Is Aikido a Martial Art ? Part Two

Written by Henry Ellis


Continued from page 1

Lets Dance

The most important of allrepparttar changes that have taken place inrepparttar 132893 past 46 years have to berepparttar 132894 changes in technique and its application,repparttar 132895 early style of Aikido was very compact and powerful. Fromrepparttar 132896 day of its introduction torepparttar 132897 UK, Aikido was always taught as a circular moving Martial Art with Tori atrepparttar 132898 centre of all movement. As Uke (the attacker) made his attack, Tori would turn within his own circle making it possible to carry outrepparttar 132899 technique in a very small area of maybe four square feet. Todayrepparttar 132900 fantasy aikidoist need a football pitch. I have seen some so called "masters" twirling Uke around onrepparttar 132901 end of one finger and pirouetting several times before being thrownrepparttar 132902 full length ofrepparttar 132903 mat.

Harmonising

Kenshiro Abbe Sensei always taught that Uke would only "go" ifrepparttar 132904 technique was effective. I often hear and have seen some of these people who say they can throw an opponent without touching them and sometimes by breathing and projecting their "Ki". You cannot do that if someone is attacking on balance, I have never seen anyone do that to a student of mine. Of course if you do attack on balance you will then be accused of "Not harmonizing".

Aikido for real

I have read various accounts ofrepparttar 132905 first Americans to practice Aikido inrepparttar 132906 early 60's. There were Americans practicing Aikido inrepparttar 132907 UK inrepparttar 132908 late 1950's at "The Hut" The Abbe School of Budo. The Americans were members ofrepparttar 132909 USAF stationed inrepparttar 132910 UK. they were always questioning " How would that work inrepparttar 132911 street?" and we would often finish up inrepparttar 132912 car park of The Hut after class and engage in some real Aikido. Afterwards everyone would be in good spirits and have a few beers.

Sunday mornings were alwaysrepparttar 132913 best practice sessions withrepparttar 132914 dojo doors being locked to all butrepparttar 132915 Dan grades. It was then thatrepparttar 132916 Dan grades would fight each other for real. This wasrepparttar 132917 only way to truly evaluate your technique. On one occasion I was fighting with Sensei Ken Williams (The British National Coach) he hit me hard and I went down clutching my chest and moaning loudly in agony. It was known that I didn't go down and I never made a fuss, so now everyone was concerned for me and as Sensei Williams leaned over me asking "Harry, are you OK" I lashed out with my fist at his head, just making a glancing contact, he then stepped back and kicked me inrepparttar 132918 head putting an end to my cunning.

The smallest of allrepparttar 132919 Dan grades was Eric Dollimore, he was only about 5ft-6in in height and around 130 lbs. I always felt that Eric was avoiding me on these Sunday morning sessions, as he was about to leaverepparttar 132920 mat I said to him "Eric, would you like to try against me" he just turned and said "Sorry Harry, I have to be at my girlfriends home for lunch". As he leftrepparttar 132921 mat I smiled to myself and thought "That's what I expected"repparttar 132922 smugness did not last long as I heard a voice behind me say "OK then Harry, can we make it quick as I must get away". It was Eric; for a moment I was surprised then I thought to myself if you want it quick I will accommodate you. I moved in to take him out withrepparttar 132923 one punch andrepparttar 132924 next thing I knew I had gone throughrepparttar 132925 dojo office partition wall and I was still lying stunnedrepparttar 132926 office floor when I heard Eric's voice call out "See you Monday Harry, gotta go". That was a very important lesson to me, I have never underestimated anyone sincerepparttar 132927 little guy taught me a lesson.

The Grading Lottery

If inrepparttar 132928 1950's and 60's you saw a 5th or 6th Dan you would be in awe of him. I now see so many multi grades and to be honest they would not be graded first Dan inrepparttar 132929 old days. They make these claims knowing that if they are ever challenged and prove their mettle they know they can claim that this is againstrepparttar 132930 principals of Aikido. Another favourite of these people is to juggle around with their grades and come up with multiples of matching grades, for a prime example of this abuse check outrepparttar 132931 article "British Aikido-The Controversy" onrepparttar 132932 web-site http://www.geocities.com/BritishAikido

Mitsusuke Harada Sensei "5th Dan" Harada Sensei was my Karate teacher inrepparttar 132933 1960's, he was then and still is a 5th Dan atrepparttar 132934 Shotokan dojo in Tokyo. he was graded byrepparttar 132935 founder of modern day Karate Gichin Funakoshi Sensei. He taught Karate torepparttar 132936 USAF atrepparttar 132937 Kodokan dojo afterrepparttar 132938 second world war. He was graded 5th Dan by Funakoshi Sensei in 1957 and is still 5th Dan after 45 years, stating that "Any grade above 5th Dan is totally pointless". This is exactlyrepparttar 132939 feeling of Sensei Derek Eastman and myself, although we are two ofrepparttar 132940 only remaining four ofrepparttar 132941 original group left of Kenshiro Abbe Sensei's group fromrepparttar 132942 1950's, we both agreed that there were too many "Harry Potter" grades around, we then decided that like Harada Sensei we would make 5th Danrepparttar 132943 highest level in our organization.

Serious study

I will take a break now that these articles are complete and do some serious "Toe breathing". This will be my last article for CyberKwoon for a while, I would like to thank Master Fabien Sena for allowing me to air my views on a subject most would try to avoid. I do not know what directionrepparttar 132944 Martial Arts will take when allrepparttar 132945 "Old Timers " are gone.

As one ofrepparttar 132946 comments (torepparttar 132947 Cyberkwoon site forum) said "We can still make a difference".

Torepparttar 132948 one who asked after my father, he was not a martial artist, just a hard man who started working atrepparttar 132949 age of 13 years two miles underground inrepparttar 132950 South Yorkshire coal mines.

Sensei Henry Ellis.

http://www.EllisAikido.org http://www.geocities.com/britishaikido

Henry Ellis Co-Author new book Positive Aikido.


5 Best Uses for Hybrid Utility Clubs

Written by John Bolt


Continued from page 1

4. OUT OF A BUNKER - Moverepparttar ball back in your stance to promote a little steeper angle of attack. The bigger club heads and larger ruddered soles of hybrids make it easier to swing throughrepparttar 132892 sand without catching it fat or heavy. It is very important on these long bunker shots to hitrepparttar 132893 ball first. This will help getrepparttar 132894 ball up inrepparttar 132895 air very quickly and out ofrepparttar 132896 bunker.

5. AROUND THE GREEN – Hybrid utility clubs work great for bump and run shots aroundrepparttar 132897 green (just ask Todd Hamilton). They help to eliminaterepparttar 132898 chance for error by gettingrepparttar 132899 ball rolling onrepparttar 132900 ground as quick as possible. Becauserepparttar 132901 shafts are shorter you can play these shots almost like a putt without choking down onrepparttar 132902 shaft to gain control. This eliminatesrepparttar 132903 chance of a skull, chunk, or a decelerating wedge shot.

We find these hybrid utility clubs to be one ofrepparttar 132904 most versatile clubs you could have in your bag. Get more info about hybrid utility clubs from our website. Then try one out in your bag today!

More hybrid golf club information and tips can be found at: www.golfequipmentsource.com/hybrid-golf-clubs.html

John Bolt is the full time owner of GolfEquipmentSource.com. With years of competitive golf experience under his belt, he understands the importance of having properly fitted golf equipment. You can visit him online at: http://www.golfequipmentsource.com/hybrid-golf-clubs.html


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