Thread: Atemi
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Old 09-19-2000, 07:37 AM   #27
George S. Ledyard
 
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Dojo: Aikido Eastside
Location: Bellevue, WA
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 2,670
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Atemi

Quote:
Aiki1 wrote:
I agree that there are some instructors around who have a limited perspective and therefore are somewhat "deluded" about their abilities in the world outside the dojo - to paraphrase. I also have been concerned over the years that many people in Aikido think that to "get it to work on the street" they have to do it harder etc. My experience has been the opposite, and I have had experience on the street, some of it life-threatening weapon stuff. I teach a very, very "soft" style of Aikido, but that doean't make it ineffective. Anyway, that's another issue.

I have one guy who went around to several dojo and no instructor would get on the mat with him and "answer his questions" about effectiveness. When he asked me, I said - sure (not something I do a lot anymore, but he was sincere.) He trains in Krav, kickboxing, BJJ, and some other stuff.

He trains with us now. What blew his mind was not only would I actually get on the mat with him, but that I knew what to do in situations that aren't perhaps "standard" dojo attacks etc., and (back to my other thing) he didn't feel me do it (the "soft" aspect of the art.)

Not trying to toot my own horn, that's not the point. Point is, there is a lot to this stuff - a lot of theory, a lot of practicality, and a lot of different approaches that can be -quite- different in application and philosophy, just within the context of "Aikido."
Nicely said. Principle is universal and what you do in the Aikido context applies in all situations. But that fact doesn't mean that the Aikido practitioner knows or understands how the principle applies. As Clint George Sensei says, there's a lot of "wishful thinking Aikido" out there.

George S. Ledyard
Aikido Eastside
Bellevue, WA
Aikido Eastside
AikidoDvds.Com
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