View Single Post
Old 05-07-2011, 01:46 PM   #21
graham christian
Dojo: golden center aikido-highgate
Location: london
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,697
England
Offline
Re: Three Levels of Aikido

Quote:
Alberto Italiano wrote: View Post
Very well said Graham - the fact is, at times our communications may be misunderstood as being based upon "academic" premises - thence the idea (or reply, like apparently in this case) that the "Academy" never stated those things.

However, checking also the nice link you proposed in your latest post, and browsing that site, I found right on top of it this blog entry:
http://aikihut.blogspot.com/2011/04/comfort-zone.html

Since I have a boxing background, and I am a bad aikidoka too and yet very fascinated by aikido, I found that post interesting: for the first time I've see written something that offers (just like you!) an enquiry on Aikido bringing in boxing concepts no longer seen as incompatible but as an opportunity to grow.

Let's quote this passage:

«With boxers, fights can occur every two months or so (...) For a boxer that continues to build himself up like this cumulatively and gradually, his strength will grow from fight to fight»

Now, actually boxers fight every day: you cross jabs and hooks, all of them meant to hit you squarely and not fictionally, everyday in a boxing gym. That's sparring, and the only difference from a competition is that it's gonna last just a few rounds. But you DO fight. Daily.

The strength the post is referring to is not physical: it actually means competence: being fight aware and fight savvy, as a form of "strength".
Only fighting builds it.

Sadly, in Aikido there are normally no competitions, and ukes are often very far from being realistic.
Yet let me say this: nothing, absolutely nothing, improves your effectiveness like fighting as your training routine. I am not saying street fights - but fighting like boxers do. A partner who really attacks you.

In a boxing gym a bleeding nose or a bleeing teeth gum is ordinary administration. Bruised eyes or an occasional black eye too.

Now, I am not suggesting that in Aikido people should hit themselves in the face - boxers, in fact, can do that only after having passed medical tests, to be repeated (at least here where I am, and as far as 20 years ago) every 2 years. I know we can't make medical tests on 60 years old aikidokas to that purpose...

However, it would be possible sparring with determined ukes who face you throwing blows, with open hands say, at your upper chest level, and who do NOT stop awaiting a technique - btw whoever is scared of the possibility of getting a couple of involuntary smacks on his face, should not go to a Martial dojo in the first place!

But I often wondered if in aikido most aikidokas are aware of this - the IMMENSE, IMMENSE, IMMENSE, IMMENSE benefit that to your fighting abilities is provided by regularly tranining, daily or thirce a week, with partners and settings where you have to _fight_.

Unless one doesn't try this setting, one will never appreciate how speedily and how steadily one's fighting abilities (this is inclusive of aikido fighting abilities) will improve.

At first you will be a mess, and THAT is what discourages: you will not look good, and nearly all of your techniques will AT FIRST miserably fail.

But after each single fighting training, the next time you will be better. You will be more aware of a new possibility. You will be aware of a new weak spot. You will be aware of the connections between the way an incoming attack looks and how it may end up exploiting this or that weak spot of yours, how it may produce this or that specific difficulty that you have already experienced in previous fights and against which you will grow more and more guarded. Over time, you may start guessing your attacker's next moves given the very first ones he did, and this simply because you have been already in many sparring fights - how it may benefit your defensive capabilities is beyond description.

To ma a Martial Art is Martial and Art both when it can deal with this. And to deal with this, there is nothing like fighting regularly.

I do not advocate competitions - but in the gap that divedes competition from demonstration has been developed a seemingly and entirely fictional aikido that betrays too clearly how unsuitable (I won't say utterly unusable) it would be if challenged by the fast paced frantic and relentless setting of a real fight.

if there is one contribution that the parallelism that that blog _offers_ between boxing and aikido, it could possibily be this: between hitting faces and mere demonstrations there is plenty of room for a middleway approach - and the sooner aikidokas realize that only fighting improves fighting abilities, the sonner we may see an aikido that works beyond doubts and we will finally stop seeing guys with martial Art backgrounds (i am NOT referring to boxing here) raise an eyebrow when they see our too often too gracious demonstrations "for illustration purposes," that smack too much with the sensation of being "for illustration purposes" forever.

It may not be a popular position, yet, I quote again that blog:

«Its easy to say, a belt ranking or a generalised 'improve everything' but are we really getting better? Or are we just going to the dojo, doing the same thing again and again without a thought to its development. Are our uke's testing us for weaknesses each time?

I wondered at one time not long ago, whether a technique could later become a skill. I guess it could, if we only develop it to become one. Irrespective if there's a partner to help us or not, we need to train like we are fighting the greatest threat of our lives.»
Alberto.
I read the link and your post. Very well put. This indeed is a matter of responsibility.

Although I follow the path of 'no fighting' the same rules apply to do with improving all the time.

My very first Aikido lesson led me to my first goal, I had to learn how to do that unbendable arm. That has been my attitude all along, always looking for that next aspect of Aikido I had to get good at. This had nothing to do with belts or exams or tests or even what anyone else said but merely my next challenge.

As I've stated before on this forum the thing that led me to Aikido was the challenge of how to harmonize with the opponent. That concept blew my mind.

Along the way it's been targets followed by the next targets, searching out the people I had difficulty with and finding out why and thus improving what needed to be improved until they were no longer a barrier as in truth they weren't actually a barrier but merely a signpost to my next lesson. This I call study and practice rather than rote procedure.

To know thoroughly the principles one by one and how they apply and when they apply. To be able to apply them. Then to be able to apply them more often than not. Then to be able to apply them comfortably with minimal effort. Then to be able to apply them on no matter who. This is more my type of structure and indeed path.

Yet I havn't even mentioned teaching. That itself is an art. A whole new set of targets of improvements. In fact I remember only a few years ago suddenly realizing I could teach anyone. That was a massive one for me, it suddenly didn't matter who came through my door be they a beginner or a 10th dan for I knew I could help them. Now I know of no grade that has that as a qualifier. Thus it's all to do with self developement and progression along your chosen path.

I liked the boxing analogy also as my sparring partner so to speak for the last thirty years was a boxer.

Thanks for your response. G.
  Reply With Quote