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Old 06-04-2006, 12:30 AM   #1
AikiWeb System
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Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

AikiWeb Poll for the week of June 4, 2006:

Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?
  • I don't do aikido
  • Strong
  • Soft
Here are the current results.
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Old 06-04-2006, 03:33 AM   #2
Mark Uttech
Dojo: Yoshin-ji Aikido of Marshall
Location: Wisconsin
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

I looked at it this way: strong interest, strong practice, strong technique, etc. Substituting any of those examples with 'soft' somehow doesn't sound like anything at all.
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Old 06-04-2006, 04:01 AM   #3
Amir Krause
Dojo: Shirokan Dojo / Tel Aviv Israel
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

These are not opposites. The soft is a means to generate strength.


Amir
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Old 06-04-2006, 05:53 AM   #4
Pauliina Lievonen
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Another impossible poll! I'd very much prefer both! Though I'm afraid the way I practice "soft" is what I'll end up with...

kvaak
Pauliina
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Old 06-04-2006, 06:09 AM   #5
Richard Langridge
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Perhaps for no good reason, I associate "strong" with good technique. But hey, i'm a newbie.
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Old 06-04-2006, 06:49 AM   #6
Mary Eastland
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Soft is strong so I said soft. ;o)
Mary
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Old 06-04-2006, 06:52 AM   #7
Takumi
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

I agree with Mary.. Soft is strong.. "Minimum effort, Maximum Effect" -Shuji Maruyama

-Dylan
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Old 06-04-2006, 11:09 AM   #8
Robyn Johnson
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

I want my techniques to be effective and able to adjust to any type of uke. I don't know if that would be strong or soft. When I think "strong", I think rough or forcing the technique (even if that's not the case). I think I'll vote "soft" as others previously posted that "soft can be or is strong".

Robyn

Last edited by Robyn Johnson : 06-04-2006 at 11:12 AM.
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Old 06-04-2006, 11:15 AM   #9
Pauliina Lievonen
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Maybe... my personal experience is that soft alone isn't all that strong. I'm quite soft, and it generally works well, even with partners who are attacking fairly strongly, but there's also a clear point where my softness will just collapse under the pressure so to say, if the pressure is high enough.

In daily life this works very well for me, i generally feel very free and comfortable in my own body, which is a wonderful feeling. But for dealing with physical attacks above a certain level of intensity it doesn't always work.

Hmm. I just realized that I might be thinking about softness in a different context than you guys. If were talking about how soft or strong a technique feels to uke...well I still wouldn't know what to answer. The best techniques I've felt didn't feel either soft nor strong. I couldn't feel them at all.

kvaak
Pauliina
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Old 06-04-2006, 02:04 PM   #10
Karen Wolek
Dojo: Kingston Aikido
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

At this point in my aikido journey, I voted for "strong." Maybe later on, I'll change my mind. But right now, I am working on strong.

Karen
"Try not. Do...or do not. There is no try." - Master Yoda
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Old 06-04-2006, 05:14 PM   #11
mathewjgano
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

To me "soft" implied efficiency, whereas "strong" implied muscle-based, so i picked soft. Both can be powerful, but I'd rather be soft and powerfull. I save "strong" for sports and weight training...per my definition of the term anyway.

Last edited by mathewjgano : 06-04-2006 at 05:16 PM.

Gambarimashyo!
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Old 06-04-2006, 05:23 PM   #12
Jorge Garcia
Dojo: Shudokan School of Aikido
Location: Houston
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

For me, strong means correct Aikido or correct form so I picked strong.

"It is the philosophy that gives meaning to the method of training."
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Old 06-04-2006, 05:23 PM   #13
Aikiscott
Dojo: Central Coast Aikikai
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

I personally would like to have seen Balanced as a fourth option.

