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Old 01-18-2013, 02:57 PM   #2
Don
Dojo: aikido of charlotte
Location: Charlotte
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 112
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Re: 100) Your Aikido Matters: January 2013

I agree. I trained for 15 years and had to stop for about 4 years, and I would like to resume training. One thing that I was starting to experiment with was how to turn those stylized motions to motions that could deal with contemporary attacks. It does take modification. The angles are different if nothing else. In a more sophiticated way of thinking than just adjusting to the angles, is for instance, most people are right handed so a good overall strategy would be to expect a single punch or attack to more probably come from the right side. If someone attacks with a punching attack and is not just wild, they might be expected to lead with their left and follow with the right. You of course have to be able to deal with more than just that, but its probably a decent expectation as a strategy. So you have to modify your movements to deal with feinting, weak leads that are not suitable for moving them, and still dealing with perhaps following punches. Punching attacks rarely come in ones, and we don't train to that. If repitition builds muscle memory, then repitition in these types of attacks would seemingly result in better outcomes. If someone doesn't ever get to the point of exploring these things on their own, then it all you do is practice the classical kata, the jump may never be made.
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