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A Martial Art For Peace

A Martial Art For Peace Mark Binder's HomeAikido - History and Future Published in Aikido Journal, Summer 1997 by Mark Binder "A martial art for peace..." That is how Aikido has been described. When you tell this to someone accustomed to the films of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, they nod their heads and smile, humoring you. Practicing for war while professing peace? That just doesn't seem possible. Spectators watching Aikido exhibitions are frequently struck by the graceful flowing movements, and the seemingly effortless way that nage throws uke across the room. Sometimes it looks as though the attackers simply fall down in advance of the throw, and they feel as if someone is cheating. Perhaps, they wonder, there is too much cooperation going on here. Aikido, they conclude, looks really cool, but would be ultimately impractical "on the street." When Morihei Ueshiba, Aikido's founder, was alive, no one questioned the art. Ueshiba was a trained swordsman, a practitioner of Aiki-Jujitsu, who developed Aikido slowly over many decades. He had noticed, we are told, that there were relatively few old martial artists. One by one the most dedicated students of the martial arts fell prey to injuries, or as their bodies grew weaker they came up against a stronger, quicker, younger opponent, and were defeated. In Aikido, Ueshiba created an art that allowed him to walk onto the mat at eighty years old, and toss his attackers around like scarves thrown from a magician's sleeve. When Terry Dobson, an ex-marine and one of the few Americans privileged to take ukemi from O-Sensei, attacked Ueshiba with full force intensity, he reported that he found himself suddenly and swiftly planted on his back. Aikido, Ueshiba taught, is the way of harmony with Ki -- the blending of energies. An attacker is no different from the defender, who by following the attack, entering in or turning around it, can guide the aggressor into a fall, away from harm. Behind his techniques were the decisive movements of a Japanese swordsman, one who knew the importance of one-strike conclusion of battle. Ueshiba's ukes, his attackers, we are told, felt his power and commitment as he led them around in circles and off their feet. Watch one of Ueshiba's students, as anyone who practices Aikido is, and you will see the echoes of the Master's technique. It has been said that Aikido is weakening as it moves further from the founder. Are today's attackers falling because they are thrown, or are they falling because they are supposed to? For Americans, the "way of harmony with Ki" sounds very mysterious, very deep, and very Japanese. Most of us have been raised in a practical machine age. Power is measured in megawatts, in megabytes, in chip speed, and in bank balances. We are only just beginning to understand the idea of "hara," of centering oneself regardless of the circumstances. Many Americans complain that their lives are out of balance, spinning too fast, and that the only way to survive is to run faster, work harder, and earn more, or alternatively to diet, spend less, and save more. Each of these solutions depends on an external effect working on the world. They are like the karate technique of blocking an opponent's blow as it comes crashing towards your head. If you are strong enough and fast enough, and your opponent is weaker and slower, then the blow may be deflected. Otherwise, the blow lands. Unfortunately, even if you have managed to deflect the blow, you are likely to find bruises on your arm, and on the arm of your opponent. The way of harmony with Ki is to know that blocking power with power results in a crash. One or the other, or both, may survive the wreck, but something is hurt, damaged. If one views a martial art as self-defense, there is no healing, only a victor and loser. "Aikido is protection," Terry Dobson once said. You are protecting yourself, but you are also protecting your attacker. It is as if a favorite uncle has too much to drink at a wedding, and gets into a fist fight. No one wants to hurt the uncle, and no one wants the uncle to hurt anyone else. So, the student of Aikido steps in, and uses the least amount of force to protect the Uncle from hurting himself, and anyone else. Dobson relished throws that looked accidental. He would envelop his attacker, bringing the aggressor gently to the floor with soothing words, "Are you ok? It looked for a moment like you were going to fall." "But," says the skeptic, "that's at a wedding. What about on the street? What if two guys..." Wait a moment. Extend the notion of family only slightly. There is a famous saying that there are only eight degrees of separation between each person on the planet. Everyone knows someone who is related to someone who is married to the President's aide or to the mugger. "But the muggers want to hurt you," says the skeptic. Do they? Or do they just want your money? If you run away will you be safe? Have you been attacked or simply threatened with words? Were you shoved? Is a shove an attack? Several years ago, I was in an argument. We were nose to nose, and I felt his anger growing. Then he shouted at me, "Get out of my face!" So I stepped back, away from him and out of his reach. Had he attacked me? Yes, but not very hard. By stepping away, I protected both myself and him from physical conflict. "But what if they have a knife?" asks the skeptic. Step out of range. "But if they have a gun," frowns the skeptic. Give them your wallet. "Then what's the use of Aikido?" says the skeptic in frustration. What is the use of swimming in a hurricane? As we build our practice of Aikido into the next millennium, we will need to find ways of extending Aikido beyond the mat. For most Aikidoka, the students who love to train daily, the practice itself is enough. We enjoy the friendship we share, the physical challenge of the sport, the joy of rolling, and the act of learning and growing and improving our understanding. The martial art of Aikido will always be a haven for men and women who want to study, learn, throw and be thrown. If that is all, if we only keep our practice on the mat, Aikido may eventually turn into a dance. Graceful and flowing, fun to participate in and to watch. The skeptics may yet prove to be correct, 'It looks cool, but up against a Karate guy, or a Gracie...' Aikido's secret strength is its ability