Re: Effectiveness is the key to obtaining the other aspects of Aikido.
I agree completely with the topic thread of this post.
Most of us are fortunate enough to live in a world where we are NOT constantly called upon to prove the martial effectiveness of our training. Fights can be prevented and avoided easily by someone who is conscientiousness in avoidance; dojo challenges are not only stigmatized but also prohibited by law. This is, of course, a good thing.
However, aikido (and all budo) are transcendental in that around the ostensible center of any martial practice (violence) comes a seemingly paradoxical result (nonviolence, or if you prefer, aiki). To my mind, it is the place of the instructor to apply as drastic a circumstance to martial training as is safe while still maintaining basic fundamentals and movements. The student's knowledge then, that they can overcome that conflict, that they've endured that training, that shugyo, allows them theroretically not to seek it outside of the dojo.
So, from a martial standpoint (defending our loved ones) as well as a philosophical standpoint, effectiveness absolutely must be at the center of our aikido practice.
Nick
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