Thank you. I will probably hold off until my weight is at a more of an acceptable level. Read a few books to get more of a literary background on martial arts.
What is ara waza? From the little info i found on Wikipedia it seems like aikido techniques done at "full throttle", so to speak.
Ara waza is "severe" technique. It was described to me by koyo as 3 times normal speed. An example would be since all locks can be throws, and all throws can be breaks... Ara waza version of shihonage would not allow for ukemi, it would break the arm in 4 places. Training ara waza requires that at the last possible moment, the nage allows ukemi by uke. In karate WHEN I FIRST STARTED, ara waza was the normal way to train techniques, however, at the last moment, the technique was slowed down to allow for ukemi or tap out. IME.
Koyo, I have some doubts: I´m 1,80m and 16-stone heavy. 6+ Years of gym, but some excess weight as well. In these years I´ve learned - to a certain degree - to manage my build. I gain and loose weight somewhat easier than most people. That said, I would like to know: Although Aikido moves do not employ the clear usage of force (strenght), do I benefit from being stronger? If so, in what, exactly?
Oh, I should also mention that I´ve got a bad shoulder (damned Arnold Press), that hurts sometimes when I try to push some heavy load (using the shoulder, of course). Should I be careful when trying kata or only while in uke role? At first I thought that the main issue would be on being on the receveing end of a nage... Now... not so sure.
I doubt koyo will be around for a bit Gustav. He's been very poorly recently. You will benefit from being strong in two ways. The most obvious is that you can muscle your way through techniques that you are finding difficult to pull off properly. Which might not be so good in the long run if it becomes habit. You will also benefit from having greater inertial mass. Something big and heavy will almost always come off better in a clash with something smaller and lighter. But again this may not be so good in the long run if you rely on your size and weight rather than proper execution of technique. It's only a matter of time before you come up against someone bigger and heavier. If you rely on strength and weight then you get into an arms race with threats that may or may not be real.
Thanks, Wolf. In fact I only needed advice from a reliable master, category in which you are obvious included. From what you said, I might gain some advantage in taking someone down, but that "edge" may possibly make me lazy or not properly focused on the perfection of the techs. Might as well be true, specially in the final half of a training session, with a somewhat exausted mind (and body).
When I started cross-training in Aikido, I was already fairly strong from my karate training. Most of the people I trained with were around my size. I found it very easy to overpower them to get technique to work. However, I found it very frustrating because my technique never really improved. When I started cross-training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, my understanding of Aikido improved greatly because most of the people I trained with in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu were much bigger and stronger than me. Strength, speed, and size are all important attributes to have, but if relied on, things can be too easy and then technique does not improve. One area that sometimes missed is that many Aikidoka had come from a Kendo background or sword training. They developed really strong hands and forearms... this is an area that strength really can help in Aikido. If anything, you will be a good uke because it will force good technique for tori as they will not be able to simply overpower you. ------------- As for your shoulder injury, there is no way to know how that might affect you. You may need to strengthen your shoulder through physical therapy to help prevent further injury and to help it heal. Folks in the dojos often get some red tape and put an X on their injuried shoulder so as to alert people that it is hurt. Not sure what is customary elsewhere, but if you don't let people know, they will assume you are not injured.
size /strength in aikido Whether a person is big, small or weak /strong is not the issue. The main factor in aikido training is to use whatever your physical attributes are in order to achieve maximum potential in terms of efficiently executed waza with the minimum of physical exertion.Economic use of energy is the key.Concentrate on basics , focus on timing /positioning / unbalancing of partner and you will achieve your objective. Being big /strong with no understanding of aikido principles imo may be productive in the short term, but is counter productive to ones training.Perhaps new guys use muscle to 'make' it work , but ideally one should study the science involved in the waza.
Hi guys, again. This may arise a heated debate here, but I might as well at least hear the more experienced about this. If any of you don´t know yet, I´m from Brazil. That said, it´s obvious that I take some interest in MMA. There´s a gym that teaches "vale tudo" for each and every corner of my city, and although I do not like to fight anymore (did it for two years), I still watch, every now and then, specially when brazilians are on the stage. Last Saturday, Anderson Silva knocked out fellow countryman Victor Belfort on a bout for the UFC middleweight championship with a devastating fast kick to the head. "What´s that got to do with Aikido?" One might ask... That´s exactly the problem. After the fight, Silva thanked his coach, the nameless one (S. Seagal, I will say to make clear), who taught him that lightning fast kick. Since people in Brazil love a good fight, there are ALREADY new students in Aikido dojos eager to learn "the kick that KO´d Belfort". My questions are (please, try to look for the video, I don´t have it)... 1) Is that kick really Aikido? I´m still a beginner, but as far as I know, that is a karateka´s mae geri. 2) Regardless of being or not Aikido... Does this "rush" benefit or not the martial art as a whole? Thanks in advance
Did martial arts benefit from the rush of new students after Bruce Lee became famous? I would argue that it didn't. What we ended up with was a load of sub-standard black belt factories. I've see Aikidoka train against kicks. But so far as I know they are not part of the core set of techniques that would be taught as Aikido. But then again, Aikido isn't just a limited set of techniques. Any technique that remains true to Aikido principles can be seen as Aikido.
Wow... That´s a powerful statement. I still don´t know much to have a conclusive opinion on the matter, but that´s a very good point!
It's a very good point. He just forgot to finish it with the words "and many passing off something else as a Chinese system". This was all repeated about a decade later w/Ninjamania.
It's true. And even without Seagal. Look at all the Aikidoka who have bought into the hippie peace and love vibe. You said yourself you were finding it hard to find a decent dojo to train at. Now imagine how much worse it will be now that they all want to be UFC fighters or movie stars like Seagal. Most Aikidoka are highly embarrassed by Seagal's movies.
No the kick is probably not from Aikido. Although that doesn't stop anyone who is an Aikidoka from learning good kicking skills and timing. Steven Seagal had absolutely horrible kicking skills many years ago compared to those that regularly trained kicking. However, if I remember correctly, he was told to improve the action in his movies for the movie audience, he should do more fancy kicks. If you see early movies with him kicking, it isn't pretty. Steven Seagal was personally trained by coaches on how to kick better. The kicks that he knows were taught to him from others outside of Aikido. It is this knowledge of kicking that he learned that he may have passed on to Silva in some way. Or maybe even the coaches that taught Seagal were directly involved in helping out Silva. Who knows, but Silva is probably a better kicker than Seagal will ever be, IMHO. As for Steven Seagal, I am a fan of his. I also love to hate him as his personal life of years ago really made me just cringe in disappointment. Otherwise, I think he is pretty cool and skilled.
Aikiwolfie, I found the Dojo I was looking for. A mixed school Akikai-Yoshinkan, that really stresses the importance of kamae. That´s a good thing. My build and background trainning are giving me enough trouble as it is. Because I always tend to resist Uke´s attack, instead of blending with it. I mean... This s$%t is HARD, for beginers. And the Hips... What´s this with the hips? I mean, I have practiced boxing before, which uses a lot of the hip´s movements to add strength to blows, and to evade attacks... But THIS?! Practically EVERYTHING in Aikido uses the hips. I´m not complaining, I´m just amazed. O´Sensei must really have a vast knowledge of the body mechanics to make such use of this force; its effects are devastating.
