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Old 05-19-2021, 12:24 AM   #1
IvLabush
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Ai symbol What is Aiki to you?

I still think that Aiki is keystone of Aikido but it's explanations too blurry. Please share your thought about Aiki and difference between Aiki and Yawara. MA experience doesn't matter everyone's free to join discussion.
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Old 05-20-2021, 11:53 AM   #2
mathewjgano
 
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Ivan Labushevskiy wrote: View Post
I still think that Aiki is keystone of Aikido but it's explanations too blurry. Please share your thought about Aiki and difference between Aiki and Yawara. MA experience doesn't matter everyone's free to join discussion.
I'm ignorant, but the phrase that keeps coming to mind is "whole body/self."

I don't know what Yawara is...can you explain it to me please?

...The little handle thing? What do you mean?

Last edited by mathewjgano : 05-20-2021 at 12:05 PM.

Gambarimashyo!
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Old 05-20-2021, 04:29 PM   #3
PuppyDoggie
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Aiki to me means synchronization.
Everything about its softness, timing, and going with your partner's energy is all synchronization to me.

As to the difference between Aiki and Yawara, did you mean Yawara as the other term for Jiujitsu or the religious symbol/tool? To me it makes no sense to compare Aiki to the symbol/tool. If you are referring to Yawara as Jiujitsu, they are just as soft as Aiki to me but Jiujitsu includes offense movements. I see no other difference besides the label, name, and words used to describe them.
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Old 05-21-2021, 12:38 AM   #4
IvLabush
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Matthew Gano wrote: View Post
I don't know what Yawara is...can you explain it to me please
Yawara to me has same meaning that Ju or Jiu. Same kanji 柔 as in judo.
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Old 05-21-2021, 12:53 AM   #5
IvLabush
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

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Justin Tom wrote: View Post
If you are referring to Yawara as Jiujitsu, they are just as soft as Aiki to me but Jiujitsu includes offense movements.
Ueshiba did attacking moves after war as before war. He grab guys and throw them away. I could provide video reference if you need that.
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Old 05-21-2021, 10:19 AM   #6
Eric Jones
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

You pull I push. You push I pull. That's all Aiki is to me.
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Old 05-21-2021, 03:04 PM   #7
Alex Megann
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Some would define aiki as the management of opposing forces in a connected body.

Alex
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Old 05-21-2021, 05:01 PM   #8
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Ivan Labushevskiy wrote: View Post
Ueshiba did attacking moves after war as before war. He grab guys and throw them away. I could provide video reference if you need that.
I believe you; I think I've seen similar footage of Ueshiba grabbing and throwing before.

What I meant by offense movements were strikes that make contact like punching and kicking, which aiki doesn't really teach but assumes the practitioner already knows? Jiujitsu has a lot more contact and is in my opinion "rougher" than aiki.

I like the you push I pull idea
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Old 05-22-2021, 12:59 AM   #9
Rupert Atkinson
 
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Just check out my book link - the whole thing is towards understanding aiki.

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Old 05-22-2021, 07:25 AM   #10
lars beyer
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

I don´t speak from authority, but I guess i´ts about opposing forces in me and you (thee.. )- the simultaneous being of “two”.

Cheers
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Old 05-24-2021, 03:42 AM   #11
IvLabush
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Eric Jones wrote: View Post
You pull I push. You push I pull. That's all Aiki is to me.
That's very interesting and exactly as it said in Judo about Ju (柔) idea. Do you think Aiki and Ju is the same?

Quote:
Alex Megann wrote: View Post
Some would define aiki as the management of opposing forces in a connected body.
That's quite interesting too. Is Aiki inside of someone's body?

Quote:
Rupert Atkinson wrote: View Post
Just check out my book link - the whole thing is towards understanding aiki.
Many thanks. I found person that tell no stories about mystical energy.

Quote:
Lars Beyer wrote: View Post
I don´t speak from authority, but I guess i´ts about opposing forces in me and you (thee.. )- the simultaneous being of "two".
Sounds familiar. Where is the center of those opposing forces?
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Old 05-24-2021, 09:04 AM   #12
Thomas Christaller
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Rupert Atkinson wrote: View Post
Just check out my book link - the whole thing is towards understanding aiki.
Thanks for the link to your book. I started to read it and already the text under "Contents" where you describe the principles you got me hooked to it :-)
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Old 05-24-2021, 03:54 PM   #13
mathewjgano
 
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Ivan Labushevskiy wrote: View Post
Yawara to me has same meaning that Ju or Jiu. Same kanji 柔 as in judo.
I think aiki is learned however one learns it, but I'm told ju and aiki aren't the same.

I couldn't say for sure, but my guess is aiki is more nuanced.

I think labels often fall short though.

...at the end of the day: does it work? What work does it do?

