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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=235 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="ed246283.jpg"> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="10" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="208" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#999980" BORDERCOLORDARK="#666600" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF HEIGHT= 305 ><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="11acaf520.png" border=0 width="175" height="82" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="South Austin Aikido"><B>Home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="what_s_new.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats New"><B>Whats New</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="2006_events.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2006 Events"><B>Events</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="about_aikido.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Aikido"><B>About Aikido</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="about_our_dojo.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Our Dojo"><B>About Us</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="stories.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stories"><B>Media</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><B>Links</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="contact_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><B>Contact Us</B></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="b3876763.jpg"> <div> <B>New Essay</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>What makes Aikido So difficult to learn? </B></div> <div> <B>By Jay Lindholm </B></div> <bR> <div> At first a beginning student might think, the difficulty comes from the necessity to coordinate the movement of two people as opposed to simply controlling ones' own movement as done in more traditional martial arts. The difficulty of Aikido lies much deeper than simply controlling movement. In fact, that very logic creates an attitude that ultimately limits Aikido development. The idea of control must itself be questioned. In other words, the difficulty of learning Aikido as compared to other martial arts stems from our own misconceptions of what it is we are doing. </div> <bR> <div> When we think of a martial art we immediately think of defending ourselves by facing our attackers and defeating them. This “me versus him” mentality creates a conflict or an idea of fighting back. I must throw or pin my Uke or partner. Since Nage’s movement depends solely on the energy provided by Uke, once Nage thinks he must do something to Uke the dynamics reverse. By intentionally adding energy, the Nage and Uke's roles reverse all from simply an idea of control. Nage should sense Uke’s energy and blend drawing the energy into his center and moving into a position which leads Uke to a point of no return. In order for this to happen, Nage must let go of the ego which drives the need to have a sense of accomplishment or control over Uke. The control over ones own ego leads to a development of the spirit. In this way, Aikido develops a strong mind, body and spirit. The loss of ego however, requires trust. The ego is such a part of our mental self defense system that it is very difficult to navigate around. The ego resurfaces many times during our practice creating many obstacles along the way. The ego prevents us from learning as quickly as we question and find fault when presented new ideas of how to train or new ways to look at a particular technique. This part of Aikido rarely is seen in other martial arts where one trains to vanquish opponents in any way possible.</div> <bR> <div> To kick or strike an opponent or cause injury by some type of wrist lock can be done regardless of what position the opponent is in. However, in Aikido, it is necessary to connect with the Uke’s center to appropriately apply a technique. If Nage moves with an intention of control, the ability to blend with Uke and sense direction and intention are soon lost and replaced instead by Nages own energy. The technique becomes muscular and disjointed resulting in what could be called “grab and yank” Aikido. In order to properly blend with an attack, we must move without a sense of self but with a connection to Uke. The ideals of Aikido are goals all martial artists should strive for as they are the essence of true Budo. However, these goals do make the training and development very difficult for any student of Aikido. These difficulties are felt in the form of frustration as ones ego fights back for control over us. Many practitioners quit after only a few weeks or months of training. Only a small percentage of students that begin practicing Aikido ever complete a full year of training. Those who stick it out through the frustration develop a renewed sense of self which is much stronger than when they began their training. If you ask any advanced student, he will tell you that Aikido has made him a better person. This goes well beyond the training received in other martial arts. The drawback is that Aikido is also much more difficult since it requires us to devote ourselves to the training without regard for our own egos. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="stories.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stories"><B>Return to Stories</B></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>