Has Aikido
Become the Next Karate Already?
(Extracted from Aikido-L)
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 15:46:47 +0100
From: "James R. Acker"
Subject: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
[ * Moderator: Cut * ]
And it made me wonder if Aikido has become so mainstream that it is becoming
cliche, like the Mc Dojos of suburbia. Is it that mainstream now? Or just in the
San Francisco bay area? I seem to recall folks just recently mentioning how they
tell friends what aikido IS even....something doesn't jibe here...
I know it sounds judgemental, but I can't decide if I think that is a good thing
or a bad thing...
Jim
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Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 15:47:28 -0600
From: Kevin Beck
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
[ * Moderator: Cut * ]
Just last while working out at the gym a guy the aikido t-shirt I was wearing
and asked me if aikido was like TDK. Mind you this is a gym in the University of
Texas where the intramural aikido group practices. He was wearing gi and kicking
the tar out of a heavy bag over in the corner.
I was stretching on the mats and just admiring the speed and force he was
kicking with.
However, I was really astounded to hear that he had no idea what aikido was and
yet appeared to be a martial artist of some sort.
At least it's better than the person who asked me if aikido was "that Chinese
flower arranging thingie".
-Kevin
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Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 17:05:12 -0600
From: Michael Hacker
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
I have found that more Americans than Japanese, on average, at least know that
Aikido is a marshull art. My first teacher was in a bar ("warming down" from
keiko, I believe), when an aikido demo came on the TV. The guy sitting next to
him said, "Oh, so THAT'S aikido."
I think he assumed it was some sort of religion.
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Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 18:21:51 -0500
From: Jon C Strauss
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
Howdy,
> I have found that more Americans than Japanese, on
> average, at least know that Aikido is a marshull art.
Oh yeah?
Here's what I get all the time--even from folks who know better:
"Hey Jon, what's the name of that karate-stuff you do?"
or...
New employee introducing him/herself: "My name is <insert name>, I'm a retail
food inspector, I've got a spouse, (X number of) kids, and I also do <insert the
name of ANY martial art>."
Fellow employee: "Really? Strauss does that same stuff too."
or (my favorite)...
"So Jon, did you do any of that Tae Kwon Do this weekend."
IME, Aikido has a lo-o-ong way to go.
Peace,
JCS
RMKS at CSU
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Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 17:33:37 -0600
From: Michael Hacker
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
Dad always used to call Hapkido "Hop and Kick" while I was doing it in
highschool. Now he calls pretty much everything "Tae Kwon Leap."
I hope Aikido never reaches the
neon-sign-encrusted-picture-window-store-front-in-a-strip-mall status that Take
My Dough currently owns. The fewer people that know about it, the better, in my
opinion.
>IME, Aikido has a lo-o-ong way to go.
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Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 15:36:17 -0800
From: Cindy
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
Kevin Beck writes:
>> And it made me wonder if Aikido has become so mainstream that it is
>> becoming cliche, like the Mc Dojos of suburbia. Is it that mainstream
>now?
>
>Just last while working out at the gym a guy the aikido t-shirt I was
>wearing and asked me if aikido was like TDK. Mind you this is a gym in
>the University of Texas where the intramural aikido group practices. He
>was wearing gi and kicking the tar out of a heavy bag over in the
>corner.
I think knowledge of Aikido is very regional. It doesn't at all surprise me
that the OP is talking about San Francisco.
[ * Moderator: Cut * ]
--
Cindy
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Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 18:25:08 -0800
From: Flying Monkey
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
--- Jon C Strauss wrote:
> Oh yeah?
> Here's what I get all the time--even from folks who know
> better:
Hahaha, here's mine: I gave a 10-minute presentation for my speech class and one
of my major points was how Aikido is not one of those "kick the #$#& out of the
other guy" martial arts. I was really stressing the peaceful part of it because
the practice talks I'd given had raised lots of questions along the lines of,
"So, you like, go at it and kick the #$#& out of each other?" I even mentioned
how sparring wasn't a part of it.
[ * Moderator: Cut * ]
:op
Angie
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Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 09:51:29 -0500
From: Chuck
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
[ * Moderator: Cut * ]
>I hope Aikido never reaches the
>neon-sign-encrusted-picture-window-store-front-in-a-strip-mall
>status that Take My Dough currently owns. The fewer people that
>know about it, the better, in my opinion.
Michael! Don't you KNOW? Aikido is for EVERYONE!!! The more the better! Heck, I
think ya'll are approaching it the wrong way entirely. Think stripmalls, lots of
flashing neon, even flashier dogi, contracts, pyramid scheme branch schools,
rank by videotape, mail-order black belts!!!
Dude ... you gotta spread the WORD. Make sure EVERYONE knows about aikido! It
is, after all, the salvation of the world, isn't it?
Sorry. That's sarcastic and mean, but I've had that poked at me (from some very
good and good-hearted aikido folks before). Didn't agree then, never will.
No, budo isn't for everyone. And I sincerely hope aikido does NOT go the way of
the McDojo (which, if you thnk about it is kind of a misnomer) ...
The things I WOULD like to see, is better education of the media and better
education of the populace, as to what budo is (and more to the point, is NOT).
Chuck
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Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 10:27:29 -0800
From: Lorien Lowe
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
For a while I thought that people in my dojo must be doing something wrong
because so many people came to train and then left - how could they leave
something so wonderful as aikido, unless we were doing something wrong!?
Finally I realised that maybe they just didn't like being repeatedly pinned to
the mat and using painful joint-locks on other people.
<sigh> Some people are so WIERD!
:)
-Lorien
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Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 20:53:24 +0200
From: "G.A.Miliaresis"
Subject: Re: Has Aikido become the next karate already?
Lorien said:
>For a while I thought that people in my dojo must be
>doing something wrong because so many people came to
>train and then left - how could they leave something
>so wonderful as aikido, unless we were doing something
>wrong!?
Your's and mine's and nearly every other dojo's I've heard of. I still wonder
why. My teacher says he has seen it happen everywhere. That would be a good stat
BTW, and one that could be worked through this list: what are the stats in every
one's dojo, concerning dropout rates? How many come, how many leave and after
how much time?
>Finally I realised that maybe they just didn't like
>being repeatedly pinned to the mat and using painful
>joint-locks on other people.
[ * Moderator: Cut * ]
Gri
G.A.Miliaresis
--Aikido: the art of hitting people with pplanets (H.Davis/Aikido-L)
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Last updated on 13 Sep 2002