Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
" I had lunch with an old Karate training buddy. Our conversation mostly about the "good old days" of karate training and how today's young students could not handle what we went through drifted to other arts. When I said that I had done Aikido he laughed and said "it figures that an old hippie like you would get into Aikido, the Hippie martial art".
I have never given this any thought but he said that over the years he has heard this about Aikido. Now I'm thinking about it. Anyone have thoughts on this ? I have not heard this before. |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Aikido has a strong philosophical foundation and thus appeals to people looking for an MA that satisfies them ethically/philosophically as well as physically. For someone looking for a more physically 'robust' art regardless of ethical considerations then Aikido may appear hippyish. Krav Maga springs to mind, it seems to be the MA of choice for true 'street effectiveness' by many people because its techniques are brutal. However, while brutality may strengthen confidence in one's ability to protect themselves, sometimes it goes beyond lawful reasonable force and doesn't take into consideration the ethical ramifications of using such excessive force. As martial artists we have a duty to use our art and skills responsibly and wherever possible, humanely.
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Aikido was listed in the last Whole Earth catalogue.
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Possibly more "New Age"....Can't see a hippie doing aikido.....
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
Looking for a physically robust martial art are we? Having sampled at first hand the waza of some senior uchi deshi of O Sensei I can state categorically my body ached from head to toe.Some of the longer serving guys in the U.K. also know what I mean about robust practice. Cheers, Joe. |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
i think it is true that much of aikido has that reputation, i donlt really like the word 'hippie' but to keep everyone on th same page, if it is seen as a hippy martial art then hippies join then what does it become, a self fulfilling prophecy. equally krav maga is seen as a more 'robust' MA well thats ok your going ot attract more robust people but agian there is a spectrum within that group as well.
as for the old uchi deshi, i don; tthink we can look to them to give us the indication of how the art i studied/ seen today there are alot of pople out there doing good solid strong aikido, and also people doing flowers and daisy chain aikido, unfortunalry i think that latter are a little more vocal about what they are doing because they think they are bringing some sort of spirtual teaching ot the world. on reasonable force, it is not the techniques that make unreasonable force (except in a few extreme example) it is the teaching behind the techniques, doing a hard irimi nage to someone on concrete, or infact any throw on some one who doesn;t know how ot land could do very serious damage. dependingon the country you live in this might or might not be considered reasonable force, if you threw them on the concrete then started stamping on them then i imagine most places would see that as a little OTT |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote From Ewen Ebsworth:
"For someone looking for a more physically 'robust' art regardless of ethical considerations then Aikido may appear hippyish" ......I don't know where you have trained but my training in Aikido was as "physically Robust" as any Karate or Kendo class I have ever been in. |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
The founder was a hippy, at least when he got older IMO. And what's so bad about being a hippy anyway? It"s not like they started wars or anything. And is hippy spelled with a "y" or an "ie"? |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
I was using the term robust euphemistically, which is why I put it in caption marks 'robust'. I wasn't criticising Aikido, I was referring to people who think martial arts have to be brutal or ultra violent to be effective, which is why I used the example of Krav Maga. Please don't take offence.
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
aikidō came to France in the beginning fifties.
aikidō came to Germany around the 68th (Is this understandable in the US? 1968 marks the beginning of a deep change of society in Germany.) And it flourished in the seventies. aikidō in France was very different from aikidō in Germany! It's my understanding since long time that different ways of understanding aikidō refer to different social or better historical contexts. I remember that years ago aikidō very often was mentioned in esoteric journals here. Often it was taught to be kind of spiritual dance of connecting energies of two persons. Interesting enough: The people brought aikidō to Germany were judōka and police men. After only few years the people who took up aikidō were mostly what could be called "hippies". |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
didn't know that i am a hippie. ok, so i am full of hips or hips full or fuller hips or ... well you know what i meant. i guess because we like to get in-touch with people vs out of touch. look at this way, with aikido, you can travel around the world, meet other nice aikido folks, then koshi them into the floor, then afterward go out partying. :)
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
As I said in my original post I am an old Hippie. Dropped out, Tuned in and turned on in about 1967.Did not start karate until the mid 1970's so I was a hippie first. Found Aikido in the early 1990's if I remember correctly. For me Aikido was a better fit than the other arts. In this case my friend was right. It's just that I never thought of it as being good for people with the old hippie mentality, which I no longer have. Well perhaps a bit of it remains.
ps- by that hippie mentality part I mean the concepts of Peace and Love. That does remind me of O'Sensei. |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
1. Aikido is one of few martial arts that actually has a mission statement-like goal to bring about world peace, etc. 2. Aikido has promoted to a counter-culture market more than other markets. Call it what you will, but Aikido made a decision to become socially-politically engaged (I believe there was a thread earlier discussed the relevance of aikido in this regard). Then we promote predominantly to the counter culture that will take up our banner and wave it. We reap what we sow. Quote:
So what do we do. We stick up our nose at our sister arts. We don't care what they think. Except they are our peers. They are fellow experts in the field. Their opinion should matter and we should be saying, "what do you think he means, 'hippie's art'"? Let me confirm that I do not think it bad that we have Hippies. As a warning though, we need to seal the art and set of a vapor bomb to take care of them because where you find a few hippies, you're soon to have more. http://www.southparkstudios.com/clip.../cartmans-plea |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Not sure if I was, or am, a hippie (sure that I'm hippy, now that the Chief Budo Babe has confessed the same)
But I am a Trekkie. This sounds like The Trouble with Tribbles. Can't remember what Captain Kirk did about them, give them their own planet? Actually, I read with interest tales of the Hut Dojo in Britain, and the ki no nagare styles too. Coming from an age when Aikido was not well known, I am very happy that it has spread far and wide. As Matthew Gano always says, Gambatte! |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
Zoom...back in the 60's and 70's just for a second there. ;-) |
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
Re: Aikido, the Hippie Martial Art
of course the phrases non-voilent martial art and other such oxymorons that are attributed to aikido will attrat people who want o learn how to throw people around with little apparent effort.
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:53 AM. |
Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.