Popularity of Aikido

For some reason I am seeing less Aikido practitioners. If I'm right what do you think should be done in order to make Aikido more of a popular martial arts.

Hi Nelson,

Nelson Zorrilla wrote: For some reason I am seeing less Aikido practitioners.

How are you coming to this conclusion? How large a sample are you taking?

Curious,

-- Jun

I have heard that Miramax is making Angry White Pyjamas, which chronicles the author's Yoshinkan Aikido training in Japan, into a film. Upon release, I am curious to see if there will be flood of briefly-inspired students into the aikido dojos. Supposedly, such a phenomenon occured when the Karate Kid first came out.

PHB

I'm sorry let me rephrase that, I'm seeing less practitioners at my dojo and some seminars.

Nelson Zorrilla wrote: what do you think should be done in order to make Aikido more of a popular martial arts.

Oooo I know I know...

1)Open Tournaments in Kata and Randori for all styles of Aikido and later, all styles
2)Aiki Cheerleaders
3)Endorsement deals for tournament winners
4)Professional contracts (with payment) for the best instructors and player... I mean, Aikidoka.


A guy can dream right?
LC

Why strive to popularise aikido beyond the usually meager (and sufficient) advertising that dojos already do? It's usually only aiki-evangalists that want to "spread the word". It doesn't need spreading! If someone is interested enough to want to investigate the martial arts there are more then enough sources available to do so.

Larry Camejo wrote: Oooo I know I know... 1)Open Tournaments in Kata and Randori for all styles of Aikido and later, all styles 2)Aiki Cheerleaders 3)Endorsement deals for tournament winners 4)Professional contracts (with payment) for the best instructors and player... I mean, Aikidoka. A guy can dream right? LC

Cheerleaders!

Paul Kerr wrote: Why strive to popularise aikido beyond the usually meager (and sufficient) advertising that dojos already do? It's usually only aiki-evangalists that want to "spread the word". It doesn't need spreading! If someone is interested enough to want to investigate the martial arts there are more then enough sources available to do so.

I'm with you. I think the desire to popularise an art is one of the things that cause it to get watered down.

I'm with you. I think the desire to popularise an art is one of the things that cause it to get watered down.

I agree. Typically recruiting more people results in commercialization. The result is that there may be more customers or practitioners but the practice or product is not as good as it was before.I imagine that this is what happened with a lot of TKD and Karate. Martial arts have high atrition rates because it is hard to become proficient in them. It's hard enough to become proficient at kicking or punching effectively. It's even harder to learn how to smoothly execute complex defensive techniques or simple ones that are even harder because they rely on timing. To recruit more aikido practioners I think we would have to change Aikido in a way that while economically beneficial would not be beneficial to the art itself. Unless of course they just came out with a really good Steven Seagal flick that made it clear that he practiced Aikido. Then for about 4 months a ton of beginners would pop up and probably about 4% would continue to practice. I do like the idea of cheerleaders however.

Nelson Zorrilla wrote: I'm sorry let me rephrase that, I'm seeing less practitioners at my dojo and some seminars.

I think attendance is can be all over the map, and it's true for all the arts I'm training in. Sometimes you get a handful of people, sometimes the room is packed! WRT Aikido in particular, some nights the dojo I go to gets really crowded, and other times it's a handful of people. It may be nothing more than a "seasonal fluctuation."

Jean de Rochefort wrote: I'm with you. I think the desire to popularise an art is one of the things that cause it to get watered down.

Ditto to those who've made this point... I look at all of the discussions and/or stories of people who want to know how long until I reach black belt or level "X"? This is what comes to my mind when I think of the kind of popularity that came with films like The Karate Kid. That is not really necessary: floods of bandwagoners.

In fact, I really enjoy inviting people into my dojo; although not many come (their loss really!). I feel that with my dojo being smaller we have a special moment NOW where each new student can be welcomed as an individual. Its what made me love my first classes so much. I know that eventually we will grow larger and that my sensei has plans and hopes for that. I do too (hopes not plans ).
But I'm greatful for the atmosphere and dedication we've got now.

Nelson Zorrilla wrote: For some reason I am seeing less Aikido practitioners. If I'm right what do you think should be done in order to make Aikido more of a popular martial arts.

Why should we want to?

Chuck

aiki cheerleaders in above the knee hakama!

I like it with fewer practicioners because it stays closer to what the art was originally supposed to be. We are: The few, the proud, the Aiki.

Kevin Leavitt wrote: aiki cheerleaders in above the knee hakama!

