Quote:
Tom Verhoeven wrote:
At equal skill levels the stronger person will win? Really? It is an argument that I have heard men use before. But I do not think that this is true in sports competition or in nature for that matter. It certainly is not true in war or in a fight. And it is most certainly not true in Aikido or in Budo in general.
Over the past decades I have come across many women who where better skilled in Aikido then the men that they trained with on a daily basis. Perhaps because as science tells us, women have better developed coordination skills, while men (especially young men) trust their muscle power to get the job done. In Aikido that trust in muscle power will bring a limit with it in progression.
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Note that I said *equal* skill levels. Sure, women can be more skillful than men, and therefore can make up for their strength deficit. But combat sports have weight classes for a reason.
Consider ikkyo. Nage is taking uke down to the mat, and for a moment is standing between uke's arm and uke's body. There are men who are strong enough to pick me up, with one arm, from that position. How could that kind of strength *not* be an advantage?
Katherine