hello people just a quick question. it is generally thought that 'Yoshinkan' style aikido is in general more effective than the main stream aikido such as aikikai. i know effectiveness is something that is developed throught time and many, many hours of dedicated practice i'm a firm believer of that, so plz dont throw tantrum my way i've only been practicing aikido for 6 months, and would like to know why or what techniques that the yoshinkan style employ that has made this impression of being very 'effective'? if some of the higher ranking aikido practioners or anyone who has been practising for a while could shed some light on this, i would be most grateful. P.S. you would have notice that i have formed my question very carefully hahaha i dont want to turn this thread into a big argument thread. thanks
not really having doubts but there is a yoshinkan school just abit further from the aikido school i go to. so if its true that its training and techniques are more 'effective' then i wouldnt mind traveling the extra distance to learn that. but either way as long as its aikido i'm happy
There are many organisations, styles and clubs. The style I practise is an offshoot of Yoshinkan and I know of several occasions when it has been 'street effective'. The Tokyo Riot police train in this style, but I'm sure they have many other techniques as well. Yoshinkan tends to use small circles and linear (straight line) movements to overwhelm an attacker. There is a good deal of atemi (striking) involved. The club I trained with, and the organisation itself, laid increasing emphasis on 'freestyle' as progress was made through the grades. Perhaps the most controversial (but street 'useful') was defence against random attacks with a live (sharp) tanto. In addition to jo and bokken we also trained for SD against baseball bats, bottles, chains etc. and learned defensive uses of such weapons as the Kubotan. Yoshinkan is generally considered a 'hard' style and needs good stamina and some agility to perform at speed. As you become more skilled you need to expend less energy when defending, but will still need to be fast and agile in order to play the role of attacker. In short, choose a style which suits you, a good instructor and then train hard for 10 years or so and it might be of limited use on the street. IMHO Yoshinkan does deserve the reputation of being a style more suited to self defence than the others, but much depends on how good the instructor is. If you want to see some styles in action go to Youtube.com and put 'Yoshinkan' or 'Gozo Shioda' (the founder of Yoshinkan) into the search box. Also have a look at: http://www.aikidoshudokan.com/japan_embu_award2005.htm and watch the video of Joe Thambu. Good luck.
i agree with ur observation, the way Soke Gozo Shioda moves in those clips are all very quick. they are either a linear thrust or small quick turns especially in the clip when his uke is trying to stab him with the tanto. the way he moves is amazing i couldnt believe someone at that age could still move like that. i think the impression of 'effective' comes from the hard and quickness of the movement in the style. but i would imagine that regardless of which aikido style a person is studying, with dedicated practice they will all reach that kind of level....or somewhere close to it
I think the first thing for anyone is, have I found the instructor for me? After that, then the question of what they are doing comes up. With some, they have a narrower view due to experience and will look to see if they have I found the instructor for them in ..... You asked about Yoshinkan. Some schools of Aikido are "play along", often with the statement that you are protecting yourself from getting hurt, but although there is definite protecting yourself in Yoshinkan, it is not a dance where you move one way because your partner is going to move that way. The technique must work in Yoshinkan! I hope that helps.
