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Old 08-29-2008, 07:03 AM   #26
barry.clemons
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

Quote:
Mary Eastland wrote: View Post
I was reading on another board where an aikidoka stated that long term commitment to aikido is hard.

I would describe it as interesting...maybe challenging...but hard?
For me that provides a slightly negative connatation.

Aikido requires patience and humilty and courage. It seems like a wild adventure without ever having to go look for it. People travel to mountain tops to find what I have found in Aikido....

Any thoughts?
Mary
I think hard is a relative term, much like a glass being half full vs. half empty. For me, there are parts of Aikido that come natural due to a predisposition toward hierarchy and discipline. Then there are the not so easy parts; where your stated humility and patience come in. The parts where you learn basics all over again, like how to stand and how to move.

Barry Clemons
"The virtuous man is self-sufficient and undisturbed; not a slave of circumstance or emotion" - Zeno
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Old 08-29-2008, 08:30 AM   #27
Peter Goldsbury
 
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

Quote:
Mary Eastland wrote: View Post
Aikido is part of the glue that keeps my life together...I do have the blessing of be married to my instuctor...who is an open-minded man.
I watched his process as he left his teacher...It seemed both painful and joyful.
Thank you for sharing your experiences....
Mary
I note that you watched his process (Don Ragusa's?) of breaking with his teacher, but I wonder about your experiences. After all, it was you who started the thread about negative connotations, not Don.

You have compared aikido with glue that keeps your life together, with an unlooked for adventure, and with something that can barely be compared with that found by people who travel to mountain tops.

And in all this you have found it interesting and challenging--but not hard. I am quite prepared to accept this, but also to wonder whether our different experiences of the same martial art give us any common ground for discussion.

Best wishes,

Last edited by Peter Goldsbury : 08-29-2008 at 08:32 AM.

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Old 08-29-2008, 08:39 AM   #28
gdandscompserv
 
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

What I have found hard is not being able to attend Iwao Yamaguchi Sensei's class. I really miss aikido in it's native culture. It seems so different here.
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Old 08-30-2008, 08:52 AM   #29
Mary Eastland
 
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

Quote:
Peter A Goldsbury wrote: View Post
I note that you watched his process (Don Ragusa's?) of breaking with his teacher, but I wonder about your experiences. After all, it was you who started the thread about negative connotations, not Don.

You have compared aikido with glue that keeps your life together, with an unlooked for adventure, and with something that can barely be compared with that found by people who travel to mountain tops.

And in all this you have found it interesting and challenging--but not hard. I am quite prepared to accept this, but also to wonder whether our different experiences of the same martial art give us any common ground for discussion.

Best wishes,
Thanks for food for thought, Peter.....

I can be quite fey....forgetting the past ......when the moment feels so good.
Ron is my primary teacher and always has been....I could not imagine having to leave him or the pain that would bring up for me.
Leaving Kokikai was not painful for me...staying was.
I was ready to leave years before Ron was but that was not my decision. My decision was to train with Ron whererever he was. That was hard in the thought process but not on the mat (as George said).

Your example reminded me of an incident that happened when I was 1st kyu....Maruyama Sensei hurt me in a Nikkyo and would not stop when I slapped out....he didn't stop when I told him to stop. He finally stopped when I hit him and yelled at him. I realize now that he was giving me a gift....a chance to make a choice about if I would continue to train or quit because of a "percieved good reason". That was hard.....as others experiences have been Thank you for the reminder that this is not an easy journey....just because it feels easy at the moment.

Mary
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Old 08-30-2008, 12:36 PM   #30
Keith Larman
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

Finding time for training can be hard with a loving wife and child at home who need time and attention as well. Training isn't hard. But when it comes to learning... I'm reminded of a quote from Nietzsche.

"For me all truths are soaked in blood."

The idea of being willing to completely tear apart what you think you know in order to learn something of a higher order. To do battle with complacency. To fight the urge to say "that's good enough." Those things are all hard.

And it doesn't matter what you're doing as long as it is non-trivial. People who study tea ceremony. People who learn everything there is to learn about postage stamps. People who study Japanese swords (oops, that's me again). People who paint, sculpt, act, sing, dance, etc.

