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Old 10-30-2003, 11:57 PM   #1
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Question What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

As the title suggests - what was it that you wanted when joining a dojo (seriously, please)? what have changed after training ?
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Old 10-31-2003, 01:12 AM   #2
Abasan
Dojo: Aiki Shoshinkan, Aiki Kenkyukai
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 813
Malaysia
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I wanted to train aikido.

Nothing has changed, I just wished there were more seniors to train with.

Draw strength from stillness. Learn to act without acting. And never underestimate a samurai cat.
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Old 10-31-2003, 06:02 AM   #3
Ghost Fox
Dojo: Jikishinkan Dojo
Location: New York City (Brooklyn)
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 219
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To Dance with the Gods.
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Old 10-31-2003, 08:51 AM   #4
markwalsh
Dojo: Airenjuku Brighton
Location: On the road - UK
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 514
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To learn self defence originally. Now I want to fence the self!

My motives change, as does what aspect of the art I'm most interested in at one time, - for health, for fun, for the beauty of it, to sort my head out, for others, an excuse to drink afterwards, whatever.

Did a little study on the meaning of aikido in peoples lives and I suspect that for most people the reasons change, often from the physical to the social/ mental to the spiritual. I think people are drawn to aikido and most of the time we don't know what exactly we want/ need.

What does aikido want from you might be another question?

Mark

x

p.s. Why are you anonymous, if you don't mind me asking?
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Old 10-31-2003, 01:26 PM   #5
Derek Dunham
Dojo: Aikido of Albany
Location: Albany, Oregon
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 6
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I had wanted to learn a martial art for a long time, and a 'net friend suggested Aikido. I watched some videos and was amazed by how the Aikidoka I saw used their bodies to make other people fly through the air and move out of their way. I guess I just wanted to see if I could ever do that... Now, about four months after starting, I guess my reasons for training have changed somewhat. I mainly go to class now because it is fun, and I get a chance to meet and train with some great people at my dojo. Maybe in 15-20years I will be able to make people fly, tho.
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Old 11-01-2003, 02:46 PM   #6
Anders Bjonback
Dojo: Boulder Aikikai
Location: Boulder, CO
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 129
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Originally I wanted to learn how to defend myself without hurting the other person. Now, after training for a year, I don't know if it's possible in a real situation, and I don't really know why I keep on training. I guess I train to see my own agressive impulses and work with them, but more than that, I train because I enjoy it. I forget about stress with money and school and am just there with the other person.

"For peace and happiness are presences, not objects we can grasp and hold onto."
--Lilian Smith
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Old 11-01-2003, 05:36 PM   #7
Paula Lydon
Dojo: Aikido Shugenkai
Location: Colorado
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 427
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~~To get closer to Magik, following the aiki thread. To find a new dojo community and fellowship.

~~After 7 years I get glimpses of the invisible, feel the subtle, sense the fullness in what we call space. The Magik swirls around and through me, the Unknown is wondrous. And then I lose touch, take a bad fall and bang my knee, feeling heavy, dull, gross, opaque. Get up, keep training and I begin to feel it again...

~~Paula~~
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Old 11-02-2003, 12:12 AM   #8
PhilJ
 
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I started because I thought I'd like to take a martial art in college, and it sounded neat. THEN I learned quickly Seagal did it, and got giddy.

After about a year, I realized the folly of Hollywood and its protrayal of the art.

Then I began to see how aikido could help me with daily affairs and forgiving people.

Then I noticed some of my 'inability' to affect daily life was due to my doing ineffective technique (not because of style, just me).

And finally, it now occurs to me that what I need to use technique on the most is myself, and learn just how I blend with the universe.

I find it funny that I live in the universe, I move about in it, and yet I really don't know it at all. How weird is that?

*Phil

Phillip Johnson
Enso Aikido Dojo, Burnsville, MN
An Aikido Bukou Dojo
http://www.aikidobukou.com
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Old 11-03-2003, 09:11 AM   #9
Don_Modesto
Dojo: Messores Sensei (Largo, Fl.)
Location: Florida
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,267
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Quote:
Paula Lydon wrote:
~~To get closer to Magik, following the aiki thread. To find a new dojo community and fellowship.

~~After 7 years I get glimpses of the invisible, feel the subtle, sense the fullness in what we call space. The Magik swirls around and through me, the Unknown is wondrous. And then I lose touch, take a bad fall and bang my knee, feeling heavy, dull, gross, opaque. Get up, keep training and I begin to feel it again...
Yeah.

What she said.

