aikido in jogjakarta

What is Aikido?
Whenever I move, that’s Aikido.
O Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba

Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba (often referred to by his title ‘O Sensei’ or ‘Great Teacher’). On a purely physical level it is an art involving some throws and joint locks that are derived from Jujitsu and some throws and other techniques derived from Kenjutsu. Aikido focuses not on punching or kicking opponents, but rather on using their own energy to gain control of them or to throw them away from you. It is not a static art, but places great emphasis on motion and the dynamics of movement.

Upon closer examination, practitioners will find from Aikido what they are looking for, whether it is applicable self-defense technique, spiritual enlightenment, physical health or peace of mind. O Sensei emphasized the moral and spiritual aspects of this art, placing great weight on the development of harmony and peace. “The Way of Harmony of the Spirit” is one way that “Aikido” may be translated into English. This is still true of Aikido today, although different styles emphasize the more spiritual aspects to greater or lesser degrees. Although the idea of a martial discipline striving for peace and harmony may seem paradoxical, it is the most basic tenet of the art.

We could attempt to pigeonhole Aikido into a synopsis of X number of words, but that would not do it justice, so we leave the practitioner of Aikido to find out what Aikido is for themselves without any preconceived notions.
What are the different styles in Aikido?
There are no ’styles’ of Aikido. It is like cheese cake. You can cut it in wedges or squares or just dig in with your fork but it is still cheese cake!

Aikido was originally developed by one man, O Sensei. Many students who trained under O Sensei decided to spread their knowledge of Aikido by opening their own dojos. Due, among other things, to the dynamic nature of Aikido, different students of O Sensei interpreted his Aikido in different ways. Thus different styles of Aikido were born. The more common are listed here along with a brief explanation of what is different about the style. Each style has its own strengths and weaknesses, but all are firmly rooted in the basic concepts which make Aikido the unique art that it is. None should be considered superior or inferior to any other, but rather an individual must find a style which best suits him or her. Outside factors such as geographic location may of course limit one’s options.
No matter which style you choose, you are going to be taught that particular instructors interpretation of it, and you yourself are going to develop your own particular Aikido. One might say that there are as many different styles of Aikido as there are practitioners.

Since this list is going to be challenging enough without looking for extra work, we’ll restrict our definition of Aikido to mean styles that clearly trace their lineage to Ueshiba O Sensei. The classification into categories is fairly arbitrary.
The “Old” Schools
Here we’ll list the schools that developed from the pre-war teachings.

Aiki-Budo
This is the name given to the art O Sensei was teaching early in his development. It is very close in style to previously existing Jutsu forms such as Daito-ryu Aiki-Jutsu. It is considered to be one of the harder forms of Aikido.
Most of the early students of O Sensei began during this period and much of the early practice overseas was in this style (e.g. Abbe Sensei’s teaching in the UK in the 50s).
Yoseikan
This form was developed by Minoru Mochizuki, who was an early student of O Sensei and also of Jigoro Kano Sensei at the Kodokan.
This style includes elements of Aiki-Budo together with aspects of Karate, Judo and other arts.
Yoshinkan
This is the style taught by the late Gozo Shioda. Shioda Sensei studied with O Sensei from the mid-30s. After the war, he was invited to begin teaching and formed the organization known as the Yoshinkan. Unlike many later organizations, the Yoshinkan has always maintained friendly relations with the Aikikai both during and after O Sensei’s life.
The Yoshinkan is a harder style of Aikido, generally concerned with practical efficiency and physically robust techniques. It is taught to many branches of the Japanese Police.
The international organization associated with the Yoshinkan style of Aikido is known as the Yoshinkai, and has active branches in many parts of the world. In recent years, there have been a number of offshoots of this style, usually developing for political reasons.

