Category: Uncategorized

Many students practice Aikido for the purpose of “self-defence.” Self-defence is a worthwhile objective, but I think that people often misunderstand it. There is a significant difference between fighting and practical self-defence. There are far more common and serious threats in your life than a mugger with a gun.

I once attended a seminar with a friend who shared my interest in the combative aspect of Aikido. We stepped outside the dojo during a break, and he promptly lit a cigarette and began to suck it back with great fervour.

I was astonished that he could do that to his body while it was under so much physical stress. I pointed out the irony…. that if he really was interested in “self-defence” per se, he’d put a high priority on cutting back on smoking as well as on practicing joint locks. He had to agree.

Few of us will face a life-or-death combat situation in our lives. But for those of us who ignore their health, emphysema, stroke, heart attacks, cancer, diabetes, depression and a host of other ailments are fairly likely.

According to Statistics Canada, It is far more probable that you will die in a car accident (well over 3,000 in 2007) than in any kind of assault (just over 500). Do you drive defensively?  Do you drink and drive?  

Do you try to protect your health? Obesity is the source of countless fatalities. Nearly 70,000 people died of heart disease in Canada in 2007.

According to the statistics, you are at greater risk of suicide (3,600 plus in 2007) — dying at your own hands — than of dying at the hands of an attacker. That’s an adversary who is hard to defeat.

More than 2,600 people died of falls in 2007 in Canada. How many might have survived if they knew something about falling safely?

While combat, armed and unarmed, is fundamental to the concept of Aikido, it offers many other benefits.  Does your martial art relax you and revitalize you? Does it offer you healthful exercise? Does it calm you? Does it give you concepts for managing confrontations smoothly and safely as well as for surviving sudden street attacks?  Are you part of a supportive and friendly community? Does your practice give you a positive attitude that makes your life happier and more productive?

These are important aspects of true self-defence. Even a beginner, whose technique is not yet “combat-ready,” can get these benefits almost immediately. From this point of view Aikido is a wonderful art.

Of course combat is a central theme in Aikido practice and Aikido technique is an effective way to protect yourself from violence. But when you consider how much time you pour into learning a martial art, you have to ask yourself whether it is making you a stronger and better person – or just a more dangerous one.

People practise Aikido for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from exercise to self-defence to social contact to an interest in Japanese culture – and any combination of the above. One of the benefits of Aikido practice is strengthening of the student’s character. But what exactly does that mean, and how does it happen?

In this connection, I’d like to mention an essay written in 1906 by the psychologist William James . It was entitled The Moral Equivalent of War.

James, an avowed pacifist, wrote the essay during turbulent times – just after the Spanish-American War, with the First World War looming on the horizon, less than a decade away.

He was attempting to deal with a disturbing paradox. On one hand, he was convinced of the brutality and waste of war… its fundamental immorality. Few today would dispute that point of view. On the other hand, he tried to acknowledge the benefits of war – even in those days, a difficult argument to make.

His focus was on the human character. He began by pointing out that war is engrained very deeply in the human psyche and – ugly or not – is part of the human experience. It has been a constant throughout history, and some of our greatest literature (the Iliad, for example) celebrates it. “Modern man inherits all the innate pugnacity and all the love of glory of his ancestors,” he noted.

James’s essay helped me understand my father a little better. He was a combat veteran of the Second World War, and carried lifelong physical and psychological scars as a result. The horror of the war had shaken and disgusted him profoundly. But sometimes, he seemed to be weirdly nostalgic about it… the friendships, the challenges he proved equal to, the sense of order and purpose. It was a paradox I couldn’t understand, as a young man.

The negative effects of war on the human psyche are obvious. But James wrote about the positive effects, too: “Fidelity, cohesiveness, tenacity, heroism, conscience, education, inventiveness, economy, wealth, physical health and vigor — there isn’t a moral or intellectual point of superiority that doesn’t tell,” in war, he said. “Martial virtues must be the enduring cement [of society]; intrepidity, contempt of softness, surrender of private interest, obedience to command, must still remain the rock upon which states are built…”

James was seeking a “moral” equivalent to war, which was itself immoral. “The martial type of character can be bred without war. Strenuous honor and disinterestedness abound everywhere,” he suggested.

Aikido, when practiced with determination, can serve as such a “moral equivalent” to war in developing the human character, for people of all kinds. It can help to develop a tough resilience, determination, courage and sense of community that will serve the committed practitioner well in life, regardless of the ultimate level of technical proficiency attained.

O-Sensei saw Aikido as a path to peace built on a foundation of martial virtue. William James knew nothing about Aikido, but I’m sure he would have recognized its benefits.

There are many collections of quotes from James on the web. Some I agree with, some I don’t, but all are thought-provoking.

Aikido reading

Occasionally, students ask me to recommend some reading on the subject of Aikido. Dozens of great books about Aikido are available. Just a few that come to mind are:

The New Aikido Complete: The Arts of Power and Movement, Yoshimitsu Yamada. Yamada-sensei is Technical Director of the U.S. Aikido Federation and one of the world’s great Aikido shihan. The book provides clear explanations and photos of standard techniques.

The Art Of Aikido: Principles and Essential Techniques, Kisshomaru Ueshiba. This book by O-sensei’s son, the second Doshu (leader of Aikido) is an encyclopaedia of Aikido technique. It is authoritative, detailed and informative.

Best Aikido: The fundamentals(co-authored by the second Doshu); The Aikido Master Course: Best Aikido 2; and Progressive Aikido: The Essential Elements, Moriteru Ueshiba, are all invaluable references. The third Doshu, O-sensei’s grandson, has written clearly and extensively about Aikido practice at all levels. These books are currently in print.

The Aikido Student Handbook: A Guide to the Philosophy, Spirit, Etiquette and Training Methods of Aikido, Greg O’Connor. Covers a lot of basic knowledge needed by newcomers, in particular the basics of Aikido practice, Aikido culture and dojo etiquette.

Aikido Exercises for Teaching & Training, by C. M. Shifflett. Provides some general background on Aikido practice as well as useful, and sometimes amusing, answers to common questions. Includes much information on various Aikido exercises.

The five-volume Traditional Aikidoseries (especially volumes 1 and 2 if you are interested in jo and bokken) are valuable and unique resources. The author is the celebrated shihan Saito Morihiro-sensei, who has written widely about Aikido technique and practice.

Aikido Journal: No longer printed, this online magazine presents a great variety of articles on different elements of Aikido, especially its history. See http://www.aikidojournal.com/

Aikido News, published by the USAF, is a source of great articles on Aikido online, many written by Yamada-sensei himself. See http://usafaikidonews.com,

While there are many great books about Aikido on the market, there are a few questionable ones, too. If you are unsure whether you want to spend the 30 dollars or so a new acquisition might cost, just ask us.