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The subject of oriental Martial Arts is one of the most memorable presents of Asia to the world. Who will not remember that Bruce Lee was first and principally a martial arts athlete before becoming a film star?
Martial arts pictures are a colossal hit with the ever-rising popularity of Asian cinema like 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'The House of the Flying Daggers'.
The Chinese are the first nation that come to mind if you think of such sports, but the Japanese are equally as sporty with a rich heritage of body contact sports in their past. Modern Japan still gives honour to the martial arts by holding tournaments and advertising their martial arts in foreign countries.
Aikido is one of these. It is fascinating to note the fact that the word comes from three Japanese characters from which is derived the one word. Ai is 'joining', Ki is 'spirit' and Do is 'way'.
From this we can see why Aikido lies beyond just the physical skills of it students, particularly since its first advocate, Ueshiba, focused on the spiritual and philosophical development of his students.
In Aikido, one is not educated in violence rather, one is trained to be in harmony with the opponent so that you are able to defeat him more easily. This might appear strange but it really works.
When approaching an opponent, the objective 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 constructive and Aikido is all that. At least one of the contestants concerned in the combat is searching for concord and concord can only be achieved if there is grace in the actions.
The moves may be premeditated, but there is an air of elegance in performing these actions. Not a feminine grace, but a grace that emanates peace. The 'art of peace' is what they call it in Aikido.
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 moves in Aikido involve the following:
Ikkyo is the first process. Using this technique, you direct an adversary 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 adversary down to the ground.
Nikyo, the second technique, is when you perform a wrist lock which empowers you to twist the arm of your adversary 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 numerous other techniques but the first three are enough to give you a basic insight.
When studying Aikido, it is crucial to remember that, together with building physical strength, you will have to improve your mind to become able to overpower your antagonist. Just| like in any other art form, it takes a lot of training and discipline to reach the summit of the art of Aikido.
The vital thing to keep in mind is that anyone who wants to get into the art must have the resolve to give honour to the art by performing it in the best manner that they can.
We are all being encouraged to get out more frequently, so many people are looking for a reason for doing it. You could choose a spectator sport like football, but that is not really going to do your body much good, you should be looking for a participation sport.
If you are younger, then play soccer by all means, but if you are getting on a bit, you will most likely be looking for a sport that is not quite so strenuous. Men like to aim and shoot things even if not kill them. Golf is an option, but I want to recommend that you give archery a try.
Archery has the edge over shooting a gun because it requires some physical fitness. It is not just a question of pulling, sorry, squeezing a trigger. If you take up archery, you will most likely want to develop some more upper-body strength, especially if the heaviest work you have done for the last twenty years is pick up a pen.
Archery is an all-round sport in many ways, depending on how much you get into it. The majority of beginners will start out by going to an archery club and joining in for the day. People will lend them a bow and teach them the safety aspects and the correct way to hold a bow and shoot an arrow. This should give you a good notion of which sort of bow you would like.
After a week or two, you might buy your own bow and you might move from indoor target archery to outdoor target archery or even field archery, which is virtual hunting. From there, you will almost certainly meet people who take archery a stage further. You will meet competition archers, bow hunters and people who assemble their own equipment.
You may find one of these aspects of archery fascinating. You may take up bow hunting or even bow fishing. This will take you off at a tangent, because you will have to learn about the animals that you stalk. You will have to learn where they live and what their habits are. This involves research.
Or you can take up the archery counterpart to clay pigeon shooting, which is known as field archery. In field archery, the archers walk around a course and model animals or standard targets will become visible at diverse distances. This is fun.
You will also meet people who like to make their own arrows and even their own bows. This is another interesting feature of archery. You can purchase the different components that go to make up an arrow and you can buy a kit to assemble a bow or you can start from scratch with an axe, a knife and a lathe. Again you will need to do a lot of research, in order to get your archery equipment just the way you want it.
This will take you down yet another tangent to archery, but it will enhance your understanding of archery, augment your enjoyment of the sport and, as they say, add another string to your bow.
Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is presently involved with longbows for sale. If you would like to know more or for special deals, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.
The word 'Aikido' is produced by the combination of three characters in the Japanese language. 'Ai', which means 'joining'; 'ki', which means 'spirit' and 'do', which which means 'way'. These three words in fact actualy do encapsulate the essence of Aikido as a type of martial art: 'the joining of the spirit to find the way'. It was only in the period from 1930's to the 1940's that the name Aikido was officially accepted as the name of this martial art variety.
Aikido utilizes methods that do not fatally injure or kill unlike other kinds of martial art. The techniques and skills being taught are solely intended to divert attention or stop people. This is possibly the reason why most people prefer Aikido, due to its concentration on peace and harmony as opposed to violence and hostility. In deed, Aikido developer, Morihei Ueshiba, believes that to be in command of hostility without causing any injury is the art of peace.
Ueshiba, who is also called Osensei, which signifies 'Great Teacher', developed Aikido from the principles of Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu. He integrated the ways of the 'yari', the spear; the 'juken', the bayonet; and the 'jo', which is a short quarterstaff. But what finally distinguishes Aikido from other kinds of martial art is the fact that its practitioners can strike while empty-handed. Proponents need no weaponry for their protection.
As a young child, he was greatly into physical fitness and conditioning. This was because of his promise to avenge his father's attackers. In due course, his studies and actions led him to the discipline of the various martial arts. He studied a few of them. He even has certificates for fencing, fighting with spears, etc. He has learned it all. This is maybe the reason why Aikido is such a disparate and multi-disciplinary sort of martial art.
Yet despite his knowledge, he remained discontented. He felt that there was still something lacking. It was then that he turned to the religions. He studied under a religious guide, Onisaburo Deguchi of the sect named Omoto-kyo in Ayabe. Deguchi trained him to take care of his psychic development. He then pooled his spiritual beliefs and his mastery of the different martial arts and Aikido was formed.
His relationship with this fascinating spiritual leader Deguchi also paved the path for his introduction to the elite political and military personnel as a martial artist. Because of this association, he was able to launch Aikido and even pass on his knowledge to students, who have, in turn, developed their own methods and movement in Aikido.
Aikido is a blend of the diverse techniques of jujitsu as well as some of the techniques of sword and spear fighting, of which Ueshiba was an expert. To get an general idea, Aikido combines the joint locks and throws of jujitsu and the techniques of the body necessary when fighting with swords and spears.
Oriental in origin, it was brought to the West by Minoru Mochizuki when he visited France in 1951. He introduced the Aikido techniques to students who were studying judo. In 1952, Tadashi Abe came to France as the official Aikikai Honbu spokesperson. Then in 1953, Kenji Tomiki toured throughout the United States while Koichi Tohei stayed in Hawaii for a full year where he set up a dojo. Aikido then spread its influence in the United Kingdom two years after and in 1965, it reached Germany and Australia. At present, Aikido has centres all over the world.
