Choreography

Aikidoists are often accused of practicing " Choreographed Aikido" and to be honest I must admit that these claims are very often justified, with Uke (attacker) preparing to break fall long before he makes his attack, and most of them attack off balance , therefore making any multiples of techniques possible with minimum of effort and of course this makes Tori (defender) look "fantastic".

What is really sad is that these people believe that this is good Aikido. Kenshiro Abbe Sensei would always say to us that "two" students are training at same time, one is Uke who is learning and improving his attacking techniques and his opponent Tori is also learning and improving his defensive techniques, whilst we were training with Abbe Sensei if Uke's foot or heel came off mat as he attacked Abbe Sensei would give offending leg a good whack with a shinai (bamboo sword) he would then say " My English is very bad but my shinai speaks fluently!".

If Uke attacks on balance then it is obvious that Tori's technique must be good and strong to throw him, and as Abbe Sensei said so many times " two students are training" . Mark Eastman a strong young Dan grade with me went on a seminar recently where there was a 6th Dan. The 6th Dan refused to use him as Uke stating " I can not use you as you do not harmonize with me", he was not being awkward or difficult just attacking on balance.

Diluted training

Today all of these traditional exercises and training methods have now changed to a simple warm up routine with jumping up and down on spot and lots of deep spiritual discussion. Hard exercise is now considered to be aggressive and not in harmony with true spirit of Aikido.

Abbe Sensei said that hard training developed spirit, he also referred to Ki during those early days as he demonstrated power of his technique, when asked to explain meaning of Ki, he said not to worry about Ki as that would be a part of our training and development.

He then said "Only when you reach first Dan will you be able to understand true concept of Ki as a further extension of your Aikido." I still believe that line of thought, and instructors in our dojo's very rarely speak of Ki although it is taught as a important and integral part of our training and study.

Ki Aikido

Although Ki is generally recognized as spirit and breathing during application of technique, every teacher and student will offer a very wide and varied and sometimes bizarre interpretation of meaning of this much abused word. The main problems arise and are created by teachers themselves, who very often mislead their students to extent that they almost believe that Ki is a form of magic. The following is one prime example from a very prominent Aikido magazines letters section.

Title: The Spirit of Protection I am a carpenter and 2nd kyu in Aikido. I was working in a large new home doing repair work, I had finished my job and was heading for a long staircase when I noticed owners two year old son was heading for same stairs from opposite direction. As he approached top of stair he was watching me and not where he was going. I was too far away to grab him, so I shot to him (irimi) and stuck my arm straight out to him, my "Ki" went through little boys' face and out back of his head, he fell backwards and started crying. His mother heard crying and came up stairs, when I told her what had happened, she thanked me, I said "Don't thank me, Thank Aikido".

That poor child may well now be as disturbed as writer.

Harry Potter Ryu

There are many such misguided examples which I will refer to in future articles, it is this kind of nonsense that brings Aikidos credibility into doubt I am fully aware that every martial art has its own version of " Harry Potter" in their ranks, what I fail to understand is that there are more of them in Aikido than all other martial arts combined.

The reason that I am so critical and vociferous about Aikido is that every day I see these people watering down this great martial art that I have spent most of my life studying, teaching and promoting for past 46 years. I am often asked "Sensei, which do you think is best and worst martial art".

I always make same reply " All martial arts are good, if there is a problem with any martial art, then it can only be people who represent that particular art who misrepresent their art

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PART 3

The Converted

In articles parts one and two I have covered introduction of Aikido to West, and impact on other Martial Artists, Aikido progressed and developed in UK by visiting existing dojos of all various Martial Arts and offering to demonstrate and teach for free in hope of starting a small class in more receptive dojos, as one can imagine this was no easy task as more often than not our efforts were not an open invitation to most dojos. In end positive style of early Aikido won through, and this is a very important point to make in early development of Western Aikido was that most of new students of Aikido were from other Martial Arts. I do not believe that we could have converted other Martial Artists to Aikido had it not been so strong and effective.

Kenshiro Abbe Sensei - 8th Dan Judo, 6th Dan Karate, 6th Dan Kendo, 6th Dan Aikido.

Bad breath!

Even tour pros are using them to help them win big tournaments. (Todd Hamilton – British Open, David Toms – PGA Championship, Reteif Goosen – US Open) We have come up with what we believe are 5 best uses for these hybrid clubs.

1. OFF THE TEE – These clubs are great for long par 3’s and short par 4 tee shots when you must carry a bunker or water hazard. Most long irons shots have a low piercing trajectory. These hybrids have a lower center of gravity that helps to launch ball up into air. Because of this high ball flight, ball will come down on a steeper angle making it easier to stop on green.

2. FROM THE FAIRWAY – They are good for long approach shots to greens on par 5’s and long par 4’s. Because of their great distance control and accuracy, these hybrids will build your confidence. Hitting this club form fairways will have you going for more par 5’s in 2 and leaving you short putts for eagle.