi, recently Ive been looking to start back into martial arts after over an almost 2 year layoff. I was taking a striking style art that was basically a McDojo for over a year and half and needless to say earned 5 belts in that time. Ive always been interested in Aikido and found an instructor close to me who ive talked to on social media as well as the phone and from what I can tell he told me he started training in aikido in NC in the 80s. He was in the military or college, I don't remember. He told me it took about 10 years to earn his black belt. I cant really remember all the stuff he said, but basically when I asked what governing body his aikido is with, I do know he said he was under 3 different senseis..one local, one in a big city nearby and with Tomiki Aikido of the Americas with a Nettles Sensei. I cant remember all of the story but basically he said his aikido came from the JAA and it was kind of like it broke things down into a simpler way. I am going to check it out this week and maybe I will be able to ask again and remember more, but from what im getting I think he studied shodokan/tomiki? Im not asking to have his background scrutinized, im just asking for a little more information on this style of aikido. I don't think they do tournaments which is a big plus. The school also teacher Japanese jiu jitsu which I would basically be the only aikido student he would have because of the economy being so bad in our state. He even has dropped the aikido price down a lot due to that fact. They do have jj students, a lot and as he said its hard to get people interested in aikido because of course with the UFC mindset etc. Thanks for any insight...I want to learn aikido, and right now other than an hour and half drive this is it!

 

[tshadowchaser]

first welcome to Martialtalk.
I know nothing of the system other than what I have read, but it seem to be a good system with a great foundation.
Tomiki Aikido - Tomiki Aikido of the Americas

 

[Chris Parker]

Hi, recently Ive been looking to start back into martial arts after over an almost 2 year layoff. I was taking a striking style art that was basically a McDojo for over a year and half and needless to say earned 5 belts in that time.

Hi Jim.

Welcome aboard!

The first thing to say is that, well, most of this is all irrelevant… to be honest, it really doesn't matter what your previous school was like, other than to get a sense of what you didn't like about it… but whether it was a "McDojo" or not is really not important at all.

Ive always been interested in Aikido and found an instructor close to me who ive talked to on social media as well as the phone and from what I can tell he told me he started training in aikido in NC in the 80s.

Okay, cool.

He was in the military or college, I don't remember. He told me it took about 10 years to earn his black belt.

Okay… again, not so relevant, but cool.

I cant really remember all the stuff he said, but basically when I asked what governing body his aikido is with, I do know he said he was under 3 different senseis..one local, one in a big city nearby and with Tomiki Aikido of the Americas with a Nettles Sensei. I cant remember all of the story but basically he said his aikido came from the JAA and it was kind of like it broke things down into a simpler way. I am going to check it out this week and maybe I will be able to ask again and remember more, but from what im getting I think he studied shodokan/tomiki? Im not asking to have his background scrutinized, im just asking for a little more information on this style of aikido.

Cool… so what do you want to know?

I don't think they do tournaments which is a big plus.

Er… not so true, actually. One of the things that differentiates Tomiki Aikido from other systems is it's the only one that does engage in competitions/tournaments (based in Tomiki's Judo training).

The school also teacher Japanese jiu jitsu

For the record, there's no such thing as "Japanese Jiu Jitsu"… Jujutsu, yeah… but not jiu-jitsu. I'm not sure if that's your preferred spelling there, but if that's the way they spell it, I'd be wary as to it's actual Japanese pedigree…

which I would basically be the only aikido student he would have because of the economy being so bad in our state. He even has dropped the aikido price down a lot due to that fact. They do have jj students, a lot and as he said its hard to get people interested in aikido because of course with the UFC mindset etc.

Okay.

Thanks for any insight...I want to learn aikido, and right now other than an hour and half drive this is it!

Cool.

In terms of more information on Tomiki Aikido, the link that tshadowchaser put up is a good overview of the history… other than that, the biggest hallmarks of Shodokan/Tomiki Aikido is the competitive aspect, and the higher emphasis on knife defence/usage. Were there any particular questions you had?

 

[JP3]

I was doing a search online for something else Tomiki-related (historic koryu kata stuff)and found the Martialtalk forums, via this post.

I have a friend who trains regularly with Nettles sensei in Colorado, enjoying botht he training and training atmosphere. Those are two different things, by the way.

As with most of the Aikido world, the Tomiki branch is a bit fractured, but it doesn't seem to have the vitriol in some of the other groups of like-training folks. There is Tomiki aiki in Europe (stong groups in England and France), good dojos in Australia and here in the US it is scattered all about. Each geographical area has a certain ... flavor... if you will to how they do their Tomiki Aikido. It's fun to get together and compare notes.

On a non-geo sort of difference, there is Tomiki "that do competition" and Tomiki "without competition." The brand I'm in, (that line being O-Sensei Ueshiba, Tomiki (his buddy Oba), as delivered in Japan first, then in the States to Karl Geis, from Geis to Nick Lowry and Raymond Williams (amongst others, then got dropped on me. Neat to look at it that way.

There is sharp, crisp aikido and warm, smooth and "blendy" aikido and I've found both at home in the Tomiki brand, it's sort of a personal thing, how one's own aikido develops. After ~20 years of doing this, I'm not sure I'd have wanted it to work out differently, though we go around seeing what others are doing all the time. That's always good, IMO to avoid self-referencing loop problems, in other words, "believing your own B.S."