Welcome to AikiWeb Aikido Information
AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information
AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.

Sections
home
aikido articles
columns

Discussions
forums
aikiblogs

Databases
dojo search
seminars
image gallery
supplies
links directory

Reviews
book reviews
video reviews
dvd reviews
equip. reviews

News
submit
archive

Miscellaneous
newsletter
rss feeds
polls
about

Follow us on



Home > AikiWeb Aikido Forums
Go Back   AikiWeb Aikido Forums > External Aikido Blog Posts

Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history, humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.

If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced features available, you will need to register first. Registration is absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 10-20-2015, 06:12 AM   #1
Sojourner
Location: Adelaide
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 202
Australia
Offline
Question What does Aikido offer people today?

Greetings all,

Some random thoughts on what it is that Aikido may offer to people today,

"If we were to take a straw poll of the reasons that keep Aikidoka practicing Aikido today, I suspect we would likely get a fairly diverse group of answers. The popular ones could be along the lines of -- Self Defence, Fitness, Confidence, Health, Spirituality and our list could clearly go on with a number of other good suggestions.

These are all good reasons to train Aikido, yet at the same time I do think that a similar list could fairly easily be raised for any number of martial arts.

Along these lines then, what is it, that this system of Aikido that dates back to the 1930's really offers for people in our modern world today?"

Continued, - https://dontmakemeangrymrmcgee.wordp...-people-today/
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2015, 07:57 AM   #2
Demetrio Cereijo
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,248
Spain
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

Hi Ben

A question, if you don't mind.

You wrote: "My experience was that training in aggressive martial arts began to negatively affect my personality and brought me unwanted feelings of aggression and began to change my personality."

Which art(s) was that?
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2015, 09:31 AM   #3
lbb
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,202
United_States
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

An essay by Alex Peterson sensei -- IMO this speaks very well to the subject of what Aikido offers people today (or any other day).
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2015, 10:26 AM   #4
Amir Krause
Dojo: Shirokan Dojo / Tel Aviv Israel
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 692
Israel
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

You are missing the point, the main answer you would get from most people who train for long is:

Aikido is fun

And they train because they enjoy it.
Some of those may be able to tell you they have trained other MA but Aikido was the right one for them

All the elements you mention are important parts of the picture which explain why Aikido in a certain dojo is fun for someone.

Amir
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2015, 12:37 PM   #5
Marie Noelle Fequiere
 
Marie Noelle Fequiere's Avatar
Dojo: Atibon Aikido, Port Au Prince, Haiti
Location: Port au Prince
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 295
Haiti
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

Quote:
Demetrio Cereijo wrote: View Post
Hi Ben

A question, if you don't mind.

You wrote: "My experience was that training in aggressive martial arts began to negatively affect my personality and brought me unwanted feelings of aggression and began to change my personality."

Which art(s) was that?
This is irrelevant of the martial art style. This is a problem that comes from the teacher first, and also sometimes the student. Aikido can be nasty, or Steven Seagal would not have used it so successfully in his movies. An Aikido instructor with anger issues can teach an aggressive version of his art, and a wise Kyokushin instructor can encourage his students to resort to their art only if their live depends on it.

When I was doing Karate, everybody talked about this ten year old black belt kid - now old enough to have started his own family - who was so passionate about his art that he trained seven days a week. His parent were exhausted from driving him to and from class, but they could only admit that the kid's asthma seemed to be in remission, and that he never fought at school.

Don't blame the art. Blame first the instructor, then maybe the student.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2015, 05:42 PM   #6
Sojourner
Location: Adelaide
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 202
Australia
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

Quote:
Demetrio Cereijo wrote: View Post
Hi Ben

A question, if you don't mind.

You wrote: "My experience was that training in aggressive martial arts began to negatively affect my personality and brought me unwanted feelings of aggression and began to change my personality."

Which art(s) was that?
Hello Demetrio, in this case I was training in Krav Maga. In the gym we trained around aggression and trained in explosive short burst attacks. It clearly works and achieves its goal as people went on to become very good at the techniques accordingly. It is true however that this is the only gym that I trained Krav in, and other schools may well be different.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2015, 01:37 PM   #7
Demetrio Cereijo
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,248
Spain
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

Thanks Ben.

