On the
Women in Aikido forum run by Anne Marie, the question came up recently whether pain was a necessary part of aikido/technique or not. We are not talking about injury, but simply about the pain that is inflicted by e.g. lever techniques such as nikkyo or sankyo. I find this question quite interesting and thought IŽd bring it up here to see what you guys think about it.
I once read someoneŽs opinion, that for example sankyo is purely immobilization and does not work on the basis of pain at all, and I am not sure I entirely agree with that. Does pain only come in when uke resists? Does the pain show uke the right way to move (i.e. away from the pain)? Would moving before the pain sets in be anticipating the technique (in other words: bad ukemi)? Or do you think pain is just plain unnecessary?
Personally I quite like a bit of pain in practice
and I try to use the pins as stretches. But that doesnŽt mean that it is correct.
What do you think?