Quote:
Lipyeow Lim wrote:
The other thing that i think we need to be realistic about is that we live in an age where martial art as a pure fighting art is fast losing relevance -- how many of us have to actually be in a real fight for survival on a daily basis ? So i think it is not a bad idea that martial arts evolve to maintain some semblance of relevance. What Kisshomaru did was one possible way of evolving the art -- perhaps not to the liking of some of us. What other ways of evolution would we like to see ?
Lipyeow
|
This is a good point, and others have raised it in the past. Many aikido practitioners are not in it for the martial applications, in any way. They use it as a vehicle for other things, such as artistic self-expression. In that regard, as long as there is no misperception that one is practicing a pragmatic martial skill, then there is no issue at all.
For those who do practice aikido as a martial art, the lack of the internal method in modern aikido has not rendered it unusable as a martial skill. Another skill set has replaced the internals, and it is workable for different reasons. The art has taken on a new life in different directions, and that is a natural evolution of nearly all arts and disciplines.