Fine. You are on your path and I am on mine. You do Your aikido and I do Mine. Just like OSensei said.

FWIW that is Not the reason I train, to do magic. It is simply a side effect, and it doesn't hapen just because you want it to.However I have seen and felt and done things I can't explain. ANd FWIW , this stuff was taught to me by a shihan who was taught this Directly from OSensei, and HE said it was _All_ aikido.

Anyway, you'll probably never visit my dojo and I'll probably never visit yours, so does there need to be a conflict here?

"When I tell some one that I study Aikido, I don't want them to think I am training to shoot laser beams out of my third eye. I hope that they recognize Aikido as a serious martial art that is combat effective and steeped in realism."

How does what they think change anything about you, your training, or your reasons for training? You're training for you, no?

There is more to aikido than physical self defense.I may not be able to physically defend myself but if I develop my Presence I am less likely to present myself as a potential victim.
Personally I would rather be a person that projects a"you dont want to attack me" vibe than "just try me" or "small, vulnerable woman".

In some cases you may be correct, it depends on your ability to modify in a dyniamic environment.

I have however effectively taken the concepts learned in aikido and used it in a dynamic environment. Others have as well. Any self defense situation requires quick thinking and force of will. Stay connected, be of-mind and no-minded at the same time.

Without the experience one may never know. With the experience, one will always question whether it will work the next time. Set the anxiety aside and ask yourself, does aikido fit you, if not, find something that does. Ask yourself as well ~why~ it does or does not fit.

Gambate!

Zstarlighted,

After you reach a certain proficiency with a particular technique, you should have a fellow student actually try to "smash you to the ground".

See if it works.

If it doesn't work, there are two possibilities:

1. Your execution of the technique is flawed.
2. The technique is flawed.


Keep in mind every technique has a set of conditions for it to be successful. For example, if I execute a technique that works only for hook punches, but I am being kicked... it's clearly not going be successful.

Blindly practicing techniques just because some one told you to is not the martial way. You need to constantly evaluate what you are doing, understand why, and make it your own.

Zstarlighted, I would like to answer your question with a story.

I used to train with a 70 year old chinese man named Mr. Poon. Mr Poon had horrible athritis to the point that he could barely move his shoulders. Although he could not take high falls in the technical sense, he always wanted to try, so he would insist that we throw him to the best of our ability and he would take a gentle rolling fall to the best of his ability. Where Mr. Poon really shone in Aikido was in his pinning, the receiving of which felt like you had suddenly become encased in concrete, and in his randori. Mr. Poon was like fog. That's what we always said about him because you could not touch him. He would just sort of drift between attackers, smiling and chuckling and sort of waving his arms around and somehow, no one ever seemed to grab him. But the story I wanted to share with you was this:

One day during a randori Mr. Poon executed the height od Aikido as I have ever seen it practiced. He had just finished throwing both of his attackers (who HAD managed to grab him for a change) and they were completing thier rools and standing up to come back at him. Mr. Poon on the other side of the matt, cracked open a huge ear to ear smile, beamed at them and threw his arms open wide like he was waiting for a hug. The two Uke were so confused that they just stopped dead in thier tracks. They stood there befuddled as Mr. Poon beamed and chuckled at them. Any intention of attck that they had was completely forgotten. My Sensei clapped his hand and the randori was over.

To me, Aikido is not about perfect technique, or about overcoming someone in an attack in a physical sense. Even the newest beginnner can take away from Aikido the intention of the name itself, The Art or the Way of Peace or Harmony. It was not Mr. Poon's technique that resolved that conflict that day, neither does it have to be yours or mine or anyone else's. Mr. Poon found a way to be at harmony with his Uke without resorting to violence. He stopped two men dead in thier tracks with a beaming smile and a warm attitude. That to me is Aikido, and it does not take years of practice to accomplish that.

I had to reply to Zstar's part of this thread as well.

"Some fancy steps and turns that seem to work in class may make you vulnerable in a self-defense situation."

Firmly agreed, if that is all you learn :)

To really "defend" yourself with any martial art, you have to be very good. I believe to "defend" yourself with with the purely physical aspects of aikido you have to be a master.

An illustrative example of the point I'm trying to make is when a brown belt (clearly not aikido) came to class horribly battered. When asked what happened he responded that he "defended himself" in a fight with a someone with a bat. Sensei's response was to say: "You went up against someone with a bat with your fists?"

The ego it took to get into that fight is what got the student in trouble, not his training, ability, or a fundamental deficiency in the effectiveness of martial arts (watch "Fight Science" on the Discovery Chanel sometime - not a slam on Zstar, just that the show provides excellent proof of martial arts' effectiveness).

The ego someone might attach to their "fancy steps and turns" is what will absolutely make them vulnerable in a self-defense situation.

I guess for me the point of martial arts is the process of becoming (in my opinion, someone less likely to find themselves involved in physical conflict, for one), not achieving the goal of being able to defend yourself.

Qatana, couldn't have put it better myself!

>Thanks. In the humblest possible way. :) Too bad my ability to write that doesn't translate to my aikido skills *gleam*<
It may not translate into your Aikido skills; but it certainly translates into your potential. A slow learner who loves the art has considerably more potential than a genius who doesn't.

"I just know I feel better and am more the best iteration of myself when I train."

Agreed.