You can't have one without the other, though sometimes people mistake soft for passive which results in luke warm technique. I do believe you can practice soft technique & retain martial effectiveness but I have personaly found going through the fires of strong hard training helps you develop effective soft technique. But of course this is just my experiance.
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Old 06-04-2006, 09:43 PM   #14
aikidoc
Dojo: Aikido of Midland
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Relaxed: to be relaxed is both to be soft and strong.
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Old 06-04-2006, 11:24 PM   #15
kocakb
Dojo: Burhan Felek Sport Center-Istanbul
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

I could not pick any...I want it soft to be seen, effective strong. Soft, smooth and circular in movement and strong to be martial.
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Old 06-05-2006, 04:07 AM   #16
Nick Simpson
Dojo: White Rose Aikido - Durham University
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Sexyness.

They're all screaming about the rock n roll, but I would say that it's getting old. - REFUSED.
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Old 06-05-2006, 05:15 AM   #17
Steve Mullen
Dojo: White Rose (Sunderland)
Location: Washington
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

seconded

"No matter your pretence, you are what you are and nothing more." - Kenshiro Abbe Shihan
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Old 06-05-2006, 10:24 AM   #18
Mark Freeman
Dojo: Dartington
Location: Devon
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Quote:
Nick Simpson wrote:
Sexyness.
The 'soft' option is not much use to you then Nick is it?

Success is having what you want. Happiness is wanting what you have.
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Old 06-05-2006, 09:32 PM   #19
Erick Mead
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Quote:
Nick Simpson wrote:
Sexyness.
Quote:
Mark Freeman wrote:
The 'soft' option is not much use to you then Nick is it?
Hey, Nick -- I thought the White Rose was the symbol of purity and virtue. Not like that Devonshire Lancastrian trash.

(says the Scotch-Irish instigator waiting eagerly for the brawl to begin.)

The English are just like the Irish. The only thing they like doing more than fighting other people is fighting each other.

Cordially,
Erick Mead
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Old 06-05-2006, 09:47 PM   #20
aikigirl10
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

It all depends on the context that strong and soft are used in. If strong is used as in "using strength to apply technique" then no i dont want "strong" aikido. However if strong means "agressive, stable, forward, etc." then yes i want strong aikido. There are so many ways to interpret these types of polls.
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Old 06-05-2006, 10:04 PM   #21
Shannon Frye
Dojo: Aikido Fellowship of VA / Chesapeake Va
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

I chose soft. I've got other arts that can express my "strong" game. I know what I can do with muscle and brute force.... I admire aikido for it's effectiveness and emphasis on NOT using muscle strength and brute force.
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Old 06-06-2006, 09:14 AM   #22
Qatana
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

I want my uke to feel like they have been gently picked up and cuddled to the mat, if they feel anything at all.
I want to be soft & fluffy, dammit!

Q
http://www.aikidopetaluma.com/
www.knot-working.com

"It is not wise to be incautious when confronting a little smiling bald man"'- Rule #1
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Old 06-07-2006, 11:43 AM   #23
billybob
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

I voted soft.

Softness becomes strength as i gently pay attention to my body, then to uke's. I learn how to be strong because I let myself be.

I agree with above poster - my best techniques neither person felt, nor remembered what happened.

dave
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Old 06-07-2006, 11:55 AM   #24
Ron Tisdale
Dojo: Doshinkan dojo in Roxborough, Pa
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Neither. I'd rather feel well connected. Then my body can do whatever is called for (soft, strong, whatever).

Best,
Ron

Ron Tisdale
-----------------------
"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
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Old 06-07-2006, 03:05 PM   #25
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Poll: Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?

Quote:
AikiWeb System wrote:
AikiWeb Poll for the week of June 4, 2006:

Which quality would you rather see in your own aikido?
  • I don't do aikido
  • Strong
  • Soft
Here are the current results.
This is a misconstructed question. Soft is the only effective way to be strong if one is talking about aiki. I could know a guy out and be as quite relaxed. People who have conventional udeas of strength are usually just tight.Anyone close to as strong will nuetralize them.

George S. Ledyard
Aikido Eastside
Bellevue, WA
Aikido Eastside
AikidoDvds.Com
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