So is Aikido "hard"? Well, I'm not sure that's the right question for me at least. What it does provide is a rich framework of things that I could spend two lifetimes trying to figure out. And since I'm pretty sure I'm only allocated one lifetime, well, Aikido will be able to provide me a lifetime of challenges. A lifetime of chances to battle with what I think I know and what I think I can do...

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Old 08-30-2008, 02:02 PM   #31
Mark Uttech
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

Onegaishimasu. Aikido can be hard if you try to make a living doing and teaching it. Paying rent on a dojo that remains 75% empty after 16 years in the same location is hard enough to drive me nuts! But I continue because the challenge is part of the picture. That said, I have not dared to try making a living with it; my day job and what I like to call "my sheer recklessness" keeps the dojo open.

In gassho,

Mark

- Right combination works wonders -
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Old 08-30-2008, 05:17 PM   #32
Aikibu
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

"Sitting still everyday is the hardest thing you will ever do in your life." Charlotte Joko Beck...

`"Aikido is really easy...Heck It only takes 20 years to learn and understand some of it's principles... The rest you can do just 30 (years)!" Micheal Fowler Sensei

Hard??? Most days it takes everything I have in me to practice when something as simple as a TV show, a Hamburger, or sore muscles beckon and try to coax me away...

Hard??? There are over TEN THOUSAND distractions in a person's modern life.... But only ONE practice. LOL

I wonder what would have happened if O'Sensei had a TV growing up?

What do you think would he have been a die hard Swallows or Giants fan? Or cultivated Pikachu... or a Ronin on WoWCraft? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha...

William Hazen
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Old 09-01-2008, 12:42 AM   #33
Daniel Ranger-Holt
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

I found Aikido hard, lol, and i did it for about two years. I think it's a very technical martial art, with a heavy emphasis on the body balance etc, intricacies in locks and holds. It just took me too long to Grasp.

For the original poster i would ask what are you looking to join Aikido for? As a hobby? or self defence? or alongside another art. Then your original question becomes a bit easier to answer.
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Old 09-01-2008, 12:47 AM   #34
raul rodrigo
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

Quote:
Daniel Ranger-Holt wrote: View Post
For the original poster i would ask what are you looking to join Aikido for? As a hobby? or self defence? or alongside another art. Then your original question becomes a bit easier to answer.
Daniel, I think the original poster has a lot more experience in aikido than you think.

R
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Old 09-03-2008, 07:16 AM   #35
Mato-san
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote: View Post
IMHO,
hard, soft, internal
enjoyable, frustrating
empowering, humbling
that's the discipline.
More wise words frome Lynn

Before you drive or steer your vehicle, you must first start the engine, release the brake and find gear!
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Old 09-26-2008, 01:29 PM   #36
Lonin
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

it's fun, take some time to learn the techniques or form.....3rd kyu, resistance training ...1st kyu.....cannot wait for shodan....train train train......Shodan......why does sensei keep insisting this and that....now I am thinking.
train with others, talk, discuss, challenge and then the principles come into play. movement.....all techniques in one move.....that's adjustment for some time.....rooted and moving......it starts all over. relaxing the top......another cycle. Is aikido hard? NO...it's FUN
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Old 10-06-2008, 12:40 AM   #37
ilia rudnitskiy
 
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

I think for me, having the privilege of Aikido from a young age of 6, has made Aikido a part of my daily life... just like eating, sleeping, going to school... so i'd say the practice of the art itself is a bit "easy" or natural for me.

However, the actual art itself is definitely not what you can call "easy", there are plenty of challenges in understanding and practicing of it... but then again... nothing in life is easy. I've only been practicing for 11 years, but i'll post again in this thread in 10 years or so and say if my views have changed or not.
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Old 11-01-2008, 12:41 PM   #38
Harm-ony
Dojo: Unisba Aikido Club
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

hard or not hard.... it's up to us....
make a decision and go for it....
every decision have risks...
flows.....

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Old 11-03-2008, 05:39 PM   #39
Lyle Bogin
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Re: Is Aikido "Hard"?

I'd say aikido is hard in terms of accepting, and even defining, what it is and what it isn't.

It's hard just like getting along with people who generally piss you off is hard.
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