Jeremiah Blatz (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jeremiahblatz) wrote,@ 2008-06-29 21:43:00 |
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Martial Arts Walkabout #9: New York Akikai
This has been a bad week for training. I've spend most evenings working, fitting in some workouts at home. Today i didn't get to train, but I watched a class at New York Akikai. They used to have a no-registration pay-per-class mat fee, but sadly they now require membership for class.
Class started with some light semi-dynamic stretches. After a short while, the action started. The instructor would choose an advanced student and demonstrate a technique. Quickly a few times, with slight variations, then slowly. After that, students would pair up and practice the technique for a while. While the demonstration was very formal and one-way, the practicing was far more relaxed. Advanced students, and sometimes the instructor, would wander around correcting peoples' for and answering questions.
After class, I chatted briefly with an advanced student from an affiliated school. He did say something that made Aikido make a lot more sense for me. He said that the techniques worked just as well against attacks with a sword as against empty-hand attacks. Suddenly, those ridiculous overhead chops made a lot more sense. Aikido, it seems, is empty-hand fighting for samurai. That explains the lack of submission or striking — your goal is to get your opponent to stop slicing at you long enough for you to find your sword!
Of course, the root of the techniques is just part of the art. I look highly suspiciously at any statement that Aikido, as it is practiced today, is a practical martial art. That said, it looks like a lot of fun. You get to fly through the air, and also throw people through the air. People in class looked like they were having a good time, and I can see why.
This has been a bad week for training. I've spend most evenings working, fitting in some workouts at home. Today i didn't get to train, but I watched a class at New York Akikai. They used to have a no-registration pay-per-class mat fee, but sadly they now require membership for class.
Class started with some light semi-dynamic stretches. After a short while, the action started. The instructor would choose an advanced student and demonstrate a technique. Quickly a few times, with slight variations, then slowly. After that, students would pair up and practice the technique for a while. While the demonstration was very formal and one-way, the practicing was far more relaxed. Advanced students, and sometimes the instructor, would wander around correcting peoples' for and answering questions.
After class, I chatted briefly with an advanced student from an affiliated school. He did say something that made Aikido make a lot more sense for me. He said that the techniques worked just as well against attacks with a sword as against empty-hand attacks. Suddenly, those ridiculous overhead chops made a lot more sense. Aikido, it seems, is empty-hand fighting for samurai. That explains the lack of submission or striking — your goal is to get your opponent to stop slicing at you long enough for you to find your sword!
Of course, the root of the techniques is just part of the art. I look highly suspiciously at any statement that Aikido, as it is practiced today, is a practical martial art. That said, it looks like a lot of fun. You get to fly through the air, and also throw people through the air. People in class looked like they were having a good time, and I can see why.
