Hello, question about aikido here.

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[aiki03]

Hi everyone,

I have a question. I was wonderring if somebody could explain to me the principles of Aikido and what the training is meant to manifest into in a self defense situation?


Thankyou in advance.

[Chuck.Gordon]

Not in a few words and not off the mat, no.

Aikido is not monolithic. Thee are as many flavors of aikido as there are of Baskin Robbins. Some are fruit heavy, some are rocky road.

What'cha REALLY want to knowl?

Or... do you just live uner a bridge?

(grin)

cg

PS: I don't do aikido. Right Jun?

[dps]

A few quotes from 'Aikido Complete' by Yoshimitsu Yamada, 8th dan and the chief instructor at the New York Aikikai, Chairman of the Board of the United States Aikido Federation and the Latin America Aikido Federation.

"The main purpose of Aikido is to build a strong mind, body, and spirit for use in daily life. In addition, however, Aikido also trains its students to learn to live in harmony with themselves and with one another."

" Uyeshiba was filled with profound dissatisfaction with his achievements. He realized that his most formidable opponent was himself. The real purpose of the martial arts must to purge oneself of petty ambitions and desires, to obtain control of one's own character before attempting to defeat others. then, and only then, should one use his fighting ability, and only in defense of that which is right, never for personal gain or ambition."

"Aikido, as it has been developed by Morihei Uyeshiba, does not have as its primary goal the defeat and injury of one's opponent. Rather it is designed to remove the idea of aggression from the antagonist's mind by yielding to his force in such a way that he hurts only himself with his aggressiveness."

[Adam Alexander]

Hi everyone,

I have a question. I was wonderring if somebody could explain to me the principles of Aikido and what the training is meant to manifest into in a self defense situation?


On principles, I think the question's too vague.

On manifestation in a self-defense situation, I'd say, (and I've read this somewhere and thought it fit, but can't remember the author to credit) that Aikido offers an array of techniques that allow an individual (when PROPERLY utilized) to deliver a level of force the defender considers appropriate against a person of any size (relatively speaking), multiple or singular attacker and regardless of environment (practically speaking).

It (for me) develops confidence and calm in situations where you recognize a threat.

So, I'd say, my experience has been that when put in a self-defense situation, I remained calm and confident. When someone was being an idiot (not seriously threatening, but interfering with me) I was able to take care of the situation without excessive force as I had done prior to training. When someone was a serious threat (risking serious injury) I was confident he wouldn't walk away on his own.

That's how it manifests for me.

[aikidodragon]

my instructor says that there are four main princaples in aikido. the 3 that i can remember are, keep 1 point, relax completly, and keep weight under side. Does anyone remember the 4th one?

[Mary Turner]

#4 Extend Ki.

[aikidodragon]

thank you mary. someday i will remember all of them.

[Mark Freeman]

my instructor says that there are four main princaples in aikido. the 3 that i can remember are, keep 1 point, relax completly, and keep weight under side. Does anyone remember the 4th one?

As I understand it these 4 priciples are the priciples to 'co-ordinate mind and body' as taught by Tohei Sensei, not the priciples of aikido as such.

regards,

Mark

[Mark Uttech]

I, for one, would be most happy to see an actual/active list of Aikido Principles. Mark is right, those four principles stated are the basic tenets of 'coordinating mind and body' as created by Koichi Tohei.
A quick question to everyone else: do you consider principles to be basic laws, truths, doctrines, etc? (hmmm. maybe I should have started a new thread.)

[RoyK]

" Uyeshiba was filled with profound dissatisfaction with his achievements"

heh, reminds me of myself most of the time. But I still didn't discover how Aikido helps to defeat my dissatisfaction.

[akiy]

I, for one, would be most happy to see an actual/active list of Aikido Principles.
Please feel encouraged to contribute to the "Principles" section of the AikiWeb AikiWiki:

http://www.aikiweb.com/wiki/principles

-- Jun

[Jorge Garcia]

Hiroshi Kato Shihan says there are 5 principles to Aikido.
Ikkyo-Build up the body.
Nikyo-Learn the techniques.
Sankyo-Go with the flow.
Yonkyo-Concentrate your energy.
Gokyo-Learn to take away weapons.

[Jorge Garcia]

I have the following general list of principles I use to teach with.
1) Keep your center.
2) Extend your energy.
3) Blend with your attacker.
4) Use proper movement. (tai sabaki)
5) Practice proper breathing. (kokyu)
6) Be aware of your environment. (sanshin)
7) Maintain proper martial distance. (maai)

Can someone help me with a little Japanese for the first three?

[aikidodragon]

sorry about that confussion guys. the principals were passed to us probibly from tohei sensei. Tohei sensei trained toyoda sensei, toyoda sensei trained sato sensei, and sato sensei is the head of our organization. if some of this seems incorrect please let me know and i will fix it.

[Mike Hamer]

I use the four prinicples for unifying mind and body whenever I train, it really helps out alot.