Quote:
|
Ueshiba's very publicized spiritual awakening (where he realized aikido was love) happened to him just after he sparred a kendo guy for like 10 minutes. He was unarmed and dodged all of the kendo guy's strikes. I've read that story in a dozen different places so it might have a grain of truth to it.
|
If it is true (and it may be), then the kendo guy simply sucks. Nobody can miss for ten minutes without it being a set-up. Period. O'sensei was a good aiki-jutsu practitioner before he got into all that spiritual stuff, but he was not Neo from The Matrix. I don't need kendo training to hit someone with a stick, doesn't matter who they are.
Quote:
|
THis is what I did against my bigger brother when he tried to get mean with me. I shoved him all over the room and into things until he gave up. He was such a punk back then. Anyway, if I had hit him, he'd have never let me forget about it.
|
This is an excellent example of when Aikido might be appropriate when a greater use of force is not. Controlling a family member is a lot more appropriate than hitting one with a chinjab and stomping their knee. However, you must keep the situation in perspective. It was your brother, not a violent criminal (punk or no punk). A certain level of instinctive holding back goes on in that kind of situation. You could push your brother around without having him try to go vampire style on your jugular, the same way that a beat cop might be able to hold onto a teenage gang member without the kid trying to cold cock him. Controlling can work in situations where someone will allow you to get a hold of them, maintain it, and do something without trying to knock your head off. On the other hand, Aikido would not serve you that well against a mean and capable attacker who was trying to harm you in earnest. Everything is situational.
Quote:
|
In all seriousness, those myths do martial arts such harm. They attract dumb morons who then propogate the myths. Then these idiots get the shit kicked out of them, and ordinary people think that all martial arts are crap.
|
It's sad what some people will believe. Martial arts DO get a bad rap as a result of that nonsense. On no less than three occasions have I had this guy who practices Shaolin Long Fist and Dim Mak threaten me with a death pressure point strike. It takes a lot of self-control not to whack him for it, too.