View Single Post
Old 05-13-2007, 02:39 AM   #10
jss
Location: Rotterdam
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 459
Netherlands
Offline
Re: How I'd teach Aikido

Quote:
Heather Randolph wrote: View Post
I question the comparison between learning Aikido and learning an instrument,
that you must practice at home to make progress.
I think you need a sufficient amount of daily practice (start with an hour a day) in aiki taiso to get decent results. Practicing at home seems to be the most sensible way, unless you're an uchi deshi or something. But on the other hand if you live in the dojo, all your practice is at home ...

Quote:
Also, that the ki exercises must be perfected before moving on. I suppose that's the same "wax on wax off" from the Karate Kid movie, but in my experience learning techniques and ki exercises seem to build on each other. I just wonder if someone perfected the ki exercises, would that mean their techniques would be incredible, once they learned them!
The ki exercises should not be perfect before you move on to technique. You do need a solid base in them however. Otherwise you get the two steps forward (proper body skills when doing ki exercises) and one step back (poor body skills when doing techniques) approach.
And someone with perfect ki exercises would learn the techniques quite quickly, but they'd still have to put in lots and lots of practice to learn what is contained in the technqiues: the techniques as such, distance, timing, etc. When they've build these technical ideas on their body skills, their technique would indeed be quite incredible, like Morihei Ueshiba's for instance. And that's the whole point.
  Reply With Quote