Aikido and Acupuncture

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Posted 2009-01-07 17:43:50 by Dunken Francis
News URL: http://aikidoforbeginners.blogspot.com/2008/12/acupuncture-and-aikido.html

Aikido and Acupuncture. Two very different disciplines... or are they?

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[Larry Feldman]

You should read Tohei's book "Kiatsu".

[Carsten Möllering]

In our dojo we don't do acpuncture but acpressure.
Some Shiatsu is part of our aikitaiso.
We sometimes do shiatsu after training and have seminars.

We see it as two very related disciplines.

Carsten

[Anja Lampert]

When you grab Uke's forearm for yonkyo you can also use two pressure points that you touch with the palm-side of your knuckles... I can see them pretty well after training on my forearm, because they tend to get all blue and green, so everyone will find them quite easily in the next training session! :D

I guess just because of the Ki-aspect in both Aikido and acupuncture/acupressure, there obviously is a relation between the two of them. I guess it depends on your sensei if you are more or less aware of this... One of my sensei is a shiatsu practitioner too, so of course he sometimes refers to his knowledge about Shiatsu during Aikido training, and apart from being really interesting it really helps understanding some aspects of certain techniques or even posture much better...

[Dunken Francis]

You should read Tohei's book "Kiatsu".
One of my favourites. Avoided going into the subject of Kiatsu as it would open up another can of worms!

[Dunken Francis]

In our dojo we don't do acpuncture but acpressure.
Some Shiatsu is part of our aikitaiso.
We sometimes do shiatsu after training and have seminars.

We see it as two very related disciplines.

Carsten
We have a shiatsu practitioner within the club, who often works on people with aches and pains, but have never thought about including this in aikidtaiso - what a great idea!:)

[Dunken Francis]

When you grab Uke's forearm for yonkyo you can also use two pressure points that you touch with the palm-side of your knuckles... I can see them pretty well after training on my forearm, because they tend to get all blue and green, so everyone will find them quite easily in the next training session! :D

I guess just because of the Ki-aspect in both Aikido and acupuncture/acupressure, there obviously is a relation between the two of them. I guess it depends on your sensei if you are more or less aware of this... One of my sensei is a shiatsu practitioner too, so of course he sometimes refers to his knowledge about Shiatsu during Aikido training, and apart from being really interesting it really helps understanding some aspects of certain techniques or even posture much better...

My next post will be about "pressure points". We really on see them commonly in yonkyo, but I was taught about 12 major points (a long time ago I might add)and have been lucky enough to rain with some very good eagle claw king fu guys in the UK who use pressure points widely within their discipline. Still thinking it through, but I'd like to explore how various arts use these points and how Aiki slots into this..

[eyrie]

Acupunture and aikido are 2 separate disciplines and have little to do with each other. Although *some* acupunture theory is generally applicable to many asian MA, and *may* appear to be related at some rudimentary level, it is quite unrelated to the study of combat sciences - one is healing and health-related, the other is used to hurt and kill.

Apart from acupuncture points, there are nerve points, pressure points and vital points - most of which are unrelated to the study of acupuncture per se, and are never used in acupuncture, although there is *some* overlap between the actual points used in combat and points used in acu-point (including accupressure, shiatsu, an-mo) therapy.

Certainly acupuncture theory is well worth studying in its own right, for knowledge sake. Though, some of it may be generally applicable to MA, most of it won't be...

[Dunken Francis]

Acupunture and aikido are 2 separate disciplines and have little to do with each other. Although *some* acupunture theory is generally applicable to many asian MA, and *may* appear to be related at some rudimentary level, it is quite unrelated to the study of combat sciences - one is healing and health-related, the other is used to hurt and kill.

Apart from acupuncture points, there are nerve points, pressure points and vital points - most of which are unrelated to the study of acupuncture per se, and are never used in acupuncture, although there is *some* overlap between the actual points used in combat and points used in acu-point (including accupressure, shiatsu, an-mo) therapy.

Certainly acupuncture theory is well worth studying in its own right, for knowledge sake. Though, some of it may be generally applicable to MA, most of it won't be...

Hi Ignatius
It's clear that you have a lot of knowledge of acupuncture but little of Aikido I'm afraid. Hurting and killing is the opposite of everything Aikido stands for - in fact my core observation in the blog post was that both "arts" have at their core the intention of resolving mis-used energy.

[eyrie]

Hi Ignatius
It's clear that you have a lot of knowledge of acupuncture but little of Aikido I'm afraid. Hurting and killing is the opposite of everything Aikido stands for - in fact my core observation in the blog post was that both "arts" have at their core the intention of resolving mis-used energy. Perhaps you might like to avoid taking personal stabs and taking my post out of context. While you're at it, you might wish to do further research and reconsider your statement "...the intention of resolving mis-used energy", because I think you're way off on both counts.

[Dunken Francis]

Perhaps you might like to avoid taking personal stabs and taking my post out of context. While you're at it, you might wish to do further research and reconsider your statement "...the intention of resolving mis-used energy", because I think you're way off on both counts. Personal stabs? I'm sorry you chose to take my response in that way - I was merely pointing out that Aikido is in no way designed to hurt or kill - quite the opposite in fact. One of the greatest challenges within out art is the resolution of conflict and trying to apply a martial framework to that concept. May I suggest you have a quick read of Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido)? The definition of Aikido is one of the best I think and I hope will go some way to helping you distinguish between Aikido and other martial arts.