Thread: being defeated
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Old 03-07-2003, 07:31 AM   #13
kensparrow
Dojo: Methuen Aikido
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 97
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Quote:
Phillip Johnson (PhilJ) wrote:
My response to this question is always the same: how many fist fights do you anticipate getting into in your lifetime? How many will you enter into freely and willingly? If more than one or two, maybe aikido isn't a good answer for that someone.

Aikido trains us to defend against the attacks we endure in daily life: nearly 100% come from people we care about, or from people who can impact our lives in a non-life/death way (like a coworker, boss, or neighbor). If we are looking for a fight, then there is no budo. If we are looking for harmony, then we don't want to know how effective our technique is in real life.

*Phil
I couldn't agree more. Maybe I didn't ask my question correctly to begin with. What I'm really interested in understanding is how an aikidoka deals with real world defeat after the fact. The form of the attack is irrelevent because as you said, most attacks we face in life take the form of minor arguments and such. Given that, I'd like to expand my original question to include the following: Have you ever tried to blend with a verbal or psychological attack and been whipped? Were you able to execute a graceful verbal ukemi and escape (I guess that would considered a victory ) or was your psyche dislocated? Did it affect your perception of aikido and your training methods?

Thanks for the replies. Keep 'em coming!
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