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Old 06-29-2011, 11:43 AM   #40
mathewjgano
 
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Dojo: Tsubaki Kannagara Jinja Aikidojo; Himeji Shodokan Dojo
Location: Renton
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,276
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Re: Overcoming aggressive attack without superior strength

Quote:
Jonathan Wong wrote: View Post
What I am seeing is that even if a person tries to speak directly to non-IS people, you still get similar answers as if you asked IS types, as long as people are talking in vague/general enough terms. If borne out by further replies, this would suggest that even on the internet, it is apparent that aikido folks are interested in the ideas and material that IS folks are discussing and teaching.
I think they're "same same, but different." I'm not an IS guy per se...I'm barely an "ES," guy, for that matter. They seem to be two sides of the same coin, one is more top-down in approach while the other is more bottom-up, but they both develop the body's ability to withstand and generate force. I don't think either one is necessarily superior to the other. Then again, I'm ignorant.
I'm mostly replying to this thread because I grew up the smallest kid in class who was friends with (and wrestled with) the biggest kids in class and so I've thought about this question in one form or another for a long time (I actually have a sense of having real experience here, which is rare). What eventually came to mind was the idea that while I couldn't control the bigger kids, I could control the context of their attack. So I would present something to be attacked and then suddenly change that something. It worked a lot for me (relatively speaking); I even remember one time a friend of mine who was a foot taller and outweighed me by 40lbs (I was 12-ish) charged at me. So I charged at him, only I stopped just short of contact and then continued forward again. I ended up pushing him backward even though I was nowhere near as strong as he was. In my current line of thinking, I see it as having bounced my ki off the ground to over extend him and then entering to exploit it. At the time I just thought, "psych!!!! ...Hey I just pushed him backwards!!!" (Something I don't think I ever was able to accomplish as well again). This has always seemed to typify for me a good way for meeting a superior force head on: on my own sneaky terms. The ability to suddenly change directions (mobility) became my M.O. for dealing with my much stronger friends...and I developed an awareness of that by being forced to be smarter about how I engaged them (intelligence).

Last edited by mathewjgano : 06-29-2011 at 11:50 AM.

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