The first time I was exposed to Aikido was shortly after Steven Seagal came out with his movie, Above The Law, in 1988. For those of you who may not know, Mr. Seagal is responsible for bringing the art to the big screen and no matter what people may say or think about him, he is the real deal. He was the first Anglo to open dojo in Japan and I know for a fact that there is truth behind his claims that people came and challenged him. I know, because my teacher, Isoyama Shihan (master teacher) told me about it 30 years ago. Isoyama-san, as I understand, trained Seagal for several years and the two are, to my knowledge, still good friends. Seagal's personal style of Aikido is known as Tenshin, which means "heart of heaven." It is a very technical style of Aikido and linear, unlike many other iterations of the art. If you watch some of his early movies or a few documentaries on him, you'll see just about every technique is a sword cut.
The Aikido that I studied under my teachers in Misawa was the art honed by Isoyama-san; linear, fast, powerful and harsh. There was no laughing, minimal conversation and very little consideration for how the techniques made your training partner feel. Once you understood the basics and came on a regular basis, it was more or less expected that you gave 100% on every attack and you would receive 100% of the technique. That often meant being thrown quickly and powerfully, along with joint locks and pins that were brutally humbling. I never attended a class where I was not in moderate or severe pain - momentary, of course, but the point was, if you were going to use this in a real situation, you had to train for that. Our teachers didn't force that kind of dedication on everyone, but the more you were willing to put yourself through, the more you learned. I found this to be a common theme in other arts I studied while we lived in Japan.
It is well-known that Japanese martial arts (budo) focus on continuous improvement of the mind, body and spirit. If you want to become proficient in any type of martial form, you have to put in the time, the reps, the sweat and yes, the pain. You have to be willing to accept the fact that it's going to hurt...it's supposed to hurt. Close-quarter combat training is not meant to be a pleasurable experience; it is designed to save your life and perhaps the life of another. Like all other martial arts, the original intent of Aikido was exactly that; close-quarter combat. As with Judo, Aikido's roots in Jujutsu and Aikijujutsu are pretty brutal and final. The warriors who created these techniques faced death all the time, usually at the end of a sword or spear. As archaic as those weapons sound today, there is still a lot we can learn from the basic footwork, distance and mental focus required to execute them. There is a lot of crossover. At least, there can be.
The problem with Aikido is the same problem with other martial arts that have been promoted and proliferated. Devastating arts such as Karate, Tae Kwon Do, even Kung Fu have lost much of their clout because the harsh standards have been set aside to allow for greater numbers of students. It's really that simple. This is one of the reasons why newer forms like MMA and Brazilian Jujitsu have become so popular; you simply can't enter many of those schools and complain about someone being "too rough" or their lack of control. And, if you don't take it seriously, and your fitness seriously, for that matter, you won't last long. Unfortunately, I have come across many Aikidoka that spend so much time trying to protect and perfect the "art" that they lose site of the original intent behind the techniques. I find this especially true in people who have never studied another martial art. Some of the best Aikido people I've ever met had training in at least one other discipline that posed a serious threat of injury.
For example, most of my teachers in Japan were members of the Japanese military and were required to participate in at least one martial art as part of their job. I know several people who studied Kendo, or Japanese fencing. You've probably seen these folks with large helmets and shoulder pads, whacking each other with a bamboo sword known as, shinai. I tried Kendo a couple times and I can tell you, it really hurts. You'd think all those pads and gear would feel like bubble wrap, but man, it hurts, especially the wrists...a primary target. You get your wrists shwuacked a couple times and you think twice about going in. And what does that have to do with the "soft" art of Aikido? Plenty. In Kendo, you learn how to deal with immediate pain and the fear of someone swinging at you. You lean that your opponent is not going to comply and let you hit him; no, that guy is going to hit you first if he can. And, he'll hit you hard. And...it will hurt.
Like any serious martial art, Aikido should have certain elements; fear, fatigue, respect, realism and pain. If you don't have those in some shape or form, you're just dancing. It's like having a gun with no bullets or knife without a sharp, pointy blade. The way you achieve those things is to be diligent in your training and align yourself with people who won't cut you any slack. They do you far more of a favor than someone who falls beautifully for you all the time.
Life lessons come in all forms.
Dave Magliano
Tatsu Dojo
Jissenkan Budo
Dojo Cho