The “Modern” Schools
This includes most of the variants taught today. Most of these “styles” are taught by various senior students of O Sensei, with the divergences coming after the death of the Founder. Most would claim to be teaching the art that O Sensei taught them - and this is probably true even though some have little in common with others! Taken together with O Sensei’s notorious obscurity in teaching style, the story of the elephant and the blind men may give us some clue as to how this could have come about :-).
Most of us have our biases and preferences amongst the various styles but can recognize that all have their strengths and weakness and we all have something to learn from all of them.
The “Traditional” Schools

Aikikai
The Aikikai is the common name for the style headed by Moriteru Ueshiba, O Sensei’s grandson, as taught under the auspices of the International Aikido Federation. Most regard this school as the mainline in Aikido development.
In reality, this “style” is more of an umbrella than a specific style, since it seems that many individuals within the organization teach in quite a different manner. The Aikido taught by Ueshiba Sensei is generally large and flowing, with an emphasis on a standard syllabus and little or no emphasis on weapons training. Other teachers within the auspices of the Aikikai (like Saito Sensei) place much more emphasis on weapons practice.
Iwama-ryu
The style taught by Morihiro Saito, based in the Iwama dojo, is generally considered sufficiently stylistically different from mainstream Aikikai that it is named individually, even though it still is part of the Aikikai.
Saito Sensei was a long time uchideshi of O Sensei, beginning in 1946 and staying with him through his death. Many consider that Saito Sensei was the student who spent most time directly studying with O Sensei Saito Sensei says he is trying to preserve and teach the art exactly as it was taught to him by the Founder. Technically, Iwama-ryu seems to resemble the Aikido O Sensei was teaching in the early 50s mainly in the Iwama dojo. The technical repertoire is larger than in most other styles and a great deal of emphasis is placed on weapons training.

The “Ki” Schools
One of the most noticeable splits in the Aikido world occurred in 1974 when Koichi Tohei, then the Chief Instructor at the Aikikai, resigned from that organization and founded the Ki no Kenkyukai to teach Aikido with strong emphasis on the concepts of Ki. Since that time, there has been little interaction between the traditional schools and the Ki schools.
All of these arts tend to refer to themselves as Ki Aikido, even though there is little contact between some of the styles.

Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido
The style founded by Koichi Tohei - Aikido with Mind and Body Unified. Tohei Sensei places a great deal of emphasis on understanding the concept of Ki and developing this aspect independently of the Aikido training for application to general health and daily life.
This style is one of the softest styles of Aikido and is characterized by soft movements that often involve the practitioner jumping or skipping during the movement. Most schools are not concerned with practical application of the techniques, considering them exercises to further develop Ki.
In recent years, Tohei Sensei has been moving further and further away from Aikido and has devoted himself almost exclusively to Ki training. The latest news is that Ki no Kenkyukai has started an initiative to make Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido into an International Competitive sport.

The “Sporting” Styles
One of the other big breaks in Aikido history occurred during O Sensei’s life when Kenji Tomiki proposed “rationalizing” Aikido training using Kata and Competition. Since that time, there has been little commonality between the Tomiki schools and the mainline Aikido schools.
In recent years there have been a number of offshoots of Tomiki-ryu that have abandoned the idea of competition.

Tomiki-ryu
Founded by Kenji Tomiki, and early student of O Sensei and of Judo founder Jigoro Kano. Tomiki Sensei believed that a “rationalization” of Aikido training, along the lines that Kano Sensei followed for Judo would make it more easily taught, particularly at the Japanese Universities. In addition, he believed that introducing an element of competition would serve to sharpen and focus the practice since it was no longer tested in real combat. This latter view was the cause of a split with O Sensei who firmly believed that there was no place for competition in Aikido training.
Tomiki-ryu is characterized by using Kata (prearranged forms) in teaching and by holding competitions, both empty handed and with a rubber knife.

Can Aikido be used for self-defense?
“Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered,
those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid.
Thus the wise win before the fight, while the ignorant fight to win.”

