| Why Aikido ? |
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Aikido is a truly beautiful art, and I don't think there is anyone who could not benefit from it. |
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O'Sensei's dream was a world where everyone studied Aikido, and it was his wish that everyone could experience this idea
of peace in a world without hate or prejudice. |
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Although this didn't happen in his lifetime, Aikido's popularity grows every day, and it is quite possible that eventually the
entire world will be exposed to it. |
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Please note the different term Aikido uses when referring to an opponent. Other styles see them as enemies, evil people that need
to be dealt with. Aikido tries to see these people as partners, people that we should care about and try to help. |
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By hurting him, breaking his body, he will only continue to feel anger towards you (obviously), however, if you can take that
aggression and show him that there is an alternate path, perhaps he will change his outlook on the situation. |
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It is ignorant to think you can change someone, and this is true, but I still hold the belief that it is possible to show someone
a different perspective, so that they may willingly, and of their own accord change themselves. This is the beauty of Aikido. |
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By controlling your opponent, showing an aggressor that we could have beaten him, without actually doing so, we show him that
there is another way of solving the conflict; that there are other answers. |
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Aikido is about peace and harmony, and not about learning how to fight. In fact it is more about learning how to avoid the fight. |
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Aikido has no competitions, no tournaments, something that many people find surprising, (there is one school of Aikido that views
tournaments as a beneficial addition to training, but this is not the norm. |
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This particular aspect of Aikido is continuously being debated. O'Sensei believed that the goal of Aikido is one of Non-Violence
and one of Non-Winning, and a tournament would go against that completely, as the only point of a tournament is to have a victor.
Others believe that tournaments are just a way to improve yourself, by practically testing your abilities. |
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It is all well and good to be able to perform the techniques in the dojo, in a controlled environment where your Uke
(person receiving the attack) is not fighting as hard as he could, but that it is different when fighting someone who
is trying to defeat you too, and these people feel that a true test of one's abilities can be had in a tournament. |
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Aikido is also different from many of the other styles because of the intense mental training involved, as well as physical
practice. Of course, any style of fighting requires intense mental work, but Aikido is different in that it requires you to
use it all of the time. Not just when you are at the dojo practicing, or when you are in a fight, it requires you to use it
in you everyday life. To avoid conflict by finding peaceful solutions to problems. Aikido is not a philosophy of conflict
or defense, it is more, a philosophy of life, and should be treated as such. What is learned in the class should be applied
in your everyday life.
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