Aikido and you

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[aiki03]

Just wonderring why you chose Aikido, how long you have been studying it, what your goals were when you began and what they are now in regards to the art (if they have changed, even if only somewhat)?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

My father practiced Aikido prior to going into the security proffession, it served him well. While I do not have any less respect for anyone of any style, I personally chose Aikijujutsu. Classes were closer to home than the nearest Aikido dojo.

I, myself, began Aikijujutsu to learn to protect myself. I study now because I enjoy the classes aswell which consists of wonderful techniques and interesting people and just overall a fascinating dicipline. That and I really want to advance in technical ability and not only for combat reasons.

Cheers

[Mike Hamer]

I chose Aikido because the book "Aikido: And The Harmony of Nature" enlightned my spirit.

[mickeygelum]

Maybe this will help you...

www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9765

Miku-san

[Hardware]

Aikido chose me. :D

When I came to Japan I learned that there was a dojo right at my workplace - it was a no brainer...

[JJF]

I was practicing kendo, and I had a history of practicing Karate. Then a friend showed me a video tape from an aikido exhibition somewhere in Japan.... it was SO cool... A little man walking around on the stage with a wireless microphone and a headset... explaining aikido in japanese (needless to say I didn't understand a thing). Then - out of the blue - he was attacked againg and again by a number of people and he just kept walking around like he didn't really care - and the attackers went flying in all sorts of directions. Right there.... right then I KNEW I had to learn this cool art... many years later I struggle finding the time to go to the dojo...work, kids and all... I have a hard time feeling I deserve my shodan and in some ways aikido is a burden when I'm not in the dojo, hard work when I'm there, but also a very very rewarding part of me. I never regret letting this 'love' into my life... I only regret not having the focus to give it the time it deserves.

My goal is to keep practicing and maybe one day being able to give to others what I have received.

- JJ

[wayneth]

I ain't really had a Martial Art background, practicing Karate and Judo when I was younger; which wasn't for a long time. Although I had always been interested in the Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris etc. Martial Arts movies growing up. One of the many thousands of Martial Arts stood out from all of the rest, and that was Aikido; that was almost 2 and a half years ago and I ain't looked back.
I originally started to gain a better all round fitness and to I guess get the black belt, which I believe is every youngsters dream in starting a Martial Art. Now it is I believe different, although the fitness side is still evident but the Shodan is not there in the bigger picture. I practice now because I have a massive love for the art that I wish to practice, almost everybody that I have trained with from my instructor to his senior student, from Kanetsuka Sensei to the instructors that have instructed at my dojo; have all offered something that more than anything is welcoming to anyone willing to learn. So I guess I'm practicing because of the people; that train alongside me and also from the people who have instructed me over the years.
:ai: :ki: :do:
Wayne

[shadowedge]

I had the burning desire to be a Martial Artist when I was a kid... It didn't matter what the art, as long as I could kick some.... :eek: ( you know.. )

So I got into different arts from elementary all the way to college (tensudo, taekwondo, sikado to name a few) but as I grew older, I learned along the way that I have to be physically superior to be effective in most striking and grappling arts... :dead:

so late into college I made a comprehensive research on what I wanted... I learned it was Segal's chosen art that I believed would work well for me...

I joined Aikido in 2001, just as i was beginning to work in animation... been loving it since, I may try other arts on the side, but only Aikido is where heart will remain :ai:

[SeiserL]

Just wonderring why you chose Aikido, how long you have been studying it, what your goals were when you began and what they are now in regards to the art (if they have changed, even if only somewhat)?
Started MA at 17, Isshnryu karate & Judo.
Saw a book on Aikido. Fascinated but never really saw anyone I believed could make it work.
At 44 found a Sensei and a school.
Been with it almost 11 years now.
The goal I started with was to show up and train.
The goal I have now is o show up and train.

[Lucy Smith]

Mr. Seiser,
Do you belong to the Army?

Lucy.

[Mark Freeman]

Mr. Seiser,
Do you belong to the Army?

Lucy.

What makes you ask Lucy, is it the regimented formation of the bullet points? ;)

Only joking Lynn :)

regards,

Mark

[Lucy Smith]

What makes me ask is the way he always talks about training. Go and train. No spiritual stuff no over thinking, just training. Show up and train.
It would make me crazy, you know, to think like that, but hey we are all different.

Cheers,
Lucy.

[MikeLogan]

Lucy.
You've got to close the functional distance between yourself and the technique / philosophy / training in order to efficiently internalize most of anything regarding aikido. When you begin to see how much it hurts and how little strength one has outside of harmony, you begin to honestly see the harmony, and how to catch up or slow down to that harmony.

Philosophy is good, and a lot of it can be done sitting down, but it's nothing without it's incorporation into human action.

Getting oneself into the dojo, even if you have a lousy practice for a week straight is still beneficial, if only to the point that it shows you your lack of mastery, which could not be proved or disproved simply by sitting around and thinking about it.

Don't feel bad, I am a thinker too, I like to communicate on and off the mat. Would I be writing this otherwise? Which leads to the next bit, everyone else is thinking too, their just thinking about the technique, internally, bodily, physiologically, whateverily.

practice in one hour, Wahoo!

michael.

[Mark Freeman]

What makes me ask is the way he always talks about training. Go and train. No spiritual stuff no over thinking, just training. Show up and train.
It would make me crazy, you know, to think like that, but hey we are all different.

Cheers,
Lucy.

The things that make you crazy now Lucy, will probably not always be the same ;) . As you change, so do the things that get to you.
Lynn has a point about the 'just go train', doing aikido by reading or thinking is a poor substitute fo the real thing. The philosophy of aikido is only really accessible for understanding when it lives in your mind/body. Sure you can read and think about it, but that doesn't help you do the 'do'
Most of us are attracted to aikido by its 'art of peace' philosophy. We love the training because it is great to do. We learn to understand what we do by continued application.

Enjoy your training ;)

regards,

Mark

[dps]

Which leads to the next bit, everyone else is thinking too, their just thinking about the technique, internally, bodily, physiologically, whateverily.

Just when I thought I knew everything ,another principle of Aikido that no one told me about.
Let me see- body, mind, spirit, whateverily. :D