-
On being Female in an Aikido Dojo (Ashley Hemsath)
Anonymous: On being Female in an Aikido Dojo - 78 Replies
From: Ashley Hemsath on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:24:00 -0700
[QUOTE=Janet Rosen;302546]LOL!!! Off the original topic but related to the pink belt and confounding expectations...
Some yrs ago for part of an art exhibit plus some antiwar demos I bought on EBay a pink ammo belt and loaded it with...oh and they fit perfectly!...O.B. tampons.[/QUOTE]
I am in awe... :) So far the worst I have done is use an actual SWAT tactical bag for overnight trips and vacations to hold all my toiletries. The magazine holders fit deodorant perfectly, and it's heavy enough that if something spills inside, it won't leak out to the rest of the suitcase.
-
The Principle of Sutemi (David Orange)
Training: The Principle of Sutemi - 1 Replies
From: David Orange on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:17:44 -0700
[QUOTE=David Orange;302562]...I will open this thread with that statement and add a little more in the next post.[/QUOTE]
As to the usefulness of sutemi waza, I have some examples and I want to put out some reasoning as well.
As to the danger of using sutemi with multiple attackers, I saw in an old thread on aikiweb a post by Graham Wild of the Perth yoseikan group (in 2001). He pointed out that aikidoka train in pins, which would be dangerous if not impossible to apply in a multiple attacker situation. So sutemi waza is not less realistic or useful than that. If anything, knowing that one cannot stop and control an attacker, it points up the vital necessity of ending the encounter with a single move. And sutemi waza is quite good for that. Plus, the way we trained, we learned to roll up on top of the opponent or simply to roll up to standing after sutemi. So while it would definitely be dangerous to go to the ground with multiple attackers, there are technical ways to "run the risk".
Next, Mochizuki Sensei told a story of actually using sutemi waza in wartime.
After Japan surrendered, he remained in Mongolia for some time (or in China) as a communist hunter. He never did take a liking to communists. But supposedly, Mao had a price on Mochizuki's head. Anyway, one day, he was eating at a restaurant and the waiter who brought his food was different than the guy who had taken his order. And under the tray, he had a pistol. He told Mochizuki to get up and go with him, but Mochizuki said he wanted to eat his meal first. The guy pushed the pistol against his body and Mochizuki rolled out of his chair, grabbing the pistol barrel, and pulled the guy over and dropped him. He then shot him with the pistol. Someone outside began firing into the restaurant and Mochizuki returned fire. He finally got out of there and escaped on horseback. So sutemi waza actually worked in an armed encounter during wartime.
In another story, he told of a Frenchman who was already very competent in judo when Mochizuki arrived in France. The guy wouldn't train with him, but criticized him to other French judoka and one day appeared at Mochizuki's apartment and demanded that they fight. Mochizuki pointed out that they were on a concrete (or stone) sidewalk, but the guy insisted on fighting right there. So Mochizuki accepted and the fellow began attacking with judo. Mochizuki said the guy had good timing, good rhythm, good movement and good technique. But Mochizuki caught him with uchi mata gaeshi (inner thigh reap), threw him up into the air and came off his own feet as the uke went over his head. So the uke hit the sidewalk flat on his back and immediately after, Mochizuki landed on his stomach. So that was a kind of sutemi waza from a standard judo throw. And it hurts like the devil when nage does an aerial ukemi and lands on your stomach. He almost killed the guy. But he picked him up on his shoulders and carried him up three flights of stairs and nursed him back to health (he had training as a bone-setter and massage therapist). No one heard from the French guy for awhile and the word got around that Mochizuki had killed him, but he finally recovered and became a devoted student of Mochizuki's. So there is a sutemi waza (more or less) in a self defense situation.
And from my own experience, a couple of years ago, I found myself on the edge of applying sutemi waza on a sidewalk in a self-defense situation.