Yes, Aikido can be a very effective form of self-defense However, it can take considerable time and effort before Aikido (or any martial art) can be used effectively in a self-defense situation.
Does Aikido take longer time to master and apply than other martial arts?
“If you knew the time it took me to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful.”
Michelangelo

The simple answer is “yes”. A year in Karate/Tae Kwon Do/Kempo and you can probably fight much better than before. It takes well over a year before you start feeling comfortable enough with Aikido techniques to imagine using them in “real life”.

The complex answer is “no” in the sense that I don’t think anyone ever feels like they have “mastered” an art. If they do then they’ve stopped growing, or the art is too simple. In Funakoshi’s autobiography you definitely get the feeling that he doesn’t feel like a “master” and is bemused to be considered one.

An old story might tell you some of the mindset you ought to apply when studying martial arts:

A young boy traveled across Japan to the school of a famous martial artist. When he arrived at the dojo he was given an audience by the Sensei
“What do you wish from me?” the master asked.
“I wish to be your student and become the finest kareteka in the land,” the boy replied. “How long must I study?”
“Ten years at least,” the master answered.
“Ten years is a long time,” said the boy. “What if I studied twice as hard as all your other students?”
“Twenty years,” replied the master.
“Twenty years! What if I practice day and night with all my effort?”
“Thirty years,” was the master’s reply.
“How is it that each time I say I will work harder, you tell me that it will take longer?” the boy asked.
“The answer is clear. When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the Way.”
Is Aikido better than karate/judo/any other martial art?
Though there are many paths
At the foot of the mountain
All those who reach the top
See the same moon.

This is an extremely controversial question and has generated much heated debate in forums such as the rec.martial-arts newsgroup.

The answer to this question is very subjective - students of any particular martial art tend to favor that one over any other (otherwise they would probably be studying the other martial art).

There are many different but equally valid reasons for studying any martial art, such as for self defense, for spiritual growth or enlightenment, for general physical health, for self-confidence and more. Different martial arts, and even different styles within a particular martial art, emphasize different aspects.

Hence ‘better’ really depends on what it is you want out of a martial art. Even given this distinction, it is still a very subjective question so perhaps a better one would be ‘Is Aikido better than any other martial art *for me*?’

This can only be answered by the individual asking the question. The rest of this FAQ may help you in some way towards finding that answer.

An alternative way to answer this question is to simply say, ‘No, Aikido is not ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than any other martial art. It is simply different.’
Can I train an additional martial art while training Aikido?
Eat right, exercise regularly, die anyway.

Yes. There is no problem in training several martial arts at the same time, but there is one thing to watch out for. If you have not gotten yourself a solid base in one martial art first you are going to confuse yourself when you start your second art. The result is (very likely) that your progress in both martial arts is going to be slower than if you trained first one and then another.

What kind of martial art you choose to train in addition to Aikido is of course entirely up to what you yourself like and feel comfortable with. A suggestion is that if you start to train an additional art early, the more different from Aikido the better, as you’ll probably not be too much confused then.
Does Aikido have competitions?
“I like tall men. I like to turn them into small men.”
A Tomiki Aikido Sensei

It is often said that Aikido does not have any competitions. It is true that the founder of Aikido (Morihei Ueshiba, or O Sensei) felt that competition was incompatible with Aikido, but that does not mean that everyone agrees.

One popular style, Tomiki Aikido, does have competition. It is not however considered to be a fundamental part of the style. On the other hand, the majority of Aikido schools do not have any competition.

Most Aikido training, even in schools with competitions, is of a cooperative rather than antagonistic nature, with both thrower (nage) and throwee (uke) working as partners and trying to optimize the experience of the other.

This “working partnership” is also necessary to a) minimize the chance of injury from practicing (potentially dangerous) Aikido techniques, and b) to develop both partners’ capacity to “take ukemi” - to be relaxed and able to take care of oneself when responding to “falling” or being thrown in a martial situation.

http://www.aikidofaq.com/introduction.html

by Kip Brockett

After reading my article, “Bruce Lee Said What?,” David Connelly asked me to contribute to the Bruce Lee Central website, and particularly to the “Extracts and Interpretations” page. I am honored that he thought highly enough of my work to invite me here, and I hope that my investigations and observations are of interest to you as well.

