Mar 7, 2010
Tell Me About Aikido
Aikido in its current form is a relatively recent innovation within the martial arts tradition. Aikido was developed in Japan in the beginning of the twentieth century and is credited to Morihei Ueshiba. Ueshiba discovered the classical martial arts as a boy by his father Yoroku. He is thought to have studied a wide range of martial arts , such as ju-jistu as well as ken-jutsu and the art of the spear. In 1912 Morihei moved to Hokkaido, where a fortunate meeting with a man named Sokaku Takeda altered his life.
Takeda was a master of daito-ryu-aiki-ju-jitsu, a style that had originated in the 6th century and had been passed down through the military and perfected by associates of the Aizu clan, gaining the name of Oshi-Kiuchi, or “striking arts.” The young Ueshiba quickly became drawn to the martial knowledge of Takeda and studied under him until 1919.
Upon return to his home of Tanabe because of the death of his father, Morihei ran into the charismatic founder of an esoteric belief called Omoto-Kyo – and spent the next six years as a disciple, wandering through Asia. In 1927, Morihei created the Kobukan training facility in Tokyo Japan and started teaching an amalgam of the martial arts he had learned from his studies Takeda, combined with the wisdom he had learned from Omoto-Kyo.
This new art he called Ueshiba-aiko-bugo. Morihei eventually picked the name aikido. This word is a combination of three ideas: Ai meaning harmony, Ki: meaning spirit and Do: meaning way. As with many other disciplines, aikido is seen not only as a system of self defense, but also as a way of self-education and advancement. Nowadays there are many different systems of aikido, but traditional aikido has no tournaments, competitions or contests. Physical strength isn’t required, so age is no hindrance. According to its founder, the goal of aikido is not the defeat of others, but the overcoming of the negative characteristics that dominate one’s own mind and inhibit its effective functioning.
Since the goal of aikido is harmonization, its focus is countering an opponent with a throw, joint immobilization that will completely incapacitate them. The prevailing thought is that if you are attacked by force and react with force, a collision of energies happens which causes disharmony, and accordingly the strongest force wins. If, however, you meet that attacking force with an absorbing force and take it to the point of imbalance, before using force of your own, you are in effect, preventing disharmony or redressing an imbalance. This is the fundamental idea and underlying philosophy of aikido. Aikido does uses a variety of martial arts equipment for training. Young aikido practicioners wear a uniform much like the typical karate uniform worn today.
Abiding by the decision from hombu (headquarters) in Japan, adult students do not don colored belts while training, even though the kyu (student) grading system is still in effect. It is acceptable for children to wear colored belts. The kyu system begins at 6th-kyu which requires the wearing of a white belt with one red stripe. Children then move through a multitude of colored stripes and belts until they reach 1st-kyu. This is the final kyu rank before they are ready to attempt their black belt test (1st dan). When students pass the examination for their 1st dan (shodan), they are entitled to wear a hakama (a divided pleated skirt). This is considered an honor and the grade is recorded at hombu. Students also receive a membership card, an international yudansha record book and a certificate sighed by the founder’s son, Doshu.
Individuals learn aikido for assorted reasons: as a way of becoming physically fit, as self defense or to acquire knowledge of the Japanese culture. It is up to each individual to decide upon which facet of the discipline to focus on. In addition to the building of strength, endurance and suppleness practitioners find out how to tap their inner strength to find an energy that is far greater than muscular power alone. And to use this power at will. Deep Breathing techniques are studied to facilitate mind and body coordination. Practitioners also come into contact with other Japanese practices such as shiatsu (finger therapy) a type of total body massage and iaido (Japanese sword drawing). Both of these skills are (in harmony with complementary to the study of aikido and are occasionally studied together.
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