Re: Aikido is it real?
Having studied Aikido for quite a few years I can certainly understand the view that aikido is nothing but show and pomp.
For about 80% of clubs I would agree that it has lost it's martial roots and become about twirling the jo and bokken about, the big break falls and flaring hakama's.
I first started out in a club like this and although it looks good it is not effective in the real world.
95% of the uke or person receiving the techniques just fall over without doing anything, so you never know if you are doing it right, or you learn that doing to bugger all is meant to make someone fly through the air.
I became quite disillusioned with aikido and had a few years off playing with BJJ. My previous background is kyokushin and shotokan karate and ATF Taekwondo.
Missing aikido I went back to training with my original instructor who had broken away from our old club and realingned himself with one of Morihei Ueshiba's uchideshi or live in students.
Watching an 80yr old little japanese man within 2 weeks of an achilles heel operation pummel the crap out of my 6'5" 250lb instructor was something to see.
His style was very martial, everything related back to the original sword cut, very clean, very neat and VERY effective.
It has been refreshing to come back and see how aikido should be.
I now do not fall over when the technique is not executed correctly and love seeing the look on the black belts faces when they realise I have not budged and they are flat on their backs from a simple takedown.
I believe that you should train as you intend to play and as such have started training with intent and reality.
My aikido has improved in leaps and bounds and although the breakfalls and flying hakamas still look flashy, if you don't jump over your arm, it's going to break some stuff now, rather than oh lets make this look awesome!
As an aside, Steven Seagal was the first white man to open a dojo in tokyo, he was visited by the yakuza who threatened him to shut down or pay the penalty, suffice to say after they left the second time his dojo stayed open. His aikido works, is brutal and martial and yes he has dramatized aikido for film, if you watch his movies with anderson silva showing his knowledge and skills with regard to body manipulation and control, you can see that this is a guy who knows his stuff.
There are martial artists and then there are artists, just about anyone can get a black belt now but forget the origins of it. They always used to be white and the reason they became "black" was because the belt was not washed and as such due to the years of training became dark with practice and training. I do not wear coloured belts and follow Morihei Ueshibas statement that " I always wear white because I am always learning". Lame maybe but as they say in BJJ, its when you get your black belt that you start learning.
Having studied Aikido for quite a few years I can certainly understand the view that aikido is nothing but show and pomp.
For about 80% of clubs I would agree that it has lost it's martial roots and become about twirling the jo and bokken about, the big break falls and flaring hakama's.
I first started out in a club like this and although it looks good it is not effective in the real world.
95% of the uke or person receiving the techniques just fall over without doing anything, so you never know if you are doing it right, or you learn that doing to bugger all is meant to make someone fly through the air.
I became quite disillusioned with aikido and had a few years off playing with BJJ. My previous background is kyokushin and shotokan karate and ATF Taekwondo.
Missing aikido I went back to training with my original instructor who had broken away from our old club and realingned himself with one of Morihei Ueshiba's uchideshi or live in students.
Watching an 80yr old little japanese man within 2 weeks of an achilles heel operation pummel the crap out of my 6'5" 250lb instructor was something to see.
His style was very martial, everything related back to the original sword cut, very clean, very neat and VERY effective.
It has been refreshing to come back and see how aikido should be.
I now do not fall over when the technique is not executed correctly and love seeing the look on the black belts faces when they realise I have not budged and they are flat on their backs from a simple takedown.
I believe that you should train as you intend to play and as such have started training with intent and reality.
My aikido has improved in leaps and bounds and although the breakfalls and flying hakamas still look flashy, if you don't jump over your arm, it's going to break some stuff now, rather than oh lets make this look awesome!
As an aside, Steven Seagal was the first white man to open a dojo in tokyo, he was visited by the yakuza who threatened him to shut down or pay the penalty, suffice to say after they left the second time his dojo stayed open. His aikido works, is brutal and martial and yes he has dramatized aikido for film, if you watch his movies with anderson silva showing his knowledge and skills with regard to body manipulation and control, you can see that this is a guy who knows his stuff.
There are martial artists and then there are artists, just about anyone can get a black belt now but forget the origins of it. They always used to be white and the reason they became "black" was because the belt was not washed and as such due to the years of training became dark with practice and training. I do not wear coloured belts and follow Morihei Ueshibas statement that " I always wear white because I am always learning". Lame maybe but as they say in BJJ, its when you get your black belt that you start learning.