Taken in context, the Tao of Jeet Kune Do has much to offer the avid JKD practitioner, as well as other martial arts enthusiasts. The thing to keep in mind is that much of this work is comprised of notes from various sources and was simply used by Bruce Lee in his studies. Many people know this. Many do not. That is why there are numerous apparent inconsistencies throughout the text.

For this month’s installment, I’d like to look at one of the passages under the heading, “Jeet Kune Do,” show the source, and examine the deeper meaning as it applies to the martial arts and Jeet Kune Do in particular.

The passage that I’d like to look at appears on page 13 of the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, and is as follows:

The tools, your natural weapons, have a double purpose:

1. To destroy the opponent in front of you – annihilation of things that stand in the way of peace, justice and humanity.
2. To destroy your own impulses caused by the instincts of self- preservation. To destroy anything bothering the mind. Not to hurt anyone, but to overcome your own greed, anger and folly. Jeet Kune Do is directed toward oneself.

First, let’s look at the source. As mentioned in my article, there is much material in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do that came from the book Zen and Japanese Culture by D.T. Suzuki. In the section titled, “Zen and Swordsmanship,” it is stated:

The sword has thus a double office to perform: to destroy anything that opposes the will of its owner and to sacrifice all the impulses that arise from the instinct of self-preservation.

At first glance, the passages don’t seem to have a great consistency between them, other than a few like terms.

“Double purpose” and “double office” are similar.

“To destroy the opponent…” and “to destroy anything that opposes the will of its owner…” are similar as well.

“…impulses caused by the instincts of self-preservation” and “…impulses that arise from the instinct of self-preservation,” I think, are too close to ignore.

But after reading a little further in Suzuki’s book, we see this sentence:

The sword comes to be identified with the annihilation of things that lie in the way of peace, justice, progress, and humanity.

And then:

… but the sacred sword of Mañjusri is not to kill any sentient beings, but our own greed, anger, and folly. It is directed toward ourselves, …

Now it becomes rather obvious that the passage in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do was pieced together from these fragments of text. But what significance does this have to the art of Jeet Kune Do?

Of course, this is all conjecture on my part, because who really knew what was in the mind of Bruce Lee? But I believe that Bruce Lee wanted philosophy to be a deep part of the art of JKD. This is put forth through his many personal notes, writings, and through the testimonials of his students. As Suzuki makes the point that Zen was an inextricable component of Japanese swordsmanship, so do I believe Bruce Lee wanted these same elements to be intertwined with JKD.

The idea that your weapons - either sword, hands, feet, etc. - serve a dual purpose, is to bring the art to a higher plane. They not only serve in a martial capacity to defeat one’s opponent, but also to be used as a means of self-discovery and enlightenment.

This type of thinking towards the martial disciplines is purely a “peace”-time derivative. In wartime, the luxury to develop the self is simply not practical or affordable.

Nonetheless, Jeet Kune Do is much more than an art designed to overcome an opponent. It is most definitely designed to do this, but this is only one aspect.

While the literal definition of “art” applies to the purely martial applications, artistic expression, in my opinion, is the domain of the development of self. As D.T. Suzuki states:

It is now the embodiment of life and not of death.

JKD lends itself beautifully to the process of self-discovery. Simple in execution - being comprised of only a handful of techniques - it gives the practitioner the chance to minutely explore the facets of each technique while at the same time, the artistic expression needed to “see” into one’s own self.

This passage from the Tao of Jeet Kune Do may not be in Bruce Lee’s own words, but he thought enough about the words to write them down and to adapt them to Jeet Kune Do. This says a lot, I think.

If you haven’t read D.T. Suzuki’s book, I encourage you to do so. I believe it will help you to understand much of the topic discussed here, as well as many other passages in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

http://www.martialdirect.com/articles/zenconnection.htm

by Kip Brockett

In some circles, running your martial arts school or class like a business is considered “selling out”, so-to-speak. Using advertising techniques, sales techniques, and such are considered distasteful to many. But if you don’t have anyone in the class to teach, then you certainly don’t have a class!

