raul rodrigo

I'm a little mystified with the purpose of the questioning, Paul. If i understand correctly, you want to uncover the historical validity (or its practical effectiveness at its point of origin) of aikido techniques in order to help you decide if you should continue with aikido or stick to judo. It seems to me that those are separate questions: where it comes from, as opposed to why i should or should not do it. You can uncover the historical origins for the iaido kata, but it wouldn't help one decide if one should practice it or not. (Is iaido "practical"? If not, does it matter?) Only practice itself can uncover the reasons why or why not. At least, that would be my thinking.

To find empirical evidence of aikido's ability to teach or not teach internal skills, you'd have to have hands on experience of a teacher who does teach that. And lets face it, few do. But those that do manifest it would be worth checking out. Or perhaps, to leave aikido and enter the realm of principle-based, internal strength training, a session with Mike Sigman, the Aunkai folk, or the like would be good.