to become invisible, to allow itself to extend outside of the dojo. The techniques of Aikido are only physical metaphors for resolving conflicts in "real life." Yet we rarely train ourselves to bring our Aikido knowledge into our lives. In my own experience, ukemi, the art of falling, has been the most useful aspect of Aikido outside the dojo. Not long ago, I was carrying my two month old son downstairs, when, at the top of the staircase, I tripped. We slid, me on my back, he in my arms, halfway down the staircase. Rather than stiffen, I relaxed. Rather than panic, I held him gently above me. The noise was incredible. The look in his eyes was terror. His screams afterwards, my wife's panic, my own guilt and fear were all vigorously expressed. And neither of us were hurt. Other times, kneeling on the mat after an argument with my wife, I have wondered to myself, 'Why can't I practice Aikido verbally? Why can't I blend instead of fighting with her?' Students of Aikido will not engage in a physical conflict if there is another option. Yet we still battle our spouses, our bosses, and our colleagues. We train our physical Aikido by limiting variables. "You will grab my wrist," the teacher says, "and I will throw you like so. Now practice." That is one of the reasons that the skeptics feel our art is too staged. We know that, over time, our reflexes become better, and our knowledge of how to deal with any attack becomes automatic. Blending into a fall also becomes ingrained. As the attacker, knowing that an atemi strike to the face could "on the street" be a closed fist, uke dives backwards to avoid the punch. Outside the dojo, it isn't so easy. You sit down to dinner and your spouse says, "Did you pay the phone bill?" And sometimes that seems like an attack. What is the best technique to apply to this phone bill attack? If we have practiced long and diligently in the dojo, we may think to ourselves, 'Perhaps the least amount of effort necessary to blend with this...' Recently, my wife and I were arguing late into the night. Finally, in exasperation she snapped, "What is it going to take for you to let me sleep!?" Her tone of voice was angry, and for a moment I believed that this was another dagger of words. Then I realized that I didn't need to fight her. She only wanted to know what it was going to take for me to let her sleep. Her "attack" was exactly like a mugger asking for my wallet. So I gave it to her. We discussed it, and few moments later, the argument was diffused, and we were happily asleep. For too long, the art of Aikido has long been limited by its classification as a budo, a martial art. We train hard in the dojo, enjoying our discipline, deepening our techniques, and developing richer understanding of the martial art. We have learned how to deal with punches and grabs. How can we develop techniques to deal with the phone bill attack? What moves can we practice to avoid fighting with the people we love? Inside the dojo, it looks like Aikido is about defending or protecting yourself from physical attacks. Now, and into the coming years, we must expand our studies, and begin to include, in the rest of our lives, the missing element of peace.
Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting I've been studying Martial Arts for almost 19 years. (Not 19 years straight) I was 15 when I first began studying American Freestyle kickboxing. By the time I was 17, I had earned my first Black Belt and was tournament fighting, full contact kickboxing, all over South Carolina. (I was 27-4 with 23 K.O.'s). During that time, I was also studying an Okinawan style called, Goju-Ryu. The traditional aspects and the Kata was something that I fell in love with and after quitting the American Freestyle school, I continued with Goju-Ryu for another year, earning my second Black Belt. Wound up moving to Atlanta, Ga shortly after my Black Belt test and was on hiatus for a few months until I found T.M. Kim's Tang Soo Do school. Grandmaster, (a 9th degree black belt), was the most awesome Martial Artist I had ever met. Such a friendly man who was always smiling. I studied with him for about a year and earned a Green Belt. (Kinda didn't like all of the high, flashy kicks, but it was cool) Had to take another hiatus, got married, settled down with a new wife and a cat...and focused my energy on my job. Finally, after about 2 years, we moved back to my home, Dallas, TX. and I began studying the Korean styles of Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido, eventually earning a Red Belt in both. Time to move again... We moved back to Georgia and I began studying an Okinawan style called Yoshukai. It had all of the elements of a fully rounded "hard style" of Martial Art. We worked on Kata, Self-Defense, Sparring, Weapons, and tradition. It was wonderful and I absolutely loved it and thought I'd found "the one"... Around the time I was supposed to take my Brown Belt test, I blew out my knee, (Wrestling...Professionaly, but that's another story), and had surgery. It was enough to keep me out, and here we go again...Back to Texas. Been here now since '96 and have worked hard...Had a debilitating back injury, a divorce, College to re-train for a different career, and finally...back in October, I began studying Aikido, "the way of peacful Harmony". After so many years of striking arts, I have had to re-learn or, as Bruce Lee said, "Empty my cup"...Aikido uses an attackers energy against them. Where I was taught that when someone threw a kick or punch, (or even a weapon for that matter), my response was to block or deflect that attack and follow up with a forceful attack of my own. Now, the energy is deflected and the opponent is "controlled' with a take down or some sort of joint lock...and then given the opportunity to walk away without a dislocation or a broken bone... Very cool indeed, and I have now found the Martial Art that I will study for the rest of my life. The Philosophy is similar to Christ's teaching of peace...turning the other cheek, etc. and I truly enjoy it. O'Sensei, (Morihei Ueshiba), taught love of humanity, peacful resolution to conflict, yet a style of Martial Art that can be potentially deadly if needed, and I like the Yin-Yang balance of it. That's it for now. I tested last week for 6th Kyu, (second Yellow Belt), and passed! I'll be receiving my new belt tonight and I'll post a photo of it.
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