Hello Everyone!
Ok, so here is what we thought of the class, students, instructors etc. It was an advanced class this particular night, i dont think i saw anyone below black belt level. Everyone seemed to be very open and willing to answer any questions we both had, the instructors were friendly, and the general atmosphere of the school seemed to be very laid back.
There were many ki exercizes practiced that really empressed us. Much attention was paid toward proper posture, breathing, balance, movement, and a short meditation and healing session before and after class. These things have always appealed to me in any of the arts, however it was my fiances first introduction to anything of this sort, she really liked it!
Now here is the part where we both kind of looked at eachother and said "there is no way that would work for real" We both noticed right away that the attackers would just give up their attack and let the defender continue with what they were doing.
Now i know there is a place for this type of training, i have done it myself over the years and it does help to polish the mechanics of a given technique. So i asked afew students and a instructor, is this how you train all the time or is it just to learn the technique? They said yes, they train this way for the most part and then went on to tell me about how the cooperative approach teaches both attacker and defender to harmonize and blend with the generated energy. I was told that i was seeing everything from basic to advanced techniques worked that night. My fiance tells me after we leave "those moves really seemed wimpy, i dont even think i could get away with that on my girlfriends much less a man who was really trying hurt me" lol
Now all in all we did like the class, especially the way they focused on posture, breathing, balance, movement etc not to mention the spiritual things that were discussed, it made us feel good
I do believe that anyone, myself included would benefit from this type of training. By itself however, with nothing else to draw upon, there is no way i would ever tell any female that THIS ALONE will better prepare them for a violent encounter. Now here is alittle bit about my background and the reasons for my last statement.
I am 35 years old, i have been envolved with the martial arts for more than 25 years. At age 9 i began with boxing, wrestling, and some hand to hand combat techniques taught to me by my dad who was a cqc/weapons man and recon scout for the military. At age 15 i was introduced to edged weapons and firearms along with Tom Brown Jrs Survival School, urban/outdoor survival type scenerios, shelter, eatible plants, tracking, hunting, fishing and an overall awareness and respect for nature, human or otherwise. I later found Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido but quit shortly after because i felt what i was learning would get me hurt more than help me out, needless to say i only made it to the middle ranks. It was around this time (just after my 18th b day) that i had my eyes opened as to what would and would not work in a real encounter. I got messed up pretty bad one night, it was mainly do to my overconfidence in what i was learning in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido that worked against me. I mean the techniques looked cool, plus they were being taught by asians, how could ya beat that lol. Well i forgot everything my dad or Tom Brown ever taught me, what really happens under pressure, and how its the most simple inate primal instincts that will save you, if you let them. But i had tkd and hapkido now, plus my master was Choon Lee and i had seen him do things in class that were amazing, the same things he had taught me. I could use that to deal with most anything, i didnt need my ole pops advice anymore
My god i got beat down that night, everything was so fast and just kept comming. It wasnt like in class when my attacker held his arm out there long enough for me to grab it. It wasnt like when they lunged at me and i did my series of movements and guided them gently to the floor, and it sure wasnt like when i tried my wrist locks, throws, and pins. He wouldnt even grab my wrist or lunge at me like how we practiced in class, everything was so fast, lots of pressure, with broken rythum. It was more like caos, i would knock him down, he would keep comming, he was resisting me 100%, he wanted to hurt me, and i knew it. I just wasnt used to this type of training partner, it was more like how my dad said it would be. A funny quote comes to mind from Jim Carrey, he was playing a martial arts instructor that had just gotten stabbed with a knife during a training exercize by a new student and he says "LIKE ALOT OF BEGINNING STUDENTS YOU ATTACKED ME WRONG" lol. I felt just like that, he was attacking me wrong, he wasnt letting me do my techniques on him and i just wasnt used to that. Man that sucked that night, to tell you the truth my wounds healed but what was left in my mind and heart stayed with me to this day. I have been in several other encounters sense then, working as a bouncer, military, working law enforcement/security etc but that first experience changed the way i train. I know when i hear other stories of people being