Re: Men and Women Training Together
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Mike |
Re: Men and Women Training Together
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"Whenever I move, that's Aikido." O Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba (often referred to by his title 'O Sensei' or 'Great Teacher'). On a purely physical level it is an art involving some throws and joint locks that are derived from Jujitsu and some throws and other techniques derived from Kenjutsu. Aikido focuses not on punching or kicking opponents, but rather on using their own energy to gain control of them or to throw them away from you. It is not a static art, but places great emphasis on motion and the dynamics of movement. Upon closer examination, practitioners will find from Aikido what they are looking for, whether it is applicable self-defense technique, spiritual enlightenment, physical health or peace of mind. O Sensei emphasized the moral and spiritual aspects of this art, placing great weight on the development of harmony and peace. "The Way of Harmony of the Spirit" is one way that "Aikido" may be translated into English. This is still true of Aikido today, although different styles emphasize the more spiritual aspects to greater or lesser degrees. Although the idea of a martial discipline striving for peace and harmony may seem paradoxical, it is the most basic tenet of the art. Quote:
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Is there another martial art that emphisises harmony? |
Re: Men and Women Training Together
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Mike Sigman |
Re: Men and Women Training Together
What about hapkido? Same Chinese characters....
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Re: Men and Women Training Together
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And about other martial arts emphasizing harmony, again that is going to depend on how we define harmony. If someone is trying to shoot me or somebody else, I would say that it would be harmonious (given that this person is threatening the lives of myself or others) for me to draw my .357 on his dome and spatter cherry pie against the wall, due to the fact that he has disrupted the social order and has to be corrected. Others would not. Are there men who are practicing aikido who are not concerned with others (by others I mean their instructors and fellow students) idea about the philosophical implications of aikido and how that squares with "harmony"? Surely there are. I don't really care about the philosophical ideas behind the art. I got a degree in philosophy, and I for one am tired of normative ethics. If we do have to make it square with some idea of harmony, I say we put the harm back into harmony. :D |
Re: Men and Women Training Together
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Re: Men and Women Training Together
"Ai-ki-dou" is pronounced "gou-ki-dou" in Chinese, and probably in Korean, helping to distinguish it from "hapkido" in the latter. The pronounciation "gou" is the chinese reading, while "ai" is the japanese. Of course, "gou" appears a lot in japanese compounds too.
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Re: Men and Women Training Together
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Re: Men and Women Training Together
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http://www.aikiweb.com/wiki/aikido " The word "aikido" is made up of three Japanese characters: AI - harmony,..." |
Re: Men and Women Training Together
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Sorry about the jacked up spelling job. Maybe it is the case that ai translates to harmony, either directly or indirectly, I dont know for I don't speak Japanese. What I do know is that noone in the aikido world has ever given me a clear definition of the word harmony, insofar as it relates to some philosophical underpinnings that are supposed to exist within the 'aikido framework'. Who's idea of harmony do we use? We cant use Usheiba's he is dead, therefore we cannot interrogate him about it. Given that there are going to be as many different ideas of what harmony is "supposed" to mean as there are aikidoka I do not think this is an appropriate way to try to "define" aikido as such. Good Day Bettis |
Re: Men and Women Training Together
Not knowing something is often more comfortable than knowing it.
Have a nice day. :) |
Re: What is "Aikido"?
I think that this idea that Aikido is defined by the kanji that is used to spell it is a bit weird.
I mean if someone asks you what is boxing, would you go about boxes and gramatical rules and so on? |
Re: What is "Aikido"?
Aikido is this martial art that I learned from Iwao Yamaguchi Sensei. I continue to practice it and refine it to the best of my ability. I am unable to express it in words. I find myself applying it's principles in everyday life however. For example, this morning, I was a bit slow in arising upon hearing the alarm. I later thought about this and determined that if I approached waking up with the same true intent that I tell my students to attack me with, it would be a more pleasant experience. :D
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Re: Men and Women Training Together
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Mike |
Re: What is "Aikido"?
In Mandarin it comes out as "He Qi Dao". In discussions with Korean nationals (in Mandarin...long story) we would always differentiate btw "Hanguo de He Qi Dao" and "Riben de He Qi Dao" , i.e "korean aikido" and "japanese aikido."
As to "what is" ºÏÆøµÀ"£¬I'd say, it's manipulating the feeling of pressure (i.e. ki) in your body, so that it pervades every joint. Then, on contact with your opponent, you "harmonize" by keeping your pressure, which means that as you make a structure to structure connection (say a wrist grab) your structure displaces that of your opponents, assuming you have a stronger structure than they do, or you find the weakest link in their structure and break them down in that direction. Now can I do this yet? No. Only in a limited direction. But check back with me in a few years and hopefully the answer will be yes. |
Re: Men and Women Training Together
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Re: Men and Women Training Together
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Mike |
Re: What is "Aikido"?
Thanks Tim for that explanation of the pronounciation.
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Re: What is "Aikido"?
No prob =)
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Re: What is "Aikido"?
Aikido is the Way of Harmony
the Art of Peace the way of one who loves and respects all creation. pretty simple to define if you ask me. why make it complicated? |
Re: What is "Aikido"?
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Re: Men and Women Training Together
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By the way, if you looked up this character :ai: in a chinese dictionary you'd find that it does not translate as harmony.... :freaky: The chinese definition if I remember correctly as I did this a long time ago, is more akin to integration rather than harmonization. And basically, the character is generally not used by the chinese to indicate harmony as I've been told by a few native Chinese speakers, "we wouldn't even think of using that character for "harmony", we'd use this other one", but I can't remember which one they said. I actually like the term integration, but the idea of harmony I believe suites the philosophy and thinking about the era Aikido was introduced to the west (60's & 70's) it was probably not a literal translation effort... ;) |
Re: What is "Aikido"?
和 = harmony
合 = combine, unite, join; gather |
Re: What is "Aikido"?
Here's one that I've come up with that I've been thinking about...
Aikido is what happens when one of us takes ukemi. Rob |
Re: What is "Aikido"?
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Aikido is wagou, exactly those two characters, according to Abe sensei. He then goes on to explain this in terms much like O'Sensei did, in a calligraphic phrase about using one's total power and putting that to use in accordance with the sum of external forces. |
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