Additionally... I gave your question a little more thought: Aikido also trains with weapons from time to time, especially at the higher levels. This comprises a portion of the art. To take away a portion of the art would dilute the art. Most aikido practitioners are still learning, perfecting, and trying to understand what aikido encompasses so as to make their aikido sound. This holds true at even the high levels of practitioners, hence the reason you have folks practicing aikido 30, 40, 50, 60+ years. Practicing that long, the same art, you really have to enjoy what you do, realize there is still more to do and learn, and have the discipline to keep showing up on the mats day after day for years and years and years and years. Also, if you look at the aikido practitioners either on youtube, or in your local neighborhood aikido dojo, rec center, or club, you will find that they generally have expressions of joy and elation on their faces, unless that is, they are contemplating the latest aspects of a technique they are trying to perfect. But generally, smiles, laughter, and all around good feelings is what you will find in aikido. Very few practitioners will be able to look mean enough, or do that little head weave bobble action common to the NFL bobble dolls, that seems to comprise much of what is accepted as prime time entertainment, and shown on television/satellite. Now from time to time, an individual may pull a muscle, tear a ligament, twist an ankle, and so on, and then the grimace of pain and agony may cross their face, but generally it subsides rather quickly, and after 4-6 weeks (could be longer in the case of a broken collar bone, bruised or cracked ribs...) of healing that individual is usually back on the mats and moving on with thier efforts to understand aikido. Some practitioners may return to the mats even sooner, but all efforts are taken to ensure injuries are kept to a minimum and that dojo safety is a constant. Well, that's all for now. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to add it. Thanks for such a great question! --A single blade of grass may provoke enlightenment.
On an entirely different note, you don't see many Eagle Scouts or US Army Green Berets in MMA/UFC competition either.
Joy and elation??? Sounds like "ki aikido" . Most of the utube stuff is nonsense. A true session shall leave you exhasted and aching.
My aikido training is very serious. Granted sometimes the best way to cope with a very hard throw or painful joint lock is to laugh it off and say "nice one!"...unless its an advanced class where that isn't encouraged (kenshu type class), which most are not. My teacher says one must risk and do difficult things to grow...and that training MUST retain marital training for one to personally grow. That being said aiki DO, do being a way or path, was developed as anathema to war. Growth through personal, internal conflict rather than actual combat and war. The technical aspect of aikido was not developed to focus on combat or competitive fighting. Is there techniques used in aikido that are used in MMA? Yes, of course. Are there aikidoka that also fight MMA? Yes, I know of three off the top of my head...one of which is on Aikiweb. But aikido is not a system developed for competition and MMA. There are better ways to train for the technical aspects of MMA competitions.
I'm sorry but saying "we can't do MMA because of Aikiken and jo" is just daft. Do you need bokuto or jo for your "stuff" to work when you're out and get jumped?
The ken and jo training in aikido is to allow us to understand the PRINCIPLES used because these are the same principles used in the empty hand techniques. The art of attacking along the line of the opponent's attack comes directly from ken and jo. Aikidoka shall NOT be carrying weapons but shall understand and use the principles during an empty hand confrontation. The timing of attack and the control of distance are all obvious in MMA and other arts. The real danger for aikido is that many come to the art with a received philosophy and CHANGE the art to suit. DO NOT CHANGE THE ART..LET THE ART CHANGE YOU. Smiling and enjoying the training? This sounds like a hobby and most certainly will get you killed if you ever have to defend yourself. I have seen a number of high grade visitors to the Makotokai collapse after just a few techniques and have no idea of how to attack powerfully. Aikido is how we live our lifes BUT the MARTIAL part of aikido demands hard and sincere training. The philosophy of aikido demands that we have the ability to kill but choose not to. Bottom line.. Try crosstraining and you shall find out if you are training in your own art properly.
Oh I don't know I was smiling the other day during kumiuchi..... It was right after my teacher stopped throttling me and took his knee out my ribs
Uhh, that would be priamarily incorrect... They primarily use their brain first. Dumb guys don't get to do the kind of fighting that they do. Millions of dollars are spent on their training, they want guys that are intelligent, most of them have college backgrounds and degrees. A man can only carry so much weight in weapons and ammo. Weapons actually fall pretty low on the list. In fact behind brains would be things like weather, terrain, day/night, low moral / celebrations / surprise, and silence, silence, silence. In fact it helps if you can speak 3 or 4 languages, and it helps if sign language is one of those.
Ki Aikido? If you are refering to Ki Society founded by Koichi Tohei, the only 10th dan ever promoted by M. Ueshiba, then you might be on the right track. In anycase, what it sounds like and actually going into a dojo/rec center/club and watching it, and then going back again in 10 years, 20 years....might give you a "what it looks like."
Well, you see, After you have been practicing martial arts for say, 25 years or so, it is much easier to experience joy and elation than it is to experience pain, agony, aches, bruises (oh, I still get a couple bruises now and again). I mean really, if you could take all that energy that a person puts into making their face look all mean, and buldging out their neck muscles and chest muscles, and somehow magically focus that and concentrate it into your technique, then if it increased the power of your technique by just 5%, wouldn't it be worth it? Or you could just keep pumping that energy in the system away from where it is needed most and have, well, basically what ever is left over.
Position When your body is moving in the correct position as nage you have technique. When your body is moving in the correct position as uke, you have disipation of that technique. If uke resists, or does not move in the right direction, well one is like turning the wrong way on a one way street, and the other is like having a ton of bricks dropped on you. You see both persons must have correct movement at all times. It is essential. Unfortunately, most people only want to learn one side of aikido, the throwing part. You cannot progress in aikido without knowing intimately both parts.
Training vs. injury Better to train without injury and keep training, than risk injury and miss classes. If everything has to hurt in order to be effective, then what separates aikido from anyother martial art that inflicts pain as the basis of success?
Do F-18 fighter pilots need an F-18 to drop bombs and fight a war? Do you really need gloves on your hands? Are you perhaps afraid you might break a finger nail, and so the gloves are for protection?
Powere? Oh young jedi...what on earth kind of power will you have when you are 65? Will you not have to defend yourself ever at the age of 65? Better to start training in the way aikido was meant to be used when you age, than to miss the concepts and have to try and catch up later.
Right, you see? In aikido we would try smiling before the knee in the ribs becomes justified. Your instructor probably just wanted to see you smile, thus the infliction of pain.
Define defend: Smiling and enjoying the training? This sounds like a hobby and most certainly will get you killed if you ever have to defend yourself. I have seen a number of high grade visitors to the Makotokai collapse after just a few techniques and have no idea of how to attack powerfully. I'm sure your definition and my definition are quite different. And why shouldn't aikidoka carry weapons? Who made that stupid rule up? Even O sensei carried that little fan thingy around with him.
