I believe at heart that Aikido training polishes people's character with a view to developing the spirit of both ourselves and those we train with. We realize through training a paradox of how powerful and how fragile human beings are. It is up to the practicioner to bring the techniques to life. Regarding self defence Aikido gets a lot of bad press thrown at it. It doesn't matter whether you do Thai Boxing, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, it's all can fly out the window when someone "puts it on you" out there. As the quote from O'Sensei goes, it's your spirit that is your true shield.
All the best
Jason T
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