when is aikido not aikidoAuthor Antony Day from Kaizen aikido portsmouth.uk
With the large variety of martial arts, when does the aforementioned Aikido stay Aikido and not become Jujutsu or Ninjutsu or even Judo.Is it when you use a throw as in kote-gashi (outward wrist twisting) without using a leg to break their balance?As well as irimi-nage (entering throw) without putting a hip into it.Can we easily define the line which makes it just Aikido and not another martial art?
Judo uses legs hips and a variety of sweeps to take their opponent down, are we saying that we cannot use legs to throw uke with, also they use a similar system of balance breaking as in yoshinkan Aikido, they push to get uke to push back, they pull to get uke to pull and in return they are usually given the opponents balance.In the Art of Ninjutsu and Jujutsu some Throws are completed with a self sacrifice throw (dropping their own bodyweight) to off balance the opponent, is it wrong for us to attempt this incase we are told “its not Aikido”
So how does Koshi-nage (Hip throw) differ from any judo or Ninjutsu/ jujutsu hip throw? Do we still not have to break the opponents balance, or place our body in their path, of course we do, but I have heard in training many times “that’s not Aikido” I usually reply which part?
I was once at an Aikido Seminar taught by an 8th Dan sensei; I was training with a 5th kyu who was having trouble applying the technique (I do add I was not trying to obstruct his training) this is when the sensei came over and had to show him the finer points of where he was going wrong! The technique consisted of a Nikkajo, or Nikkyo into an Ikkajo or Ikkyo, the sensei then put me down on one knee with my right arm in a Ikkajo lock he then applied a quick kick to my ribs, at this point he said to the 5th kyu “if you see an opportunity take it” this was never shown to me in my training but I knew it was an obvious form of atemi, I would not tell this sensei with over 50 years of training “that was not Aikido” I am sure he is well aware of what is Aikido.
In a form of Sankkajo-nage (third teaching throw) do we not travel uke around us to be led over the trailing leg, or is this a case of “well that’s different”,
Also the most famous technique, of all agreeable Aikido Schools is Shio-nage (Four directional throw) but again which version is correct, I have trained with many teachers and lots of the Shio-nage techniques differ from the one I was taught in yoshinkan but I have also trained with Aiki kai and other styles, the Shio-nage technique is one of the most fundamental parts of Aikido training.When does it not become Shio-nage? As each school has its own way of Practice.
Some techniques even completely mimic another style of martial art so how is that one explained, surely not by the color of the gi, the name is the only different factor.We have to remember that most of the general styles of martial arts come from the same background.There are only so many ways to lock a limb or throw a body, and I am sure that judo, aikido, Ninjutsu and all the other arts with kicking punching have covered all the angles that are there.
The true style of any martial art lies within the effort and consistency of the student and the heart they apply to it; I believe that is when Aikido becomes Aikido,
Train Hard Train Focused Train Safe; Tony day
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