Budd

Hi Graham,

So, I find it at least a little bit amusing that you're starting this thread since a while back you were arguing against arts like Shodokan that have a more "live" randori/shiai component as being aikido. That being said, my larger argument would be similar in intent to what I would tell you then in that discussion. The world of martial arts and aikido in particular has room for everyone. What's most important, I think, is what you get out of training regarding your goals AND that the providers of said training are honest about what they're teaching (which you then would perpetuate as a living example). Unfortunately, I think "martial arts" are an area where there's lots of room for self-delusion, authority by agreement over accomplishment and empowerment-by-entitlement.

But that can be true of any discipline or pursuit, ultimately. It's a tricky problem that's hard enough for you to solve for yourself over the course of your lifetime, much less dictate or mandate for everyone else. Personally, it's very important to me that my stuff is effective in more freestyle paradigms and I've got some means to practice it within an aikido "shape" while also (less frequently these days as I'd like) visiting gyms to grapple or throwing on the gloves to bang. But my goals also include chasing the "internal power" bug, and more importantly raising my family and providing for them. These things aren't always in harmony, either, so it's a matter of prioritizing a bunch of things at once - as usual and making them harmonize the best way you can with what's available to you.

All that said, training aikido with the ki/kokyu skills that were evident in the founder, have a randori/shiai application for more rigorous explorations and live a philosophy of working towards acceptable harmony - sounds like a pretty kickass martial art (life practice, even) to me.