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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
THE ROLE OF WEAPONS TRAINING IN AIKIDO
Weapons training is an integral part of learning Aikido at ShinKiKan. Many students ask when they will begin training with weapons, and the answer is...SOON. It could be the first day of class or the second, since we try and integrate weapons into most every class, to help demonstrate the key techniques in aikido.
Training with weapons opens our eyes to the importance of getting out of the way. If a fist hits you, it may or may not hurt, if a weapon hits you, it will hurt! So when you have someone standing in front of you holding a wooden sword, about to strike at you it will change the way you see an attack. The attack will become more important and the importance of executing the technique will be more relevant.
To think that your skull could get cracked with one swing is a bit intimidating. Performing under pressure is important, making the attacks as realistic as possible, without anyone getting injured of course, is extremely important. This forces us to move, and to move out of the way. This movement is what Aikido is mostly about. To turn you hips to get you out of the way so that you can redirect an attack to subdue it. You can’t just jump out of the way or block the strike, because that will simply lead to a counter movement or attack. The idea is to completely allow the attack to come through, like a baseball batter trying to hit a home run then missing the ball. He is swung out of balance. We want to swing the attacker off balance with his own force, not ours. This means that the attacker must think he/she is about to hit you.
Focus, Focus and Focus. Focus your mind and move in a way that makes him believe he/she is about to hit you. This requires you to harmonize with the attack. You can’t move faster or slower than the attacker, you have to move with the attacker. Focus on being patient. Focus on Courage. Focus on Faith. Focus on Your Center. These values will help you, perform the technique without getting hit. There’s a Famous Japanese saying, “One Strike, One Kill.” So when someone is striking down, make sure you are not there to be killed.
- Erik Sasha Calderon
Dojo-chou
Shinkikan
Houston TX
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