Watching these videos in order, I’m amazed at the revelations here. I trained in aikido in the 90’s for about three years. Wish so much my sensei had explained all this. It would have made me better at it much more quickly. Even years, decades after I stopped, the biggest thing I took from the experience, was actually Mai ai, distancing, and moving off the line, counter intuitively often moving in a direction that if I had never trained would seemed crazy. I remember many of the techniques but the principle of distance and the line are the most useful. Of course in confined areas it is less easy. Also moving straight back is a little more clumsy (and also need to know what or who is behind you) and much easier for the attacker, but is useful in the initial stages. Oh, and the other useful thing that seems still ingrained enough is ukemi. Falling. I haven’t gotten in any altercations in these decades, but have fallen a few times on ice, and other instances and my learned instinct have protected me. But I so wish I had heard these great explanations when I was training. It all makes sense now. The “unnatural” attacks, etc. Having been in and seen some actual street fights, I have always thought it was so crazy. You often see an aggressor, and someone who doesn’t want to fight, and at some point the one who doesn’t want to fight seems to shrug mentally, and think “oh well, I guess I have to fight” and immediately get in a karate or boxer stance and get inside the distance as if they were in a boxing ring with a referee. They don’t even think about passively making the opponent over commit.
Watching these videos in order, I’m amazed at the revelations here. I trained in aikido in the 90’s for about three years. Wish so much my sensei had explained all this. It would have made me better at it much more quickly.
Even years, decades after I stopped, the biggest thing I took from the experience, was actually Mai ai, distancing, and moving off the line, counter intuitively often moving in a direction that if I had never trained would seemed crazy. I remember many of the techniques but the principle of distance and the line are the most useful. Of course in confined areas it is less easy. Also moving straight back is a little more clumsy (and also need to know what or who is behind you) and much easier for the attacker, but is useful in the initial stages.
Oh, and the other useful thing that seems still ingrained enough is ukemi. Falling. I haven’t gotten in any altercations in these decades, but have fallen a few times on ice, and other instances and my learned instinct have protected me.
But I so wish I had heard these great explanations when I was training. It all makes sense now. The “unnatural” attacks, etc.
Having been in and seen some actual street fights, I have always thought it was so crazy. You often see an aggressor, and someone who doesn’t want to fight, and at some point the one who doesn’t want to fight seems to shrug mentally, and think “oh well, I guess I have to fight” and immediately get in a karate or boxer stance and get inside the distance as if they were in a boxing ring with a referee. They don’t even think about passively making the opponent over commit.
this is all book informations..you are not real aikido master.
My favorite comment.