The sphere of Martial Arts is one of the foremost contributions of Asia to the world. Who will forget Bruce Lee and the fact that he was first and foremost a martial arts athlete before being a movie star? Martial arts pictures are a huge hit with the ever-increasing popularity of Asian cinema like ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and more recently ‘The House of the Flying Daggers’.
The Chinese are the first nation that come to mind when it you think of such things, but the Japanese are just as sporty with a rich heritage of body contact sports in their past. Modern Japan still gives honor to the martial arts by holding tournaments and promoting their martial arts abroad,
One of these is Aikido. It is interesting to realize that the word comes from three Japanese characters from which one derives the meaning of the one word. Ai signifies ‘joining’, Ki signifies ‘spirit’ and Do means ‘way’. From this we can understand why Aikido lies beyond only the physical skills of it students, especially since its first proponent, Ueshiba, focused on the spiritual and philosophical improvement of his students.
In Aikido, one is not taught violence as a substitute, one is trained to be in concord with the opponent so that you are able to defeat him more easily. This might seem strange but it actually works. In approaching an opponent, the aim of the Aikido practitioner is to be one with the adversary so as to be able to tackle him where he is weakest and in so doing, deflect or immobilize him, but never to kill him.
This is where Aikido becomes an art form. Art is something beautiful to look at and something positive and Aikido is all that. At least one of the contestants involved in the fighting is striving for concord and harmony can only be achieved if there is grace in the actions. The moves may be calculated, but there is an air of elegance in performing these movements. Not a feminine grace, but a grace that emanates peace. The ‘art of peace’ is what they call it in Aikido and it is one of the most affirmative influences of Aikido on its students and to everyone else who chooses to learn about this Japanese martial art.
Some of the techniques in Aikido include the following techniques.
Ikkyo is the first technique. Using this technique, you control an opponent by using one hand to hold his elbow and one to hold near the wrist. This action is supposed to allow you to pin your enemy down to the ground.
Nikyo, the second technique, is when you perform a wrist lock that allows you to turn the arm of your opponent which will in turn cause nerve pressure.
Sankyo, the third technique, is a technique that creates upward-spiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder. There are many other techniques but the first three are enough to give you a basic idea.
In studying Aikido, it is vital to remember that, together with building physical strength, you will need to improve your mind to be able to overpower your opponent. Just like in any art form, it takes a lot of training and discipline to reach the summit of the art of Aikido. The important thing to remember is, that anyone who wants to get into the art, must have the resolve to give honor to the art by performing it in the best way possible.
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