Learning To Be Silent

Awesome Carl.

I guess what I mean by Aikido not leaving you a choice is what you meant by “well if i cause harm, its not aikido” explanation.

And also in saying that Aikido is passive, well to me it is, considering where I came from. To me, receiving, or even entering in to receive an attack and using the opponents momentum to redirect them into the ground or throw, is more passive than blocking the punch, kicking them in the stomach and when they are doubled over gasping for air, hit them with the ridge of your hand in their temple.

I see aikido as dynamic, perhaps equally or even more dynamic than Tang Soo Do. But for me, peaceful intent = passiveness. Which is not a bad thing, thats why I enjoy it so much and have a want to learn it Cuz’ despite my hard shell im just a great big softy deep down..

To expand a bit on your peaceful intent=passiveness.

As counter examples, what about Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.?

They were both men of peace, and yet their actions effected great social change. Would you consider them passive?

I’m sure grassHopper also has something to add, given the recent celebration of perhaps the most transformational, and peaceful, figure in Western Civilization.

Why stop there dichotomy?

If you really want to get old school, you can’t beat a knife.
Unless, of course, you have a gun.
Or a grenade.
Or a tank.
Or the Bomb.

What we do is not about fighting. It is about not fighting.

He he. I can identify w/ Carl in some respects. I learned karate when I was little and inherited this wild-I’m-going-to-kill-you-if-you-touch me instinct from my parents. But honestly, I’ve come to a point where I’m trying to narrow what exactly it is that I believe when it comes to my personal self-defense mindset. Jesus did thrash the temple, and He encouraged his disciples to carry swords. The weird/cool part is, they never had to use them.

Of course. I am a Christian aikidoka myself. Aren’t you? I do see the parallels; it’s kind of hard not to notice them. Sort of like what C.S Lewis said when he said this: “The Lord placed in every culture and peoples, within their religion or customs, a piece of Himself so that they might find their way back to Christ.” I’ve been putting this discussion off for a while. But, like I said, I’ve found lately that I’m not actually not sure exactly what it is that I believe when it comes to my self-defense mindset. I’m holding to this right now.

LOL
When I quoted that CS Lewis quote back on Tonya’s blog 6 months ago you argued with me. hehe full circle

Personally,I don’t really care about self defense. I never started Aikido thinking, “I’m learning to defend myself for serious!!” I started thinking, “This is interesting,I am curious what this is all about.”
I still have the same mind set. I never carried the delusion that I was going to be some kind of martial master. I just like to throw people.

*does a happy dance*

I’ve always thought that if I was able to go through life without ever having to throw a single punch or kick than I would of had a good life.

But I understand that wont happen…not in the career I’m going into.

That’s why I am hard on myself when I train. That’s why, when preparing for 4th kyu, Jerry was begging me to take a break and get off my knees seeing that they were bleeding, and I grunted a “no”. My life, or someone Else’s may depend on what I have learned. So, gotta be ready…

Having the capability to cause harm, but the ability to choose not too…for me, is harmony…

Not to pick, but talk to Dee sometime about her training injuries.

My first trip to NY, very first class, one hour of suwari-waza. On synthetic tatami, which is an order of magnitude harder than the wrestling mats we train on. And on and on.

And I walked to school uphill, both ways, in the snow.

Get off my lawn!

I was referring to your Aikido training, not Tang Soo Do. As you know, I have no standing to comment on your other martial experiences. Aikido, on the other hand….

When you said “begged” it got me in a (bit of a) dander. Not to minimize your injury, I just wanted to bring some perspective.

Peace, brother!

sorry poor choice of words…should of said…”insisted”

no…

depends on how you look at it…flowers are also, delicate, frail, and easily burned…

whatever helps you sleep at night…”aikiflower”

I’ve actually thought about adopting the term ‘aikiflower’ as a feminist badge of martial art honor. LOL I’ll train hard and show the boys what an ‘aikiflower’ can accomplish.

lol didnt think it was

I have considered the overall outline of the topic of this thread, from harmony, soft, hard, passive and of course the personal religious patterns or balancing the martial arts and religion.

I consider my study of Aikido and martial arts in general as physical exercise. I chose the “arts”, again, because I know I’m not going to the gym nor am I going to strike out to walk thirty minutes every other day. I have studied some form of the “arts” from age 11 and it truly interest me. In my younger days, because I was fascinated by Bruce Lee. Today, as stated previously, I study because of the physical aspects of it, but there is another reason; it is dog gone interesting. Positioning, angle, strike points and the like, I find extremely interesting.

From striking to harmonizing, I find a balance between the two. There is a time to strike, particularly for the defense of others. Harmonizing, for my own personal defense. I leave it at that, in fear of opening a can of worms.

Balancing the “arts” with one’s religious beliefs could be difficult for some, but not for this writer. As a pastor of a church, I don’t broadcast that I am studying the “arts” nor do I hide it.

Probably the most notable fight in the Bible belongs to David and Goliath. We know the story, but the background of that battle says a lot about preparation. David, as most of us know, was a sheppard. He was most likely a middle teens teenager. When King Saul asked David what made him think he could defeat Goliath, David expounded upon his earlier training. Although, God blessed and protected David, he trained. He trained with his sheppard’s staff, his hands and his sling. David told King Saul, on two occasions he killed wild animals (lion and bear) with his hands. He would not have been able to do this unless he had been training in some way. He had to be physically fit and know something about how to attack.

When David approached Goliath, a man which stood over nine feet, David took his sling and put it to work. We know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. I propose David had trained with his sling.

In another biblical example, God told Israel, when a much larger force was about to attack, to put on their battle array and go to face the enemy. Israel did just that. They prepared for battle, went to face the enemy, but they never had to raise a hand, for God cause the enemy of Israel to kill themselves.

In these two examples, I am taking nothing away from God’s power and ability, but what I am pointing out is, I believe, God teaches us to be prepared and show up. I do not believe that God requires everyone to study the “arts”. People tend to lean toward their personalities. Some like the challenge of the mat and other do not and that’s okay.

The point I’m trying to make is this; it is the mind set or heart set. If an individual studies the “arts” for the purpose of fighting, then it is the wrong heart set. If a person studies the “arts” with the love of his fellow man in his or her heart, then the heart is in the right place.

I use to love sparring and still do (lovin randori), to a point. Years ago, it was about defeating an opponent with a devastating blow as quickly as possible. Today, I am more interested in the quality of the technique than the devastation factor. Although, devastating can be very cool.

Chris

Thanks Mr. Chris.