I'm fascinated by the way Gozo Shioda uses Aikido. I've essentially no experience at all in Aikido, yet I can see how it feels very different from the normal Aikido I've seen. Is it something very specific about his style, or is it something in his interpretation that could be applied to other styles as well? As an example... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXoMyD50MG0&fmt=18"]YouTube - 養神館åˆæ°—é“ã€aikido Shioda Gozo demonstration part1 1978-1981[/ame]
Shioda learned pre war aikido, which is before ueshiba became peace and love oriented. basically aikido evolved, shioda's version, simply put, is a snapshot of what ueshiba was doing then, with his own take on it of course.
Unlike many dojos where all yudansha wear a hakama by default, in yoshinkan dojos it is often only the instructor on the mat that wears a hakama. Additionally, sandan and above may wear them (earlier if female I believe).
Lack of hakama is also historical, they were expensive, only high grade people were expected to shell out. It's also why aikido haks are black, from blackout curtains.
The aikido seen in the west in modern times has been heavily influenced by western "teachers" who came to it with a "hippy type" philosophy. Yoshinkan came out of Japan a little later than aiki kai and was not as susceptible to outside influences.Something we should be greatfull for. O Sensei ueshiba was in Iwama continuing his own personal training mainly with Morihiro Saito shihan while Gozo Shioda was developing the Yoshinkan. As for O Sensei's "peace and love philosophy" he NEVER demanded that aikido TECHNIQUES should be trained in this manner and almost ALL of the original shihan were VERY martial in their training and teaching. regards koyo
I'm going to try and phrase this carefully so please dont take offence because, honestly, none is intended. I think demo videos like this should just be banned. I have a real interest in Aikido and Yoshinkan in particular (based mainly on Angry White Pyjamas ), but too much of this looks like bunkum. For example, I just don't get the bit at 46 seconds where he holds out his wrist for uke to grab, who then reaches for it completely without defence and with his chin up resulting in him getting flipped. I'd have punched him square in the face which would have required no acrobatics on uke's part and been more realistic. It just doesn't make sense. Too often uke hurls himself or performs utterly nonsensical movements. Finally, I hate the whole looking away, looking like a smartartse thing the Instructor does. I fully appreciate that it's a demo so there will be stuff in there that is illustrating points which aren't clear to outsiders. That's why they should be banned. I fully understand that in pre-arranged drills uke will often look foolish. That's another reason why they should be banned. I fully understand that the Instructor can too easily succumb to showing off to please the crowd, which is a diservice to everyone. As a result I like to think that this does not represent Yoshinkan Aikido but is just a demonstration, and as a result demo videos should be banned in case it puts people like me off. Mitch
That is Gozo Shioda. He IS Yoshinkan aikido, or was when he was alive. He founded it he can demo it how he pleases. Thats not how lessons are carried out, but it's pretty much how any demo is done by high ranking aiki folks. Because it's fun to showboat that side of things is why it's done. Just like karate folks like to break stuff.
TKD MITCH SPOT ON. I was uke to Chiba shihan in some of his demos and was told to attack as fast and hard as I could. I could hear those watching gasp!! Gozo Shioda himself took part in a demo by O Sensei ueshiba..the other uke had his arm dislocated and Shioda said that he took about a weak to recover. Gozo Shioda was a VERY powerfull budoka and could have given a powerfull and pragmatic demonstration of aikido as a martial art. These demos should be aimed at the uninformed rather than other aikidoka. The arm graspping techniques are EXERCISES to show body alignment and unbalancing. They are NOT practical techniques. I would leave them out of any demonstration of the martial aspects of aikido. regards koyo Yoshinkan place a great deal of importance on the placement of the feet duting basic training.The hakama would make it difficult to see this placement.
I've often thought about posting about Shioda myself. I just can't take his clips seriously. He has this reputation (as Koyo pointed out) but cannot see anything particularly good about him. Can someone explain the toe standing bit for example? I'm not sure if it's in that video but I've seen Shioda standing on someone's toe with his own big toe. Now rather than pull his toe out, push Shioda's toe off or just damn well stand up and bop him on the nose the uke rolls about in "agony". What does this explain/show/demonstrate? Shioda has strong toes? His uke is stupid? I just don't get it. It doesn't seem to be demonstrating any sort of concept even if it's not a practical technique.
I imagine that the toe on the instep is supposed to be hitting a nerve centre. I DO know that stepping on the instep to negate movement and striking under the chin is a technique used. Ukemi in demos give a false inpression particularly when uke rolls directly back onto his feet. FRom a positively executed technique uke lands "like a bag of hammers.!" See below and look at the expression on my face and those watching. regards koyo
Shioda apparently used to sneak out with other Uchideshi in the night to test their stuff against Yakuza. And there was some thing in WWII in China or something where he had to fight a bunch of people too. Even if half of it is actually true, the fact that he was even around to do the demos show that he knows his **** yeah? Besides that, yeah, but it IS a demonstration. Go watch a Randori session and you'll get a better picture of what it's like... More like something out of a Seagal movie - Literally.(except the guy who wins still gets hit every now and then).
Steven Seagal's first black belt was in "ki aikido" which is no longer recognised as a martial art...the longer he "trained" the fatter he got....etc koyo see YOU tomorrow:evil:
Hi Koyo, I am alreadyin yours tomorrow. I feel well. When many people talked about his movie, I felt he is just a movie star even much worse than Bruce Lee (not because I am a chinese). In fact I was never patient enough to look through any of his movie. By the way, I like Gozo shihan's technique ad style. very different feeling, like a hard stone even not so big. Unfortunately, no his dojo in china still now as I know.
