Aikido propaganda catchphrases

**cyrijl** · Posted On: 3/14/2007 7:25am

i found the picture and customized it for aikido sux month.

You all forgot the #1 catchphrase:
"Nobody I know can fight, but O Sensei was the greates fighter of all time. People would challenge him and then just quit because they could tell he was so powerful"

And
"Kano said Aikido was the 'ideal budo'"

This last one drives me nuts. I looked up all the references I could find. Kano, a man in his 70's, went to an aikido demonstration and said this is the ideal budo. I think what he meant was "In an ideal world this would be great, everyone runs like an idiot at you full speed and falls when you turn" Of course, there is no one alive who hear that statement and there are conflicting reports. I somehow doubt that someone who believe techniques should be trained in full resistance would fall over and do a 180.

**Beatdown Richie** · Posted On: 3/14/2007 12:20pm

One more:

"There will always be someone stronger than you, so you shouldn't rely on strength. Work on your technique and spirit instead."
There will also always be someone with better technique and more spirit, so I figure you might as well give up.

**Beatdown Richie** · Posted On: 3/14/2007 2:34pm

And one more:

"Those who criticise aikido have no idea what it's about, and should train for a few years before they comment."
I trained that crap for five years, is that enough?
"What, you trained for five years before you realized it's not for you? Are you stupid?"

**Virus** · Posted On: 3/14/2007 2:34pm

"Aikido used to be hardcore."

The available footage of old aikido certifiably confirms that.

**cyrijl** · Posted On: 3/14/2007 2:40pm

I love how the showing of old aikido videos just shows how compliance is nothing new to aikido.

**ergo** · Posted On: 3/14/2007 3:03pm

Originally Posted by Sith_Lord

"If he has a gun, pivot your hips out of the way, then turn the gun back towards him"
- Wouldn't an attacker just blow your head off if you move?

No, guns don't magically kill people if they move. It's not stupid just because it's included in aikido. Any defense technique againts a handgun requires you to move yourself out of the way. You might as well say that trying to dodge a punch is useless because... well, wouldn't the attacker just punch you?

**Virus** · Posted On: 3/14/2007 11:46pm

Originally Posted by cyrijl

I love how the showing of old aikido videos just shows how compliance is nothing new to aikido.

To understand the mind of those that practice the "traditional martial arts" you have to understand the concept of "teh real".

There are several types of t3h real, they can be:

Temporal: "Aikido used to be real hardcore back in the day"

Geographical: "If you want to see the real stuff, you have to go to Japan. The western stuff is watered down"

Individual: "Only Sensei X is doing the real stuff. Everyone else is just LARPing"

Lineage: "If they didn't train under the sifu X lineage , it's not the real stuff" (popular in _ing _un circles)

There is also another type of teh real which is popular with people exposed to material such as MMA though events like UFC, Pride, KOTC ect. and that is the Technical teh real. This type of teh real is built on a presupposition that a non-functional style is in an initial "dormant" state, and can be made "active" by the addition of elements of currently "active" styles. The concept is not unlike a chemical reaction, where a single reactant does nothing by itself, but with the addition of another reactant, we get a desired product. In this case the desired product is the teh real version of the art. This additions to the dead style can be training methods, specific techniques or technical substitutions. The substitutions can be either specifically from functional styles, or arbitrary modifications to foot position, stance height, hand position ect.

It could be said that most individuals doing "traditonal" martial arts on this board, hold a perception of thier art which is shaped by one or more types of the above mentioned teh reals, and each post which argues in defense of that style, in essence contains one or more of these teh reals.

It must also be stated, that the teh real exists because it serves a function to the individual that holds one. Firstly, any type of teh real can be used to dismiss all of the available evidence and render it invalid. Secondly, it gives hope that there can one day be a revival of the art in its teh real state. For example, It's much easier to believe that wing chun is potentially effective, if you already assume that it used to be so in history. (temporal teh real)

**GRAB MY WRIST** · Posted On: 3/15/2007 12:19am

GMW thinks Virus is having a perenial aiki-butt plug (tm) up his arse...

GMW

**cyrijl** · Posted On: 3/15/2007 6:53am

<aikidoka devil's advocate>
oh but virus, how can we mere mortals ever truly speak of the real. if you choke out an aikidoka, is he really an enemy? is he really 'choked out'?

what does it mean to be choked out? isn't this a form of meditation? a time for reflection?
once when i was larping i choked myself out and front rolled out of the way of a speeding bus. my life is in complete harmony. I live in my alcoholic mom's basement and pratice my iaido on her cats
</aikidoka devil's advocate>