Gambarimashyo!
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Old 05-25-2021, 12:47 PM   #14
lars beyer
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Ivan Labushevskiy wrote: View Post
That's very interesting and exactly as it said in Judo about Ju (柔) idea. Do you think Aiki and Ju is the same?

That's quite interesting too. Is Aiki inside of someone's body?

Many thanks. I found person that tell no stories about mystical energy.

Sounds familiar. Where is the center of those opposing forces?
The center is in me- if you aske me offcourse :-)
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Old 05-25-2021, 02:17 PM   #15
Kafastomp
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

To me Aiki is a lifestyle: It doesn't matter where you are inside the dojo or community.
when fellowship with people ,or stuck in an awkward situation . How you react when someone confront you ?
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Old 05-30-2021, 05:41 AM   #16
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Aiki is how your body maintains it's balance. You use aiki by fnding a way to force your opponent off balance or catching your opponent off balance to apply technique.

dps

Last edited by dps : 05-30-2021 at 05:54 AM.

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Old 05-31-2021, 01:43 AM   #17
IvLabush
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
David Skaggs wrote: View Post
Aiki is how your body maintains it's balance. You use aiki by fnding a way to force your opponent off balance or catching your opponent off balance to apply technique.

dps
To me aiki is not common to all MA but balance maintenance is the keystone most of it.
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Old 06-02-2021, 01:21 PM   #18
mathewjgano
 
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Ivan Labushevskiy wrote: View Post
To me aiki is not common to all MA but balance maintenance is the keystone most of it.
I think it depends on how specific we get. I think aiki is accessible by us all and that one can find it in any practice if one pays enough attention. As with all things, it is easier to learn something if an expert provides guidelines.

Gambarimashyo!
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Old 06-06-2021, 03:25 PM   #19
Setok
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

I would say the whole push/pull is really missing the core. As was mentioned, judo has exactly the same philosophy, as do other grappling arts.

Having visited many places to learn aikido, I’ve seen many ways of training and understanding the art, as well as its parent art. Some approaches are more evasive, while other are more direct. However the one tactical commonality which is almost universal is the sense of creating one body from two, which is then moved. This is a very different feeling from an art that uses efficient leverage to heave over a sack of potatoes, or which uses powerful strikes to create damage. It can also be achieved in different ways, but if even momentarily you are creating that singular body, then to me that creates a feeling, and it is a feeling, of that enigmatic aiki.
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Old 06-08-2021, 05:17 AM   #20
IvLabush
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Matthew Gano wrote: View Post
I think aiki is accessible by us all and that one can find it in any practice if one pays enough attention.
I'm not sure if it's possible to learn aiki from MA experts never heard about it and practiced it in some MA curriculum. You don't ask for aiki to capoeira experts don't you?
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Old 06-08-2021, 07:53 PM   #21
Eric Jones
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Some people have commented on my "you pull I push comment." I'll give you an example. If you pull me I'm going to kokyunage you into the ground.
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Old 06-10-2021, 10:58 PM   #22
IvLabush
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Eric Jones wrote: View Post
If you pull me I'm going to kokyunage you into the ground.
You can do osotogari with same idea and call it Judo. In your understanding Judo and Aikido are the same by ideas?
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Old 06-11-2021, 09:11 AM   #23
dps
 
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Ivan Labushevskiy wrote: View Post
I'm not sure if it's possible to learn aiki from MA experts never heard about it and practiced it in some MA curriculum. You don't ask for aiki to capoeira experts don't you?
In Aikido the Japanese word "aiki" is used to describe how your body maintains it's balance. In other physical endeavors they use different words to describe the same phenomenodps

Go ahead, tread on me.
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Old 06-11-2021, 09:35 AM   #24
dps
 
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Ivan Labushevskiy wrote: View Post
I'm not sure if it's possible to learn aiki from MA experts never heard about it and practiced it in some MA curriculum. You don't ask for aiki to capoeira experts don't you?

In Aikido the "Japanese" word "aiki" is used to describe how your body maintains it's balance.
In other physical endeavors they use different words to describe the same phenomenon.


"Other activities, from tightrope-walking to judo to Okinawan karate to tango to running with the ball in American football, all have distinctive strategies for maintaining balance which respond to the specific demands of the activity, but are also shaped by indigenous analysis by expert practice (Downey 2008) and cultural constraints, such as notions of ‘right form.’"

Balance between cultures: equilibrium training

https://neuroanthropology.net/2008/1...brium-training

The Japanese word "aiki" is used to describe the "distinctive strategies for maintaining balance which respond to the specific demands of " Aikido.

dps

Last edited by dps : 06-11-2021 at 09:47 AM.

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Old 06-11-2021, 09:52 AM   #25
Eric Jones
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Re: What is Aiki to you?

Quote:
Ivan Labushevskiy wrote: View Post
You can do osotogari with same idea and call it Judo. In your understanding Judo and Aikido are the same by ideas?
I don't understand the question. Are you saying we shouldn't take advantage of our opponents momentum in Aikido?
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