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Old 03-27-2014, 07:21 AM   #39
Derek
 
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Dojo: Roswell Budokan, Kyushinkan (AWA)
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 74
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Re: Why Aikido has such strange strike defense.

Well this is a can of worms!

Suffice to say that when we practice, especially with more beginner students, we slow down the attacks and may not have the commitment that is "martial." We (royal we here) should then ramp up the attacks (empty hand or weapon) to a more martial level as our proficiency improves. This is where many aikidoka fall short, and why IMHO we garner the kind of criticisms that ruffle our feathers that aikido is not practical, martial or effective.

At some point, all aikidoka need to re-evaluate the attack strategies and examine their attacks critically. We need to make sure we are, at some point, attack in a martial way so we can evaluate the effectiveness of our technique. I will frequently, as nage, not move out of the way, not do a technique and just stand there and receive the attack to make sure my uke is paying attention and putting effort into the attack.

We can be critical of "aikido attacks" but must also be critical of ourselves to say that we have not just become complacent.

Last edited by Derek : 03-27-2014 at 07:27 AM.

Derek Duval
Godan
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