what do you get out of your training

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[Andrew Macdonald]

following on from the sensei and size thread

it would see that many people don't equate aikido training with making you physically fit or instilling mental discipline

so apart from techniques what do the people her get from/want from their training

[fisher6000]

I get physical fitness, not sure I get "mental discipline" exactly.

Conflict seems to be something that shapes my life experience a lot, I think that's true for most people. I train because I want more input into that process. I want to be able to consistently work well in the midst of conflict.

I'm one of those people who really took "it takes two to tango" to heart, and tend to feel really ashamed when normal conflict arises. This limits me. I flee too much, assert too little. I like aikido because it's a framework in which conflict is a given, and becomes a sometimes wonderous object of study.

My aikido practice allows me to see other conflict as an opportunity that I need to protect myself from but also invite, allow, examine and gain insight from.

[Sam Turnage]

As far as “getting into shape” for Aikido well IMO, it would depend on what your level of skill was, and where you’re training too, such as if you’re not ready to take fast ukemi then you most likely aren’t able to train at the level to induce an aerobic exercise. Or if you’re in a big Dojo with lots of people or a small one with one or two people; lots of factors that change the way we are able to train sometimes.

Now I have had many aerobic workouts in Aikido classes that kicked my but like at Aikido camp where we trained 5 to 6 classes a day etc. but overall it is nothing like Judo randori or what I would call fight shape.

I fill that through my training I improve my ability to not get hurt or at least not get hurt as bad when I fall. (I have had this pay off with me and my kids)

Improved self-defense skills and or the ability to protect myself ie leave less openings etc.

Improved awareness

Improved balance

Flexibility

Respect

I learn a lot about connection

How to receive in order to dominate / blend and redirect or use one strength, size, and or energy against them.

Improved abilities of my non-dominate hand, in my case my left hand

And more efficient use of my body ie I have learned that I am stronger when I am relaxed I’ve learned to engage my hips more, and use my whole body rather then muscle it with my upper body.

[Sam Turnage]

You know, I also just feel better and more centered when I train but this is hard to explain.

[Adam Huss]

How to thrive in life and handle all situations and problems that come my way better than I did before my training.

How to face danger with a clear head and a strong spirit.

Shugyo.

[RED]

It changes everyday.You get something new from every training session. Every learning, ever growing.
Like take my last training season, I got a pulled groin muscle from it.
:D
Who knows what tomorrow's lesson might bring?! :p

[Janet Rosen]

I started in aikido looking for an exercise to get fit.

I continue 14 yrs later despite a blown out knee and other physical woes because:

I love doing it

I almost always feel better after training than I did before

The martial aspect of the art continue to pose a seemingly infinite number of puzzles for me to explore having to do with timing, weighting, energy, angles, etc

It helps me work on human-to-human interactions in a somatic, intuitive way rather than an intellectual, verbal way, and gives me a practice that lets me work on presence, relaxation and focus all at the same time

did I mention I love it?

[Eric Webber]

Spiritual fitness

[Shadowfax]

Since starting aikido I have:
*gotten in better physical shape
*increased my flexibility
*increased my endurance
*become more aware of my body
*become more interested in taking care of myself
*become more relaxed
*become less angry
*become less afraid
*become less stressed
*become more interested in life
*become more mentally, emotionally, and physically balanced

Aikido just makes me a much happier and better person all the way around. And this is only the beginning.

[SeiserL]

I train to train.
The journey is the destination.
I am an old man having a good time.

[mathewjgano]

My training hasn't been there for a while now, but when I did train everything seemed to get a little better. I absolutely loved the alive and open feeling that came after training. I get something similar from playing soccer these days, but it's not the same.

[Chuck Clark]

Nothing that can be measured... it's me being me, after fifty-seven+ years of training, I'd love to do it all over again.

Best regards,

[Rob Watson]

I invariably get more than I give. The debt must be repaid.

[lbb]

it would see that many people don't equate aikido training with making you physically fit or instilling mental discipline

so apart from techniques what do the people her get from/want from their training

There are the reasons that we start, and there are the reasons that we stay. The former, for me, bears no resemblance to the latter. I view martial arts training now as just part of my life, not so much something that I do in order to "get" something -- maybe because what I "get" is completely unpredictable, and most if not all of it could be "got" (often more easily) elsewhere. Want to get fit? There are better (meaning more efficient and more effective) ways to do that other than martial arts. Want to find a spiritual path? Very few martial arts teachers are qualified to lead you in that direction, and when you run into a teacher who claims to be, sniff suspiciously for the smell of week-old fish. Want to be calmer, less stressed, better in control of your temper? There are more direct and more effective ways to do that -- again, from teachers who are actually qualified to teach on those subjects. So, I don't train because of any of those items that you find on a bulleted list on the average dojo's brochure or website. "Because I like it" isn't really it either -- there are plenty of times when it's no fun at all and I don't really like it (although generally I consider it worthwhile, which is different). I guess, dumb as it sounds, I train because that's what I do.

[ruthmc]

I really like the interaction with people :) All different shapes and sizes of people, with different skills and mindsets, and different states of 'being'.

It's good fun to work out how to train with them, and I don't just mean how to throw them ;) The opportunities to practise this kind of thing just don't exist at the same level outside the dojo, and yet they are very useful to know when dealing with people off the tatami :D

Like Janet I also enjoy the physical challenges of working out how to make things happen - Aikido can be very counter-intuitive at first and I'm always learning new ways :)

Ruth

[Adam Huss]

Here is an interesting quote from the late Toyoda Fumio Sensei that I find applicable to the discussion of aikido training benefits:

"Although it is an old institution, the dojo will always have a place in modern society. We live in an electronic age when traditional community gathering places, such as churches, no longer hold the relevance they once did for many; we communicate by email or phone, and can go entire days without speaking directly to a living person. But the dojo is a place where direct human contact and communication may always be found. In our training, our entire physical and social selves must be used."

Retrieved from Shinjinkai Webpage, Dojo Community (http://www.shinjinkai.org/DojoCommunity.html).

[Buck]

What do I get out of my training....hmmmm.....let me think.....

Well for one, I really don't know. Maybe just he experience of being there in a place where I am doing something I enjoy. Cause, for the better part of the day am not doing much I enjoy.

[DanTesic]

What do I get? Bumps, bruises, pain all over...