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Old 10-05-2003, 03:43 AM   #1
shihonage
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"Show me Aikido"

What was your most interesting "show me Aikido" experience ?

Mine was probably today.

With a friend of mine, who came over.

I told him the whole lecture on the basic principles, and that the wrist grab is only meant to "symbolize" an attack, and then tried to show him how to do tenkan.

He said "Oh yeah, ok, that's pretty stupid. Do it now." and he grabbed my wrist strongly, in a way so that i couldn't initiate tenkan - he started trying to fling it away the moment I would initiate the movement.

So instead I went with a kokyunage, which turned out to be surprisingly smooth and dropped him on the couch.

He went "Ok, now thats more interesting", but he still didn't understand what I was trying to explain to him.

I kept telling him that depending on the energy he gives, there's going to be a corresponding technique, and in this case, for learning purposes, all he needs to do is to grab my wrist, without any tricks.

So, he grabbed my wrist again, with a lot of tension, and after a second, when I realized that I couldn't do tenkan, or much of anything else, I dumped him on the cold kitchen floor with an enthusiastical sumi-otoshi.

We were both surprised, and I was cackling... on the inside.

He did later get interested in tenkan, by the way, and said that it's "practical".

So, anyone else care to share their interesting "show me Aikido" experiences ?
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Old 10-05-2003, 08:11 AM   #2
TomanGaidin
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A girl once asked me to show them a technique, so I basically tried to put them the process of an ikkyo; easier than trying to teach them a lock or full throw straight off, at least. Anyway, fast forward to the next time I bumped into them at a party.

Another friend was there - essentially a shodan in Goju Ryu, just awaiting the certificate. I was asked by the girl to show them the technique again - upon which they fumbled about with my arm for a moment, before I opted to show them the technique with the karateka instead. He threw a straight punch, and.. I really have no recollection past putting up the one arm into the beginnings of a shomenuchi-like block. That, and them suddenly I'd snapped him right around into an ikkyo. Don't recall even grabbing his arm.

I also showed him sankyo another time... oh, he liked that one ;p.
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Old 10-05-2003, 02:36 PM   #3
PhilJ
 
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Your shoe is untied. You don't have to believe me, I just wouldn't like you to hurt yourself.

*Phil, always with the smart ass-ery

Phillip Johnson
Enso Aikido Dojo, Burnsville, MN
An Aikido Bukou Dojo
http://www.aikidobukou.com
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Old 10-05-2003, 03:04 PM   #4
BKimpel
Location: Alberta, Canada
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My dad, my brother and I all studied Karate, but I also studied Aikido. My dad saw one of our classes one time and asked me to show him some Aikido in our living room one evening. Now at the time, my dad outweighed me by about 65 pounds (I was 135 lbs, he was 200 lbs) and having reached Brown Belt he had a very strong stance and posture. He did the classic thing every Karate guy does to an Aikido guy -- he stuck out his arm (lunge punch in a strong front stance) and said, "Ok, do your Aikido on me". Being new to Aikido at the time I tried to do tenkan kote-gaeshi on him to no avail -- he was unmovable.

I later asked my sensei how to deal with uncooperative uke's, and he showed me how to do the static version of kote-gaeshi.

So that evening I did it to my dad. I grabbed his wrist in a normal kote-gaeshi grip but instead of a tenkan movement I moved in front of him, swung my rear foot forward to gain momentum and used my hips (ala Karate style hip snap) to turn over his wrist.

Well…it worked all right and that was the last time my dad asked me to show him some Aikido (he didn't have a permanent injury, just some pain for a few days and a bruised ego).

Bruce

Bruce Kimpel
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Old 10-05-2003, 07:56 PM   #5
sanosuke
Dojo: Seigi Dojo
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I remember when my teacher showed me aikido when i showed up for the first time at the dojo to see "what aikido is".

he showed me two thing, first i was told to stand at one end and him at the other one, then we walked towards each other to reach opposite ends, repeating two times. when we got back to sit i asked him "what is aikido?" he said, "we just did, in aikido there's no resistance, no blocking or stopping, we just give way, like we did by walking just now." another thing he showed me is the arm-wrestling, when we did normal arm-wrestling he said,"this is fighting" then he dropped his hand, making him lose to me. But then he put his other hand on top of mine, then asked me to lift my hand, in which i could not. Then he said, "this is aikido, if you want my hand so bad i'll give you two." from there on i learn aikido until now.
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Old 10-05-2003, 09:31 PM   #6
Amassus
 
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I had been talking about the philosophy of aikido to a friend and how I really liked that side of the art. He asked me to show him something. I chose ikkyo, basically because I'm only a beginner and it was the one technique shown to me when I asked the same question.

We call it the 'chicken wing' becasue uke's arm is bent with the elbow popping up. So I went through the motions then asked him to do it to me.

He is now training at his closest dojo and I go and train at his club when I get the chance.


"flows like water, reflects like a mirror, and responds like an echo." Chaung-tse
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Old 10-06-2003, 03:19 AM   #7
JJF
 
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My dad asked me about aikido. During my usual lengthy speach about the many vitues of Aikido, I tried to demonstrate the difference of punching just with the arm, as opposed to doing it with the entire body pushing against the ground (good grounding). The first punch where I just used the weight of my arm to sort of 'slap' him in the chest was like I expected it would be. A heavy 'thump' in the chest that was there - but could easily be resisted. For my second 'punch' I intended to just push from my hip through my arm, so he would be able to feel the difference. How ever for some odd reason it suddenly worked way better than it usually does, and it did something close to a two-inch punch which sent my dad flying about two meters bacwards.. It was my luck that there was a chair behind him - otherwise he would have hit his head on the radiator on his way to the ground. I was almost scared myself, and needles to say my dad was quite impressed

- Jørgen Jakob Friis

Inspiration - Aspiration - Perspiration
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Old 10-06-2003, 08:48 AM   #8
bob_stra
Location: Australia
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Re: "Show me Aikido"

Quote:
Aleksey S (shihonage) wrote:
Mine was probably today.
That's wired, cause I had a parallel experience today in MMA class.

/small child yelling "mommy, mommy, look what I did" voice ON/

A guy shot in for a double and I threw him with kaiten nage. AND IT WAS GOOOOOD Full fancy pants, flowing, proper aikido kaiten nage,

THEN

I threw another guy with uchimata (judo)

THEN

A guy grabbed me in a one-on-one (wristgrab). So aiki taiso'ed. It partially worked, and I got my wrist free.

AND THEN

A guy *wristlocked* me from his guard. Nikkyo.

PS: No small children were harmed in these shenanigans. Yes, I beat up on real adults just for once.

I AM SO SMART. I AM SO SMART. S-M-R-T! ;-)

/small child yelling "mommy, mommy, look what I did" voice OFF/
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Old 10-06-2003, 10:37 AM   #9
BKimpel
Location: Alberta, Canada
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This thread is beggining to sound like, "One time, in band camp..."

Sorry, I couldn't resist (even making fun of myself).

Bruce

Bruce Kimpel
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Old 10-06-2003, 10:37 AM   #10
John Boswell
 
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A friend of mine is chinese and dared me to show him some Aikido one day. We were in his living room and I didn't really wanna throw him... so, when he grabbed my wrist, I went around to capture his head and started to.

He figured out what I was doing the instant I got around him and he stopped me right there.

"Nevermind. I see it!" We had a good laugh over it... he didn't take me up on the offer to go outside to try it.

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Old 10-06-2003, 05:36 PM   #11
Nick Simpson
Dojo: White Rose Aikido - Durham University
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A few weeks back I was at a party and a friend was playfully making fun of me doing aikido, he started mock attacking me ( beer was involved, lots of beer ) and thinking he was tough until he grabbed my wrist, So I sankyo'ed him into the fridge ( end of mocking ).

Had a similar thing happen ages ago, playing pool with a friend, we were both drunk and he started playfighting with me, again I used sankyo somehow and then ikyo pinned his elbow onto the pool table so that he couldnt move.

Seems to me that sankyo lends itself very well to drunken party tricks

They're all screaming about the rock n roll, but I would say that it's getting old. - REFUSED.
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Old 10-06-2003, 07:26 PM   #12
Clayton Kale
Dojo: Nihon Goshin Aikido Academy
Location: South Carolina
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Friend: "What would you do if I (punched/ pushed/choked/kicked) you?"



Me: "Nothing."

Friend: "But you take Aikido. You know how to fight."

Me: "We don't learn how to fight. You really want to see it, come to class with me sometime and watch."

Never showed a friend a thing.

"Pefect practice makes perfect." -Steven A. Weber Godan Nihon Goshin Aikido

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Old 10-13-2003, 04:18 PM   #13
Jane Woodcock
 
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I was once asked if someone tried to hit me what would i do?

'Hopefully,' I replied. 'I would do something and I wouldn't get hurt.'

'What would happen if they came at you with a knife?

'The same. If nothing else I would get out the way'.

'What would happen if someone came at you with a gun?'

'Duh they'd shoot me dead.'

This was after I had refused to show someone a technique
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Old 10-13-2003, 06:33 PM   #14
Chuck Clark
 
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One of my students about 25 years ago was demonstrating aikido principle at a party after a friend asked, "Does that stuff really work?" She did something similar to what most of you call tai no henko and the friend fell dramatically into a coffee table that had a glass top. Short story is that her friend sustained a serious laceration that didn't heal properly and ended up having an amputation halfway above the elbow.

Since then, my students tell people that ask for demonstrations that they need to come to the dojo and see a proper demonstration where they can ask serious questions, etc.

The potential for disaster is great when inexperienced people mess around in dangerous locations. Even if you think you're not accomplished enough to do something right ... accidents can happen. The person that the above story happened to had only 9 months of practice. Two people's lives will never be the same.

Chuck Clark
Jiyushinkai Aikibudo
www.jiyushinkai.org
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Old 10-13-2003, 08:14 PM   #15
Nick P.
 
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Quote:
C.E. Clark (Chuck Clark) wrote:
Short story is that her friend sustained a serious laceration that didn't heal properly and ended up having an amputation halfway above the elbow.
That is an awful story, but I guess it drives the point home.

Thanks for sharing it.
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Old 10-13-2003, 08:41 PM   #16
Bronson
 
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Clark Sensei,

May I have your permission to post that story in our dojo?

I stopped showing people stuff outside the dojo when I nearly landed my roommate on the back of his neck. We had been doing what I guess would be a sort of irimi nage in most styles. I told him to strike me with shomen and he actually struck with force and intent. I got lucky and realized that it was really going to work and that I was going to dump my friend on his skull. I pulled the technique up short which resulted in an ugly plop on his butt and back but at least I didn't paralyze him.

Now if I really want to show someone something I have them grab my wrist and I just escape. They then grab it even tighter or with two hands and I show them that by relaxing correctly I can just pop my hand out. If they want to see more they have to come to class.

Bronson

Last edited by Bronson : 10-13-2003 at 08:50 PM.

"A pacifist is not really a pacifist if he is unable to make a choice between violence and non-violence. A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy he chooses non-violence."
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Old 10-14-2003, 12:08 AM   #17
Chuck Clark
 
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Bronson,

No problems about using the story. It took about two years and three operations before the amputation. The member of my dojo was really shook and only stayed around another few months. I was not a witness to this accident, but I've never been able to look at a glass topped coffee table since without thinking of this.

I am especially strict about treating info about the dojo and our practice with great care. If people are truly interested, they'll visit the dojo. If not, why bother with them. You surely aren't going to convince them of much and the possibility of someone getting hurt is always there.

Chuck Clark
Jiyushinkai Aikibudo
www.jiyushinkai.org
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Old 10-14-2003, 09:53 AM   #18
ian
 
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Quote:
Jørgen Jakob Friis (JJF) wrote:
worked way better than it usually does, and it did something close to a two-inch punch which sent my dad flying about two meters bacwards..
One of our students was saying he was in a bar trying to illustrate a 2" punch to someone - which he could never manage when he did previously did kungfu. To his suprise the person flew across the room - he said it had a lot to do with bokken training (I think it is great for linking hand and centre).

I did a simple floor pin on some-one twice my weight once (and I'm rubbish at pinning!)

A jujitsu person once was 'playing' with me saying - 'what would you do if I did this' etc. With complete relaxation aikido techniques just fell as an easy counter to all the throws and locks he was trying because the strength he was putting into them was so strong and directed (e.g. he tried a hip throw and I just slipped into kokyu-nage)! - I was amazed!

Ian
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