Anime style cheerleaders? I mean being a Japanese art and all.

Jean de Rochefort wrote: I'm with you. I think the desire to popularise an art is one of the things that cause it to get watered down.

I agree but what happens to the Dojos that get less and less practitioner, eventually they will have to close down due to financial reasons. O Sensei said before he died that aikido was for the world.

James Matarrese wrote: I like it with fewer practicioners because it stays closer to what the art was originally supposed to be. We are: The few, the proud, the Aiki.

I understand, but one of my favorite thing about aikido practice is that we get to train with different partners, no matter the size. If there are fewer practitioners in the dojo, then practicing aikido won't be the same.

I like to think we're sort of exclusive.

JEanne

Hi Nelson! I'm glad to see you're still training! Please come visit us soon. I think sometimes we see a decline in classes for a variety of reasons. Some people move away, ahem. Some people have life issues to deal with -- new baby in the family, marriage, unemployment. Some decide aikido just isn't for them. Also, some schools seem to have training seasons. For us summers start to get slow and pick up in September and again in January.

From looking at our roster, I've noticed is that once beginners can make it past their first 10-15 classes they tend to stick around. They do manage to stay, and catch the bug -- like the rest of us here and, well, we never go away.

What you can do is just be welcoming to new members and get invovled in the dojo the best you can.

Elizabeth Castor wrote: I feel that with my dojo being smaller we have a special moment NOW where each new student can be welcomed as an individual. Its what made me love my first classes so much.

Me,too.In fact I was spoiled rotten my first six months on the mat because I was the Only new kid in all that time,and had managed to stick it out despite injuring myself very early on.So the first new student to come in actually made me a little resentful cuz I couldn't be the Baby anymore, but ever since then it has been wonderful to welcome each new arrival as enthusiastically as I was the first night I walked into the dojo.
And while training in a very small group has its drawbacks, like becoming overly familiar with our partners' physical ideosynchronies, I have access to my sensei's sensei's dojo, where i get to play with lots of unfamiliar bodies. And usually with Janet, too.

Phillip Hong-Barco wrote: I have heard that Miramax is making Angry White Pyjamas, which chronicles the author's Yoshinkan Aikido training in Japan, into a film. Upon release, I am curious to see if there will be flood of briefly-inspired students into the aikido dojos. Supposedly, such a phenomenon occured when the Karate Kid first came out. PHB

Hmmm...if they are making a movie and if they do it right...or closer to true...then there will probably be a decline

cheers,

--Michael

Michael Stuempel wrote: Hmmm...if they are making a movie and if they do it right...or closer to true...then there will probably be a decline cheers, --Michael

Ehh...perhaps. Actually, I kinda find the book inspiring...in a "give it all ya got" kinda way.

PHB

Phillip Hong-Barco wrote: Ehh...perhaps.

Hi Phillip,

Micheal is intimately familiar with the Yoshinkan Honbu. Apparently there are some discrepencies between what is portrayed in the book and the experiences of others. And if anyone would know the truth, my money is on Micheal.

As for the main topic, my take is that one of the biggest problems in Aikido is the lack of clear teaching on ukemi, meaning proper attack, proper blending, and proper going to the ground. Rolls, for example, seem to be largely self-taught even though there is often an avalanche of advice to the beginner. If someone can`t figure out how to take rolls in a painless manner, they likely quit. I also often see a downward spiral of beginners making useless attacks to which the experienced partner unconciously "punishes" the beginner by applying the technique too strongly. This causes the beginner to make an even weaker attack. It becomes abusive (in a slight, below the radar way) and the beginner oftens quits. Donovan Waite`s series on ukemi, especially vol.2, might be a good remedy.

Charles

I didn't mean people should leave Aikido, but I like it the way it is. More people would make it a lot less personal for me. I have a fairly wel established personal relationship with sensei and most of the sempai, so more people would sort of detract from that personal, familiy feeling, y'know? I hope that made sense

Charles Hill wrote: Hi Phillip, Micheal is intimately familiar with the Yoshinkan Honbu. Apparently there are some discrepencies between what is portrayed in the book and the experiences of others. And if anyone would know the truth, my money is on Micheal.

Phillip,

If you read the book again, look out for a character referred to as "Stumpy", you'll understand how intimate Michael is with the story .

Nelson

With regards to popularity of Aikido, our small club is currently at it's highest membership level ever (64 active members), we still get classes of 4 people or classes of 15, just the way everyone has to balance their lives, but over all, I haven't seen a downward trend in interest here yet.

rgds

Bryan