It would benefit every school owner at the very least, to purchase a few sales books, audio lessons, or attend a seminar. A cursory knowledge of sales techniques will help you in many areas of your life, not just your business life.

With that being said, I would like to offer 7 tips to help boost your student base. I hope they at least spark some ideas in you to help bring in more students.

Tip No. 1: Give a Demonstration
There are many places to give demonstrations of your martial art. Local malls, schools, and cultural organizations are a great place to start. You should give plenty of time to schedule one for a school as most schools have their activities scheduled months in advance.

Tip No. 2: Yellow Page Ads
I don’t know about you, but the first place I look for local martial arts schools is in the Yellow Pages. I know these are expensive, but they will pay for themselves in business brought in.

Tip No. 3: Press Release
There are many sources out there to show you how to write a Press Release. Make sure it is news worthy! Examples are:
Starting a new business
Student who successfully used martial arts skills in a self-defense situation
Sponsoring an event (See Tip No. 4)
Hosting a Tournament

Tip No. 4: Sponsor an Event
Get involved with local events by sponsoring through your school. Examples could be:
Local Golf Tournament
Sponsor a team in a run or walk-a-thon
Get involved with a local Tele-thon

Tip No. 5: Brochures
Brochures are a great way to advertise your school. You can include information about your school, your programs, your style, or just about anything you think is of interest to prospective students.

Tip No. 6: Write an Article
For Martial Direct!
That’s right! Martial Direct is looking for good articles. If you have an article or an idea for an article, e-mail us at webmaster@martialdirect.com with the subject to see if it’s of interest to us.

Tip No. 7: Give Something Away!
I’m talking about Specialty Advertising here. Don’t just give any old thing away. Give something away with your school name or slogan on it. Specialty Advertising is one of the most cost-effective methods of advertising there is- not to mention successful!

http://www.martialdirect.com/articles/seventips.shtml

The biggest aikido organisation is the Aikikai Foundation which remains under the control of the Ueshiba family. However, aikido has many styles, mostly formed by Morihei Ueshiba’s major students.^[17]

The earliest independent styles to emerge were Yoseikan Aikido, begun by Minoru Mochizuki in 1931,^[18]Yoshinkan Aikido founded by Gozo Shioda in 1955,^[19] and Shodokan Aikido, founded by Kenji Tomiki in 1967.^[20] The emergence of these styles pre-dated Ueshiba’s death and did not cause any major upheavals when they were formalized. Shodokan Aikido, however, was controversial, since it introduced a unique rule-based competition that some felt was contrary to the spirit of aikido.^[17]

After Ueshiba’s death in 1969, two more major styles emerged. Significant controversy arose with the departure of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo’s chief instructor Koichi Tohei, in 1974. Tohei left as a result of a disagreement with the son of the founder, Kisshomaru Ueshiba , who at that time headed the Aikikai Foundation. The disagreement was over the proper role of ki development in regular aikido training. After Tohei left, he formed his own style, called Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, and the organization which governs it, the Ki Society (Ki no Kenkyūkai).^[21]

A final major style evolved from Ueshiba’s retirement in Iwama, Ibaraki, and the teaching methodology of long term student Morihiro Saito. It is unofficially referred to as the “Iwama style“, and at one point a number of its followers formed a loose network of schools they called Iwama Ryu. Although Iwama style practitioners remained part of the Aikikai until Saito’s death in 2002, followers of Saito subsequently split into two groups; one remaining with the Aikikai and the other forming the independent organization the Shinshin Aikishuren Kai, in 2004 around Saito’s son Hitohiro Saito.

Today, the major styles of aikido are each run by a separate governing organization, have their own headquarters (本部道場, honbu dōjō^?) in Japan, and have an international breadth.^[17]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido