AikiWeb Aikido Forums - View Single Post - Internal Power (AIKI?)-- Players and Haters

Conrad Gus · 03-31-2010, 03:29 PM

I find it so interesting that a lot of the threads on aikiweb seem to be going in two different directions.

1. People who are asserting that the study of "internal power" has gone missing or become inauthentic in aikido in general. Much discussion of what it is, why nobody really has it, how to get it back, etc. (Ellis Amdur's "Hidden in Plain Sight" et al)

See thread: http://aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17673

2. People who feel that aikido in general has lost its focus on martial effectiveness and devolved into something close to spiritual/mystical game-playing.

See thread: http://aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?p=254762

I've spent most of my aikido life doing pretty main-line aikikai aikido, which in my opinion is usually a pretty good halfway between the two extremes of super-hard and super-soft. I have also trained with really rough-and-tumble and all the way on the other side with people who do ki-waza. While I have my own opinions on things, I have to say that I've learned valuable things from people on both ends of the spectrum.

Could it be that it is not so black or white? Perhaps the hardest-core aikido brutes are still using internal power, and the flakiest aikido wizards are actually practicing martial techniques, just in a really far-out way?

Conrad

03-31-2010, 03:29 PM	#1
Conrad Gus Dojo: Eclipse Budo Location: Victoria, BC Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 274 Offline	Internal Power (AIKI?)-- Players and Haters I find it so interesting that a lot of the threads on aikiweb seem to be going in two different directions. 1. People who are asserting that the study of "internal power" has gone missing or become inauthentic in aikido in general. Much discussion of what it is, why nobody really has it, how to get it back, etc. (Ellis Amdur's "Hidden in Plain Sight" et al) See thread: http://aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17673 2. People who feel that aikido in general has lost its focus on martial effectiveness and devolved into something close to spiritual/mystical game-playing. See thread: http://aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?p=254762 I've spent most of my aikido life doing pretty main-line aikikai aikido, which in my opinion is usually a pretty good halfway between the two extremes of super-hard and super-soft. I have also trained with really rough-and-tumble and all the way on the other side with people who do ki-waza. While I have my own opinions on things, I have to say that I've learned valuable things from people on both ends of the spectrum. Could it be that it is not so black or white? Perhaps the hardest-core aikido brutes are still using internal power, and the flakiest aikido wizards are actually practicing martial techniques, just in a really far-out way? Conrad