Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote:
I train with the intent to apply Aikido as an effective/efficient martial art ...
I train because Aikido is an interesting study in human structure/alignment/balance and connection/movement ...
To each there own ...
I tend to go to the far end of the bell-shaped curve of normal distribution ...
the mat is less crowded there ... LOL
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Thank you sir!
My answers:
What is the intent that fuels our practice?
I intend to apply whatever corrections are given to me by my sempai/sensei and keep trying to understand what they're saying. There's nothing wrong with their English, it's just I don't always make the connection between what they say and what they do with the movement. I usually have to repeat the movement a hundred times before I start getting it - I'd be SOL if I were trying to study with Ueshiba, if he really did teach by showing a movement once - and only once! - then getting mad when students asked him to repeat it.
I am convinced this dojo is committed to teaching Aikido as an art of self-defense. I wasn't sure after the first couple of classes, but after training with certain top students of the dojo founder, I've bought into their party line, as it were. it's not any stirring speech/prose that sold me; it's the day-to-day, week-to-week interaction with these individuals, the way they carry themselves, how they describe applicable scenarios to the waza being practiced, etc.... all the little things that add up.
Why are we doing it?
I initially started studying a completely different martial arts that happened to use the space of an Aikido dojo. I was told I could avoid paying a per-class mat fee by joining the Aikido dojo. So I did, and started showing up to Aikido classes, because I was paying for them anyway. I enjoyed them enough that I kept coming back.
I like the emphasis on efficient movement. I also like the emphasis on active ukemi: Uke trying not to give free openings to nage, protecting himself/herself from sloppy nage, looking for counters... similar to what Ellis Amdur teaches in his "Ukemi From the Ground Up" DVD.
With many/most practitioners not being able to attack/punch/kick realistically/effectively, how can we call what we do as a "martial" art?
I have friends who can't even tell the difference between Aikido and "karate", so I'd be at a loss to explain to them why Aikido is/isn't really a martial art.
I haven't seen anyone in any Aikido dojo kick like a capoeira mestre, or throw knee/elbow strikes like a good Muay Thai fighter. OTOH, I regularly practice with people coming at me with wooden swords and sticks/poles - I figure that counts for something.
