Ben Sensei on Aiki

Commentaries by Ben Haryo

Some of the interesting points from the above article by Mr. Tobin E. Threadgill:

1. Aikido is a MODERN martial art, thus it is NOT a Koryu, NOT a battlefield martial art, and thus was NOT used by Samurai in actual fighting.


2. Aikido is NOT Daito-ryu. Uyeshiba sensei, after receiving a high teaching license in Daito-ryu, was converted to the Shinto religion of Rev. Onisaburo Deguchi, and thus he LEFT Daito-ryu and form his own style, which does NOT emphasize battlefield techniques, but to teach SHINTO ideals!



3. Daito-ryu is not THE battlefield art of Aizu Warrior Clan! It was DEVELOPED by Takeda sensei by synthesizing various Aizu clan techniques AFTER the Meiji Era! So if Daito-ryu was synthesized in the late 1880s by Takeda sensei then Daito-ryu technically cannot be considered as true Koryu!. According to Sato Kinbei sensei (www.jujutsu.com), the best documented battlefield art of the Aizu Warrior clan is Asayama Ichiden-ryu, and it does share many similar techniques with Daito-ryu.



4. "AIKI" is not a magical or mystical concept! Aiki simply means a set of techniques which "employed mental inertia, disruption and involuntary reflex to defeat ones opponent", taken from Kenjutsu. Aiki Jujutsu simply means using Aiki tactics to enhance Jujutsu techniques, while Aiki no Jutsu is the methods of employing mental inertia, disruption and involuntary reflex to defeat one's opponent".



5. Aiki no Jutsu is NOT a monopoly of Daito-ryu and Aikido, because Kenjutsu concepts are employed by many other martial arts traditions as well, for example Shindo Yoshin-ryu, Yagyu Shingan-ryu, and many more.



6. However! Aiki Jujutsu IS a monopoly of Daito-ryu, so any martial art schools calling themselves Aiki Jujutsu but without having any legitimate connection to Daito-ryu is, technically speaking, NOT true Aiki Jujutsu!



8. BUT! A point of debate must be considered here though. First of all, there is nothing wrong with mixing some Aikido with strikes and practical Judo self-defense tricks, and calling them "Aiki Jujutsu", which is really Aiki(do with) Ju(do Goshin)jutsu added. So this is just an abbreviation. What is wrong is, if a school of "Aiki Jujutsu" which came from Aiki(do with) Ju(do Goshin)jutsu (added) suddenly decided to claim Daito-ryu lineage. This is illegitimate!!!



9. Aiki no Waza is more a study of mental and physical dynamics rather than true self-defense! Therefore, if a complete beginner wants to learn self-defense, don't go directly to learn Aiki arts! But rather, you have to learn something else first, like Judo, Karate or Kendo, then you can gradually learn Aiki no Waza and use them to enhance your existing techniques! All great Aikido masters started this way. Minoru Mochizuki, Kenji Tomiki and Gozo Shioda, all of them was highly experienced in Judo, Jujutsu, Sumo and Kendo before studying Aikido with Uyeshiba sensei.


10. Nevertheless, we should be able to take any style/school/Dojo that fits to our liking! Lineage or training method is NOT the most important thing! The most important thing is how much you enjoy the training!



Mr. Tobin E. Threadgill’s article was taken from one of the forums of www.e-budo.com (I forgot which).