View Single Post
Old 11-19-2003, 10:48 AM   #13
L. Camejo
 
L. Camejo's Avatar
Dojo: Ontario Martial Arts
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,423
Canada
Offline
Interesting how life imitates internet, or vice versa

Gave my class a little lecture on this same subject last nite.

Happened after a guy was in the process of being taken down with aigamae ate (irimi nage), which was converted into a light strangle hold at the point of falling. The Uke yelled "That is not Aikido". The Tori was a bit dumbfounded at the response, since we practiced that tech about 3 weeks ago during the kata part of practice as variations off of aigamae ate.

This led me to give em a little talk about the techniques and the fact that there is nothing in Aikido that can't be found if one looks at koryu bujutsu, chin na and other arts. Likewise, "Aikido" may not be limited to a particular group of body techniques (though kansetsu and atemi waza make up the main), as it really relates to the "how" of a technique being executed rather than "what" can be executed "as Aikido".

It's about perception and what we view Aiki to be. We can keep our minds in a box, and that will be the limit of our understanding, or we can take the basics and expand as far as our imaginations allow. If we stay true to the basics and principles of Aikido, the manifestation of what we come up with should still be Aikido.

Personally, I've come across shaolin kung fu teachers who show chin na joint manipulation techniques and call them "Aikido techniques". To those who don't know, they may look the same (a wrist lock is a wrist lock) but the principles applied to get to the technique are often very different imho. In this same way, chin na techniques can be applied using Aikido principles.

Just a few thoughts.

L.C.

--Mushin Mugamae - No Mind No Posture. He who is possessed by nothing possesses everything.--
http://www.tntaikido.org
http://www.mushinkan.ca
  Reply With Quote