Quote:
Matthew Story wrote:
I hear a lot about how weapons training is important for learning the fundamentals of aikido, but I've yet to train with an instructor who satisfactorily explains why or how.
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I've trained with teachers who successfully teach aiki-weapons in relation to empty-hand technique: a) from a technical perspective, as in this empty-hand technique or this footwork can be mirrored with the bokken, etc., and/or b) by explaining issues of timing, centerline, tegatana, mental "connection", etc.
The perception of the usefulness of aiki-weapons as practiced today will depend on your definition of "fundamentals of aikido". The way I see it and circular logic notwithstanding, I still don't understand what makes any of the prominent aiki-weapons work out there "aiki". That said, I don't do aiki-weapons as I think a lot of that training is counter-productive to my work on aikido fundamentals as I understand them.
And don't get me wrong, I like and do (cross-train) weapons. Weirdly enough, the "outside" weapons work I've done have helped my aikido far more than any aiki-weapons I've been exposed to. I've also seen this phenomenon on friends who cross-train in classical Japanese and FMA weapon systems.