My neighbor had a lawn guy who used my yard as a turn-around when he cut the neighbor's grass and I often came home to find a big, ugly gap in my lawn. So I put a political campaign sign at the property line and figured that would get the message across. But it didn't. I once more came home and found my sign had been taken down and tossed across the yard. And the guy had come into my yard and gapped it up for his convenience in cutting the neighbor's grass. This time, he was out front of the neighbor's house in his truck. Since the neighbor was also out there, I went over and said, "Excuse me, but whoever you've had cutting your grass has been coming over into my yard and making this big, ugly gap." And the guy in the truck said, "I cut that grass. I'm the one you want to talk to." And then he started lecturing me on how I should come to him respectfully and be nice to him, though I had not even spoken to him at that point. And the next thing I knew, he was out of his truck and coming at me. I sort of ignored him and kept talking to my neighbor. I said I put the political sign at the property line to mark it, but this guy took my sign down and threw it to the other side of the yard and cut past it. I showed the guy the property line and he started cursing. And then I saw where he had ridden his lawnmower up on the sidewalk and cut another weird swath in my grass 15 or 20 feet from the property line. I said, "And what's that?" He said, "I did not do that!" which was ridiculous, but he was getting really angry. My four-year-old son came up to me and I was afraid this guy would do something crazy and my kid would get hurt (I'd also been to the eye doctor that day and my eyes were dilated, so it was a touchy situation). I told my son, "Go back in the house!" and he did. And then this guy, who was maybe 5'10" or so and maybe 220 (I'm 5'11", then about 190) got right up in my face and I stood toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye with him.
Now, you could say this was a violation of aikido principle to let him get that close (not to mention the way it all had played up to there...but it shows that things in the real world happen suddenly), and that was how it had evolved. If I'd started moving around or put up my hands, witnesses could have construed it as some kind of fighting move and say that I started "taking a stance" with him. But I just stood on my property in shizentai and held my ground and he got in my face. Still, I felt pretty comfortable with my options. I also realized that I could not give this guy two chances to hurt me. I could tell that, if he went for it, it was going to be a tornado of fists and head butts from inches away, and I just made up my mind that if he tried to roll over me, I would let him. And he would have landed head-first on the concrete.
We stood there eye-to-eye for several seconds before he backed away and apologized. And I made conciliatory remarks to him and he left. But just for a moment, I thought it was going to go in an unfortunate direction, with a serious risk to my life and, potentially, to my family. I never made aggressive remarks to him. I was talking to my neighbor and he jumped in. The whole thing was over in 30 or 45 seconds. Out of nowhere, coming home, at my own house, in my own yard, after a visit to the eye doctor.
At that time, sutemi waza would have really been what they call it: "superior" technique. I rather doubt that any arm-twisting kind of technique would have been effective because he had powerful arms and would have been difficult to control. But to take him straight across with his own rush...it would have let him put all that power right into the sidewalk with his head. I'm just glad he finally realized what a weak position he was in, all the way around. And I hope I never find myself in a thing like that again.
But in a position like that, I have full confidence that sutemi waza would have been the safest and most effective thing I could have done...though possibly fatal for the attacker.
Let's all be careful out there. Huh?
David
-
Examples (Ahmad Abas)
Spiritual: Examples - 17 Replies
From: Ahmad Abas on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:14:41 -0700
You could do kotegaeshi to the outside but the emphasis is on the uke's center not his hand.
I understand returning the power to uke and dropping and we do that pretty much standard. But having understood the principle of that, you can then apply dynamic kotegaeshi but without cranking in the pain. Absolutely needless and uke is powerless but to continue in that direction of the throw.
The fall whilst it looks like a break fall is altogether different. It isn't the whoomph bam you are over and down, more like oh crap what's going on I have no breaks now I'm airborn, over and sliding across the mat, wishing it didn't have that much friction...
-
Aikido Without Falls (Lee Salzman)
Training: Aikido Without Falls - 3 Replies
From: Lee Salzman on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:10:04 -0700
Yeesh, you're right in California, and you have someone like [URL="http://www.fongha.com"]Fong Ha[/URL] sitting on your proverbial doorstep. I think it may be worth your while to go out and explore other martial arts that don't present this same dilemma, but at the same time may offer a lot of the same things that attracted you to aikido in the first place, and more... Internal CMAs, other JMAs, weapon arts, etc. Even if you do end up staying with aikido in the end, couldn't hurt to compare and contrast how they approach their training in ways that would help your situation?
-
Aikido attacks. (Graham Christian)
Training: Aikido attacks. - 51 Replies
From: Graham Christian on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:14:55 -0700
[QUOTE=Keith Larman;302551]Just out of curiosity, Graham, but do you consider your practice of Aikido to be a martial art? Or is it something that you feel has transcended martial? Just trying to get a "fix" on where you're coming from.[/QUOTE]
Having seen all the various reactions on here to 'martial' I don't think that term has any fixed meaning among martial artists by the look of it. So what do I say?
Aikido is a martial art. I think everyone in the world would agree give or take.
I do Aikido so obviously yes. As to others opinions as to how martial then I leave them with their opinions. C'est la vie.
Transcending martial? Now there is a new comment I've never seen but I think I know where you are coming from by saying it.
