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Old 11-02-2005, 04:05 PM   #25
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Re: Being able to take atemi for real

For me, I would say the following:

- the average person that is not struck as part of their regular practice (i.e. struck regularly) does tend to "freak out" (which I will define later) when they are struck and/or struck for the first time and/or struck repeatedly.

- the average aikidoka, though struck here or there, though taking high and rough falls, though hit with weapons here or there, etc., is not outside of the above category simply for having done these things. i.e. average aikidoka freak out when struck.

- I would not distinguish "martially effective" from "budo" from "not freaking out when struck."

For me, these things all fit together because the "freak out" of being struck is often really nothing more than a habitual response to act egocentrically (i.e. self-concern, awareness monopolized by the self), which means that we are dealing here with an unawareness that comes about from an attachment to the self (in this case experiencing pain, fear, anger, violence, aggression, etc.). For me, Budo is very much related to a sense of selflessness, the cultivation of non-attachment, and awareness (i.e. the unfettering of the body/mind). This is why these things are all related and why this is not just a topic for someone that whats to be martial effective (vs. "someone that just wants to do budo").

What one should look for in trying not to freak-out from being struck is not really a desensitization (since one can never desensitize oneself to everything) but rather the capacity to observe one's habitual tendency to act egocentrically in terms of body and mind in response to things like aggression, violence, pain, injury, etc. (i.e. foul weather things). While one can and should seek this kind of self-reflection in forms training (i.e. standard Aikido training), one has to realize that forms training, because of its choreographed nature (and because of all else that that assumes), often cannot take us to as deep a primal level in terms of violence, aggression, pain, fear, etc., and so it often does not have us reconcile these types of attachments fully (which is why the average aikidoka still finds him/herself acting egocentrically when they start getting hit and/or hit repeatedly).

If you are going to do seek martial effectiveness, if you are going to practice Budo, if you are going to want to get used to being struck, you are going to want to depart from forms at some level (and regularly) so that your practice can penetrate to a level primal enough where you can practice more complete forms of reconciliation, so that you can cultivate more consistent forms of non-attachment, so that you can maintain more universal types of awareness. One great way of doing this is, in my opinion, and as others have said, is to go a few rounds on a regular basis with someone and stop expecting forms to have an answer for everything. For if the forms of Aikido do not capture the whole of the art (which many are able to agree with), then the forms of Aikido cannot answer everything, cannot provide for everything. We must therefore have some sense of what is needed and of where and how to get that which is external to the forms. I do not see this as an attempt to build the ultimate martial art. I see it as an attempt to ultimately know/understand/practice Aikido.

dmv

David M. Valadez
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