Discovering The Blank Spaces In O Sensei Aikido

I am a terrific fan of O Sensei Aikido

I am a terrific fan of O Sensei Aikido. The art is genius. And, there is a terrible wrongness in it.

To understand what I am talking about by this oxymoronic statement one has to know where Morihei Ueshiba Aikido came from. Morihei Ueshiba studied many martial arts, and all must have contributed to his general fund of information. The main art behind aikido training, however, most people agree is Daito Ryu Aiki Ju Jitsu.

This form of jujitsu was founded a thousand years ago by a fellow named Yoshimitsu. There are different versions concerning the birth of this art. One version holds that the samurai who survived great battles were asked what techniques worked for them, and the other version has Yoshimitsu dissecting cadavers to understand jointlocks and such.

While there is probably truth in both stories, the total truth is obscured by history. One thing is sure, the art became very heavy in technique. The list of recorded techniques is somewhere between 3200 and 3500, depending upon which style of the school one is studying.

At any rate, it can be said that the Aikido of Morihei Ueshiba is not the entire art of Daito Ryu Ju Jitsu. The founder of aikido concentrated only on the movements which were aiki in nature, which were concerned with harmonious movements which flowed with the attack. Thus, one could reasonably make the case that Aikido is half of the total art of Daito Ryu.

To be honest, some techniques should be thrown away. After all, of what worth is a trick developed for a specific type of armor, or weapon, or tactic from a thousand years ago. The need for some ancient techniques will never be seen on a today's battlefields.

On the other hand, basic, bare boned techniques (atemi) which would end a fight with a single strike are left out and rarely mentioned. Thus, unless one is persistent enough to pursue Diato Ryu, or accumulate teachings in arts which relate to these specific types of strikes, one will never have the whole teachings behind Aikido. Thus, because of the absence of many non-flowing techniques, and the slant given to the martial arts, Aikido can be considered lacking as a martial art.

I say these things not to offend, but to educate. If you are satisfied with O Sensei Aikido, so be it and more power to you. If you wish to explore further, and find the things that are not being taught in your Aikido Dojo, however, you will find the journey much richer.

by: Al Case

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