(What Dustin Hoffman's adopted grandfather in Little Big Man said when he failed to predict his own ascent into heaven, "Ah well, sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't.")

Don J. Modesto
St. Petersburg, Florida
------------------------
http://www.theaikidodojo.com/
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Old 11-03-2003, 03:31 PM   #10
BC
Location: Chicago, IL
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 432
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I just wanted to learn and practice aikido. My goals in that regard haven't changed.

Robert Cronin
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Old 11-04-2003, 07:29 AM   #11
Dario Rosati
Dojo: Zanshin - Milan
Location: Milan
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 71
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I was looking for

1) mind-over-body control, an underrated concept in the western world

2) an athletic martial art with almost no focus on offensive tecniques (the opposite of kung-fu and derivatives) and no extreme mat cleaning/extreme fisical contact (judo, bjj, kickboxing ecc)

3) something propedeutic and complementary with classical japanese war weapons arts (like katori)

4) discipline

I tried a lesson of Tai Chi first but for some reasons makes me feel uneasy, sort of "unnatural", and has very few of "martial", imho.

Then I found an aikido sensei highly skilled in Katori Shinto Ryu, who openly uses the precepts of one in the other to clarify things (many aikido techniques are derived from unarmed vs katana combat), and love began...

After only 2 months of intensive practice in a very small dojo and a 6h seminar (so faster improvements for beginners, IMHO) I have found this:

1) increased awareness

2) trained body (not specific of aikido of course, but it doesn't hurt )

3) a very cool group of friends (this was probably luck too, but I don't believe this is unrelated... other martial arts praticants, expecially younger ones, have often a very different and selfish/aggressive approach)

4) the wish to start training in Katori, too, a soon as money and time will permit.

I fulfilled points 2 and 3 of my initial wish list simply choosing aikido, and I'm sure that points 1 and 4 (discipline and mind/body full control) are only a matter of time and training.

Just my 2 cents.

--
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Old 11-11-2003, 12:26 AM   #12
sanosuke
Dojo: Seigi Dojo
Location: Jakarta
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 247
Indonesia
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to unite with the universe........yeah, right. I just want to be a better person, though, both phisically,mentally and in character. little have changed, but tell you the truth i enjoyed the process very much.
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Old 02-05-2005, 11:28 PM   #13
Martin Ruedas
 
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Dojo: Makiling Southside
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

I was forced to train aikido by my dad, now, he can't pull me out of it! I'm not really sure what I want in training in aikido and I guess "not knowing is the most intimate". I just really enjoy it.
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Old 02-06-2005, 03:29 AM   #14
ruthmc
Dojo: Wokingham Aikido
Location: Reading, UK
Join Date: Mar 2003
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

As a kid I really wanted to learn Judo. I wasn't allowed to (nervous parent was afraid I'd get hurt)
So as soon as I got to Uni I signed up for Aikido as that was the closest MA to Judo I could find there

I wanted to improve my co-ordination (which was sub-standard due to a hidden disability) and learn a new set of skills. I didn't want to do a competitive sport.

What changed was that I realised that I could eventually learn to do all the amazing things that the seniors were doing. I learned to never say never. Aikido became an important part of my life, and has been ever since.

What's changed recently is that I no longer worry about making mistakes, or not getting something first time. I'll get it eventually, there's no urgency. I'm really enjoying the learning experience without beating myself up over errors anymore I see my fellow students getting frustrated with themselves, and watch their efforts being hampered by this frustration. I'm so glad I let that go!

I agree with Mark - why anonymous? You asked some great questions!

Ruth (This path changes all the time)
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Old 02-06-2005, 09:04 AM   #15
bryce_montgomery
 
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

I started aikido because I wanted to learn aikido...and I've continued...while through somewhat "choppy waters" because I enjoy learning....

Bryce
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Old 02-06-2005, 10:53 AM   #16
malsmith
Dojo: Masters of Aikido in Fogelsville
Location: Bethlehem
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 84
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

im a teenage girl so i joined to learn self defense.... but now i have learned so much more than that and i continue to train because of how it makes my mind and "spirit" feel
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Old 03-02-2005, 09:00 PM   #17
Beth Mizuno
Dojo: Aikido Shobukan Dojo
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 4
United_States
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

A co-worker was throwing a fit, throwing things around the room, completely incoherent. I was startled to discover how much that frightened me. Realized that I didn't even know how to get out of the way if he threw something at me. Decided that was intolerable. That was 15 years ago. I'm still trying to figure out how to get out of the way.