Not tryin' to blame the art but I'm starting to see a pattern regarding KM schools, Of course it's only based in anecdotal evidence.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2015, 01:56 PM   #8
PeterR
 
PeterR's Avatar
Dojo: Shodokan Honbu (Osaka)
Location: Himeji, Japan
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,319
Japan
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

Classic chicken and egg.

People of a type are attracted to a particular type of training and a particular type of attitude is enhanced.

Happens in Aikido, KM, BJJ, etc.

Peter Rehse Shodokan Aikido
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-21-2015, 05:40 PM   #9
Sojourner
Location: Adelaide
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 202
Australia
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

It is interesting to reflect that one of the classic mistakes that some of these people make when they arrive at a Krav Maga gym is that they get hyped up initially and do not pace themselves for the duraction of the training. Aggression is important and has its role in the training, yet we would get the pad and punch / kick repeatedly. People would get up and give it absolutley everything and less than half way through be muscle fatigued and weakly tapping the bag. The actual real training was to measure yourself and build your strength to meet the challenge accordingly.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2015, 08:47 AM   #10
sakumeikan
Dojo: Sakumeikan N.E. Aikkai .Newcastle upon Tyne.
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,266
United Kingdom
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

Quote:
Mary Malmros wrote: View Post
An essay by Alex Peterson sensei -- IMO this speaks very well to the subject of what Aikido offers people today (or any other day).
Dear Mary,As a good friend of Alex Peterson[Hi Alex , how are you doing?] I believe he is imo correct when he indicated that our teachers [Chiba Sensei ]objective was not all about martial effectiveness.Chiba Sensei as far as I am concerned wanted each student to realise his /her full potential both on /off the tatami.Perhaps by working diligently on ones own self , perhaps we can point others in the same direction?I certainly feel as I advance in years [too quickly I may add ] my own goals have changed markedly.No longer do I want or need to be the Ultimate Fighting Machine.Cheers, Joe.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2015, 04:21 PM   #11
rugwithlegs
Dojo: Open Sky Aikikai
Location: Durham, NC
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 430
United_States
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

A good thread, but there are other issues for me.

1. As Aikido is so decentralized, anyone can hang up their shingle and offer to be anything. So, we can barely define what Aikido is, let alone any benefits or offerings. There are four dojo in my immediate area, and they are all significantly different from each other.

2. What we claim to offer - how well are we providing it?

Self defense skills cover a wide spectrum, from the dubious, to the brutal.

Spirituality? I am not of the belief that Kotegaeshi automatically puts me on the road to enlightenment.

Less harmful to others? O Sensei told us Aikido was lethal in his guidelines for practice.

Less harmful to ourselves? How many senior students do not have healthy knees or have a litany of chronic injuries?

Not all schools even attempt to teach meditation, some pay no attention to ergonomics or kinesthiology, some talk in religious terms but have little in evidence to back up their "beliefs."

More than the Art, the question I think is what a specific teacher would offer?
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2015, 03:23 AM   #12
Tim Ruijs
 
Tim Ruijs's Avatar
Dojo: Makato/Netherlands
Location: Netherlands - Leusden
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 463
Netherlands
Offline
Re: What does Aikido offer people today?

'something' attracts people to Aikido (or any other art for that matter).
Whether or not they stay depends simply on how they enjoy practise.
Some will have more profound interest and start walking the path...

You should really find the right teacher that can help you develop in the direction you seek...
during that search a time can/will come that that teacher cannot help you anymore and you seek another or become independent (mastership).

As always Aikido is what you make of it, just like life!

In a real fight:
* If you make a bad decision, you die.
* If you don't decide anything, you die.
Aikido teaches you how to decide.
www.aikido-makato.nl
  Reply With Quote

Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
The purpose of Aikido? Reflection Anonymous 128 08-13-2022 11:39 AM
Correlation of Aikido and Daito-Ryu Waza John Driscoll Columns 30 10-15-2016 03:22 PM
If you could buy just ONE book about Aikido techniques, what would it be? Karol Kowalczyk Techniques 45 01-31-2014 11:35 PM
Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation 24 Peter Goldsbury Columns 6 07-07-2013 05:40 PM
Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation 10 Peter Goldsbury Columns 200 02-04-2009 06:45 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:08 AM.



vBulletin Copyright © 2000-2024 Jelsoft Enterprises Limited
----------
Copyright 1997-2024 AikiWeb and its Authors, All Rights Reserved.
----------
For questions and comments about this website:
Send E-mail
plainlaid-picaresque outchasing-protistan explicantia-altarage seaford-stellionate