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Old 03-03-2009, 04:01 PM   #11
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Location: Olympia, Washington
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Re: Aikido IS a practical contemporary martial art

How do you actually use a martial art to teach someone how NOT to fight?

What I am getting at is how do you take a methodology that is designed to impart many ways to teach someone to fight, and then say the endstate is to teach them how NOT to fight?

It seems to me that your endstate is to teach them how to fight. It might be a by product that the learn to judiciously apply that skill as might be required.

I am alway curious when I hear folks say "our goal is to teach people how not to fight." I mean at face value, that is what they probably come to you with already, the inabiity to fight!"

It may seem trival, but I see alot of stuff out there being passed off as "martial" that simply is not, and the phrase "we are teaching people how not to fight". is the caveat that seems to get used to excuse any real ability and gives permission to reduce it to an "allegory" or an "exercise".

Where do you think that line should be drawn?

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