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Old 03-02-2007, 05:04 AM   #17
Ecosamurai
 
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Dojo: Takagashira Dojo
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 570
United Kingdom
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Re: Getting very discouraged, need your help.

I've read a large amount of these sorts of critiques referred to by the original poster.

I have two main points. One, everyone who posts on the bullshido are immature idiots and are mostly in my opinion, plankton.
Two, all martial arts throughout history have always been designed for a specific purpose and are fit for that purpose. Learning Kendo will not help you in a UFC competition. If you want the best martial art that will beat all others I'd suggest going to your local military run dojo and learning thermo-nuclear war, guaranteed to win all fights, maximum effect with minimum effort. The stated aim of aikido (stated by the founder) was to gain victory over ones self. I have found nothing better for acheiving that aim than aikido.I'd advise going to other dojo and looking at other arts and seeing what best suits you, you may find that aikido was never for you to start with.

But, having said that, to throw some more fun into your aikido training if your sensei will allow it try the following: A common critique of aikido is that if someone throws an unrealistic punch and then just leaves their hand outstretched for you to play with then and only then will you be able to grab their wrist and apply kotegaeshi.
My standard response to this is that the unrealistic punches you see are training tools only, never try to grab uke's wrist, aim for their shoulder as this is the slowest moving part of the punch and draw your hand down their arm maintaining contact until you reach their wrist, while doing this you must make sure you are away from any other attacks they may deliver. If they withdraw their hand after the punch (i.e. snap the punch quickly like a jab) then by aiming for the shoulder first you wil find that the bring their wrist to your hand rather than you having to chase it.

None of that is particularly helpful in learning the subtelties of aikido such as timing balance centredness and so on but it may be a fun thing to try and may help assuage some of your fears concering aikido.

Regards

Mike

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
-Martin Luther King Jr
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