And besides, I like the interaction, the non-verbal communication. Made some wonderful friends, the kind you would want at your back in a dark alley. Amazing how much you can learn about a person when words aren't getting in the way.
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Old 03-02-2005, 09:50 PM   #18
Huker
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 63
Canada
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

A friend of mine showed my an aikido book a few years ago after he had begun hap ki do training. I flipped through it and thought the pictures looked cool. Last year, for some reason, I bought the same book and read it cover to cover. That's when I decided that aikido was for me. Everything in the book, from the ideals it represented to how the moves were executed spoke to me. Now that I've been doing aikido for a short while, I've seen some of the powerful things it can do. I guess I joined to learn a martial art that I wouldn't be tossed in jail for using when it was called for. I did it for health (university diet is terrible), as well, but I've also learned a bit of grace in the process. I guess to summarize, I joined to gain power and control...hmmm...
Plus tossing people/being tossed is an amazing stress reliever.
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Old 03-03-2005, 02:13 PM   #19
pezalinski
 
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Dojo: Aikido of Harvard (IL)
Location: harvard, IL
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Smile Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

I wanted to learn a martial art for self defense... I was in college, training to be a teacher, and I knew that a martial artist develops some beta-reflexes to situations, and I didn't want a reflex action to frag some poor kid who was dumb enough to take a poke at me. So Aikido fit the bill perfectly.

That was 20 years ago. I'm still doing aikido today, though I'm no longer a school teacher. My aikido techniques have gotten better, and I know many more of them, but my understanding of AI-KI-DO has expanded to the point where I realize I don't really know much at all about it


A little danger is a knowledge thing...

"Helping the planet make an impact on people, since 1985"
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Old 03-03-2005, 04:22 PM   #20
cck
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 59
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

Really wanted to be able to hurt someone after a friend was raped.
Went to observe a couple of different martial arts. When I saw people taking ukemi in aikido - I mean, fly, bam, into the mat, and then jump right up again and run back for more - I was floored. It has since been my goal to learn that. And it makes me happy, I LOVE going to class.
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Old 03-04-2005, 09:26 AM   #21
tenshinaikidoka
 
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Dojo: Aikido Of Benton County Richland, Wa.
Location: Pasco, Wa
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

I wanted to learn a martial art that was practical. I was 13 and a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I thought I could defend myself until I sas attacked by 2 individuals and was unable to do much, even after landing a few kicks. I then started training Aikido. Now at 31 I am still as devoted to Aikido as ever and it has become more of a passion for me with every passing day. The art has given me inner peace in a way that I was not able to find with anything else, wierd and perhaps hokey to say, but true. I also have used it to defend myself on more than one occasion and it was extremely effective. Not much more to say. It is more than a hobby, it is a way of life!!!!!
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Old 03-04-2005, 01:17 PM   #22
Jack Simpson
Dojo: Western Maryland Aikikai - Frederick, Maryland
Location: hangin' with the tengu in the "mountains" of Maryland
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 91
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

After 10 years in other martial arts, I watched an aikido class. I was (and still am) fascinated by the movement of the art. I remember say, "I don't care if I learn any techniques, I just want to learn how to move like that."

Now another 15 years or so have passed in my aikido training and every now and then a throw happens when uke and I are one being. There's no thought, no beginning, no end. That feeling of intimacy in the moment is my addiction.

Jack
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Old 03-05-2005, 04:41 PM   #23
TheWonderKid
Dojo: Memorial University Aikido Club
Location: St John's, Newfoundland
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 49
Canada
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

I always liked Martial Arts and I spent the first couple of years in university without doing anything. I then wanted to get out more and so I checked around and decided to try Aikido. After one class I was hooked. I then wanted to learn as much as I could and learn to defend myself.

Now I'm getting really into the spiritual side of things and I'm finding inner Harmony. I now want to find someway to find that in all things I do.
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Old 03-05-2005, 06:49 PM   #24
AikiSean!
 
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

After researching a few arts of interest I decided on Aikido because I felt it suited my own personallity the best. The only thing thats changed is when I went in, I could never have grasped the amount of respect I would learn for my peers or my sensei. The first teaching of Aikido for me was, respect. Even before ukemi ;p
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Old 03-05-2005, 08:21 PM   #25
bleepbeep
Dojo: kyokan dojo bacolod city/dale city aikikai, va
Location: VA
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Re: What did you want from Aikido ? what changed ?

i wanted to learn something anything together with my boyfriend then. it so happened that i loved it. (1994) now, i cannot imagine life without it. now i love it for the training, the sensitivity, and everything about it. it still excites me to get on the mat everyday.
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