Many labels are extant in the annuls of martial arts to do with spiritual levels of all kinds so that tends to rule out transcending martial from that perspective. Take shimmejutsu etc.
Transcending fixed views or fixed ways due to different realizations and thus ways of doing then partly yes.
It's an interesting word.
I merely say what I do, what my views are, what I find, actually the views I share with others of my acquaintance.
I don't think in terms of transcending but using that word in retrospect then all I can say is that from a self developement point of view for me and others we have transcended many old fixed views and conditions so that's true. As far as Aikido goes in action then we have done the same over the years and transcended many fixed views and fixed ways of doing Aikido too so from that perspective yes too.
As far as the spiritual side goes I do and have contested that the understanding of that side helps exponentially in the understanding and doing of it. Nothing new there from me.
As far as me personally then I have outlined my past briefly, I have thus developed my own style of Aikido and those who have done it loved it, found it useful in both personal, life and 'martial' situations.
For me that's all I needed to know. For me that's all I need to know. Then as in life or rather on anyones path a new phenomenon comes along.
Suddenly there are people in a 'computer world' who say they don't know what I'm talking about or telling me what I am talking about, experts on me and my Aikido or else wondering all kinds of things about it. A new, strange phenomenon. As with virtually everything in life for me whether good or bad I find it interesting and that's the only word I can use.
Either way along this little path or project of communicating on a forum I was sure I would find out more about the scene worldwide and more importantly more about myself. The more about myself is one of the main reasons I am still on here actually.
I have one confession to make actually which only happened last week. An epiphany if you like. The students at Aikido were crowded around me with interest as to this latest 'thing' as they are all well aware of Aikiweb and read it often but don't join.
I realized that this 'outside world of Aikido' was there, wanting something from me, but hadn't got a clue why. I'm telling you that's what happened and it hit me like a bolt out of the blue, I didn't know why.
On describing this to the others and the feelings that came with it some of them burst out laughing and I was the only one not getting the joke. So I couldn't help but laugh with them.
I'll tell you at one point during this realization or realization part 1 so to speak my body had started shaking for no apparent reason. Wow. this was interesting and I sat down and went into meditation mode to face what this phenomenon was. The trigger was Aikiweb for some reason. The strong feeling I found myself facing I finally recognised as fear. I did with it what I do in Aikido really, I joined it. There it was like it was looking at me and I was looking at it, that's the only way I can describe it. I joined it in order to see what it was about. As it cleared found out and yet still it didn't quite make sense to me. They want me to show them something and I don't know why was the realization. Followed by what the hell did fear have to do with it.
This definitely gave me something to contemplate and as it cleared more and more all yhe significance fell away and a shiny simplicity took its place. Wow, that was good I thought.
The simplicity was that that big organizational world of Aikido, the one my teacher wanted nothing to do with, the one I wanted nothing to do with was asking me to have something to do with.
It was like a massive shift had happened I didn't understand fully yet felt exceptionally good.
Nothing logical fitted with regards to the fear factor as my mind went over all the incidents and people and weapons and crazy near death experiences I'd been through in the past and handled with Aikido without any such fear. I'd met many who said they were such and such a dan and well too many to mention and never had a problem so this didn't add up.
Thus my students and son and brother in law were laughing. They proceede to try to get me to recognise that last little bit that I appeared not to be seeing. My final piece came through listening to my son. He said he recognised the type of feeling I was describing and said it reminded him of when he first played saxaphone to a massive audience at the royal opera house. That hit home and he said he wished he had a camera with him at that moment. He explained how he had been playing for so many years, everyone knew and heard him, he played at parties and clubs and pubs but that was different, the same different that didn't make sense to me now.
So once again I learned something about myself I was unaware of.
To them, knowing me it made perfect sense. They proceeded to tell me how it's not me to want any big stage, hobnobbing with any 'stars' or people of 'rep' or performing of any kind. It's so not you was their conclusion and that's why they were laughing, because they could see how that would be my button.
Give me a lion to fight, it's much easier. Anyway, we had a good nights training and I even had them doing drills blindfold. All good fun.
So Keith, there's an insight into where I am coming from.
So now, having seen and confronted that button I know only that I will meet different people from this 'outside' world of Aikiweb Aikido and thus it will lead to something on my path. Who knows what. All I know is I will enjoy the moment as usual. I will be myself and still prefer to be the silent center making sure everyone else improves and has a good time.
That's all. I think ha, ha.
Regards.G.
|
L'Aikido nel mondo 
