View Single Post
Old 06-13-2009, 11:45 PM   #7
Keith Larman
Dojo: AIA, Los Angeles, CA
Location: California
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,604
United_States
Offline
Re: Aiki-Ken vs reality

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. There are things we know without having to resort to actual sword fights. For instance, proper grip, proper cutting methods, etc. Give the average aikidoka a real sword and stick them in front of a soaked tatami and most will not be able to cut cleanly (and yes, I've done this more than once). Elbows out, improper tenouchi, improper hasuji, no draw during the cut, and on and on. So comments like "Until some form of live sword fighting comes back into vogue, it will all be "Wacky-sticks" or an estimation." is much like saying "well, the air is really polluted so it doesn't matter if I smoke". No, it does matter. This isn't an either/or thing. There are things we do know about proper cutting that can be *easily* demonstrated. And most every aikidoka I've had over to my place and given them a sword and a bunch of rolled tatami to cut have walked away with the realization they had work to do. Myself included.

Of course I've also seen guys cut targets really well. But they do it *completely* differently than they cut with their bokken. They shouldn't.

I've seen many aikidoka do "cuts" that would a) never reach the target (they never hit anything hence they have zero experience closing distanct), b) utilize zero extension (hence the other guy who does extend will kill you), c) have zero power in their cuts. And on and on... But some are kinda pretty in a flowing sort of way. And if that is your criteria... There you go.

All that said I think there is most certainly a place for much of what is done in Aikido, even with bokken. To the extent of teaching more about empty hand technique I have zero problem. But Japanese swordsmanship is an exacting activity with a lot going on. No, we may not be able to answer the question whether practitioner A or practitioner B is "better". But we can look at much of what is done on a purely technical basis and *easily* determine that some things are ineffective, poor cutting techniques, or would damage/destroy a blade (poor hasuji, etc.). So for some of us it is critical to learn how to properly cut, move, etc. with a sword. And by that I mean learning a lot of those details. You can't wave it away as being somehow archaic therefore anything goes. There are many things demonstrably bad about how a lot of people do things. Now if they're not claiming to be using the bokken as a real sword, well, fine, it's just a training tool. But if they're using the bokken to replicate a real sword then there are things we can to this day say with certainty are good or bad. The slappy, dropping the tsuka with elbows out like wings thing is most certainly terrible form because it results in *terrible* performance of the weapon through a target. Not to mention the lack of extension, reach, power, etc.

  Reply With Quote