Job Discussion Forums

[Mingvase]

It doesn't have to be expensive to set up a room in Tokyo. 87000yen for this room for example including deposit.
http://tokyo.craigslist.jp/roo/5444168191.html

or this 86000yen
http://tokyo.craigslist.jp/roo/5444168221.html

you don't need big key money to set up if you just want a room.

[TokyoLiz]

Mingvase hasn't set foot in Japan yet, and is giving advice...

[spiral78]

Yes - and is highly unlikely ever to get there: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=113289

[rxk22]

[TokyoLiz]

Rxk22, I get what you mean about not using the martial art in a meaningful way. When I was younger, I sparred with hanbo, tanto, and unarmed, and it is a wake up call to the reality of your own effectiveness.

At my best, in my early 30s, I trained 10 hours a week and did a lot of cycling. I consumed a lot of calories.

Men need to keep an eye on protein intake, and women on iron. I learned from women dojo members that all of us at all ages struggle with hinketsu, iron deficiency, and we remedy it with iron supplements and cruciferous vegetables - chingensai, broccoli, hakusai, etc.

[fluffyhamster]

I know sparring (free ~) isn't quite the same thing as competition, but it often leads in that direction. In that regard, I found the following article quite interesting:
http://aikidojournal.com/2011/07/19/martial-arts-practice-and-the-deceived-mind-by-stanley-pranin-2/

I have no time however for bespectacled geeks going on about or certainly implying how deadly the techniques they use really are (or would be) and how they couldn't enter something like MMA without killing somebody (see for example Joe Rogan's podcast with an aikidoka). I'd probably need a gun (well, long-range sniper rifle) to take out ranked fighters. Best to avoid them, let alone suggesting one could go toe to toe with them! Shinobi no mono desu LOL.

A good balance to me lies in those systems that have well thought-out, reasonably realistic drills (pre-arranged sparring) - see for example the stuff that Patrick McCarthy's Koryu Uchinadi does. It certainly beats those arts that have plenty of kihon and jiyu-kumite or randori but little in between.

[Lamarr]

I've done aikido for over 10 years in total, and would say that, if you want to fight, don't do aikido. You might learn some useful techniques to apply to whatever other art you're doing, but the whole purpose of aikido is to avoid fighting, the ideal being to develop a mental awareness that senses and takes steps to neutralize and avoid danger, and causes an enemy to lose the desire to attack or kill you (or not even entertain it in the first place). You might have to spend quite some time practising and experiencing it though before you start to grasp an understanding of how that's possible.

The aikido guy that Rogan scoffs at in that challenge video they watch is only a 4th Dan, which isn't a level of mastery anyway. TBH, I think that guy is getting a bit above himself going into a challenge match like that at that level. I'm not too sure what he's trying to prove (except for making himself look like a tw*t).

[fluffyhamster]

One thing that got me with the aikidoka Rogan was talking to was how he couldn't remember or didn't know O-Sensei's name. As for the challenge clip, aikido or similar techniques can be quite effective on the ground (perhaps moreso than when standing!), provided of course one knows basics like getting into the guard position if taken down. For example, didn't...Royce Gracie? kote-gaeshi...Akebono? into a submission. And I once managed to nikyo~sankyo a good wrestler off me after pinning his right arm against my chest and twisting to my left while in the guard position (I called it "Bye bye nage" LOL).

[steki47]

[Lamarr]

That guy doesn't seem very well up on it. "A video of O Sensei from the seventies" would be quite difficult as he died in 1969 (unless he thinks he came back from the dead). Plus he talks about being grabbed in a bar, but someone with a certain level of aikido wouldn't reach the point where that happened.

The only real way to test out how good your aikido technique is would be to have somebody coming at you with a 100% intention of killing you. In other words, in an actual hand-to-hand combat situation in a war, where, if you got it wrong, you'd be dead. Gozo Shioda of the Yoshinkan describes his experiences of using aikido like that, and credits it with saving his life a few times.

I find the most useful aspects of it are the ones you apply to your everyday life. By studying how to deal with someone trying to kill you (which is what it's based on), you tend to stay on top of and in control of "testing" situations better (a tough day at work, money issues, dealing with difficult people, things like that) rather than letting things get on top of and controlling you. That's something you can get a grasp of earlier on, even at the white-belt levels. The dojo discipline and focus also tends to make you better organized, keep your living space tidier and in better order, that sort of thing.

He does make one good point about developing self-control. One of my teachers described a situation in a bar where a guy was beating up on another guy, and his teacher who he was with went up to the guy and just rested his hand gently on his arm and started talking to him, then walked outside with him, calming the situation down without actually having to do a physical technique. That's what it's all about. Of course, it takes years to develop the self-control and assurance to be able to do that.

[Lamarr]

[fluffyhamster]

Ooh yes, O-Sensei from the '70s, I forgot about that booboo! Someone in the comments also picks up on that IIRC.

[rxk22]

Fluffy,
That article was, OK, but the comments. They were nuts. It is not Roman era gladiators, it is MMA, and injuries are no where near as ruinous as they make them seem. I have even one a MMA bout with essentially being only hit by pitter patter shots. I could have had a rest, some water and done it again in 10 mins.

That said, situational sparring, and my biggest problem with Aikido, having partners who realistically try and attack and defend.
Free sparring on it's won is not that great. You never get good any any but your best tech.
Honestly, most Aikidoka are so far into the clouds, they are basically the fruitcakes of martial arts. Some neat stuff in t, but it is cultish, and insular at best

[rxk22]

[Lamarr]