attacked what they mean now, its too hard to remember tons of techniques much less apply them in real time against someone that doesnt want you to. So i went back to the beginning, emptied my cup so to speak. At age 21 i ended up becomming friends with some Philipino guys who intern introduced me to the martial arts of their homelands. I liked these arts because they reminded me alot of what dad had shown me those first few years with a blade, and how it related to empty hand making your tecniques so much faster. Come to find out dad was teaching me the Philipino arts all along, just didnt know what they were called at the time lol. Kali led into Kino Mutai, another philipino art, very brutal (biting, eye goudges, pinching etc) this was when i began to see the really nasty side of these life saving systems. From my friends, decendants of tribal warriors that actually used these arts to protect their homelands, their loved ones, to keep the tribe strong, to just survive. They said the techniques they were sharing with me were gained through the blood of the people, no flash, no frills, just pure brutal survival. It wasnt event called by a name back then, no labels, just something that was shared, this was a very enlightened time for me. Through the Filipino arts i came to know some students of Guru Dan Inosanto and yet another door opened. Now i was learning everything from Silat to Jeet Kune Do concepts, Muay Thai to groundfighting and grappling. All the ranges, kicking, punching, trapping, grappling, multiple opponets, weapons etc were drilled, in real time against "resisting attackers" Everything was kept very "alive" we would use padded sticks with no protective equipment or use training knives with chalked surfaces to leave a mark so that there was no debate wether you or your opponet were cut. Siome of these guys went on to train with the "Dog Brothers" probly one of the most realistic training groups around especially in the world of stick and knife work. This brought me to yet another level of what really worked and what did not, we stripped down the arts to the bare essentials of what worked over and over again in "live" sparring sessions. If we couldnt perform it against a "resisting" opponet in a "live" fullspeed attack, if it didnt work over and over again against and with different scenerios, then it was dropped all togather. IMHO this is where Aikido needs to evolve, keep the posture and breathing practices, keep the focus on balance and movement awareness, keep the sensitivity drills, all this is really wonderful stuff. There was a pretty good martial artist who once said "Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own" who was that guy
I have done meditation, yoga, and tai chi everyday for almost 10 years now, just for the pure fact that it make me feel good and helps my martial arts. Without a doubt i am a better person because of it, both mentally, physically, and spiritually, not to mention much more relaxed in everyday life as well as in dynamic situations. BUT IF ONE OF YOUR GOALS IS TO BE BETTER PREPARED FOR A REAL LIFE PHYSICAL ATTACK then you had better adjust your training methods accordingly. TRAIN WITH PROGRESSIVE RESISTANCE, that means begin slow just like you would with any exercize program, then add, get confortable with that, then add some more, and so on. A real attacker is going to resist your efforts 100%. If you want to learn how to fight, you have to practice fighting against someone who is fighting back. Progressive resistance allows you to get confortable with this. Try and train to be prepared for many different situations. Have each student actually train in as many self-defense scenarios as possible so that if he or she gets into a bad situation they already have experience in that particular situation. Kicking, punching, grappling, ground, multiple opponets, weapons. Different enviroments such as outdoor/ indoor, closed spaces,up against a wall or car, sitting, standing, unlevel ground, in water, slippery surfaces, from a vehicle, in the daytime, in the night, blind folded, with and without shoes etc. Really try to highten your senses so you feel more confortable in different areas. Is an attacker in the street going to resist you? Absolutely. If you don't practice with resistance in a variety of scenerios then you won't be able to handle the situation. I will say it again, If you want to learn how to fight, you must practice fighting against someone who is fighting back.
Now by no means is this an attack on aikido or the people that practice it. In my experience over the years and with this last class we attended, they have been very open minded really wonderful spiritual people. There is something that draws me to aikido, i dont know if it is something from when i was young and believed in magic, or something i had read years ago from Wayne Dyer where he said to suspend your disbelief about the unbelievable. Just having the doubt about something will sometimes keep you from experiencing miracles, i know this to be true! So maybe that is why i might be joining my girl in an aikido class one of these days
but i will also make sure what she learns will work against someone who doesnt want it to
With Respect,
Jason