I was wondering today... I consider myself a practicioner of aikido but since i take tomiki/shodokan some purists/traditional aikidoka don't consider what I'm doing aikido.... then of course there's aikiju-jutsu where it blends aikido movements into a ju-jutsu "fighting atmosphere" (no offense intended and don't mean to be so broad)... and other aiki-judo, aiki-this , aiki- that So heres my question: what do those of you who practice aiki-<insert word here> consider yourselves.... do you believe that you are student of o'sensei, your founder (ie. tomiki), a ju jutsu practioner learning aikido movementsm, etc. to me it seems that there are a lot of subdivisions into aikido where people are segregating other "aiki-arts"... which i don't feel was what our founders would have wanted... i mean just look at the word "aiki" any thoughts???
I practice Aikido. I'm a student of O-Sensei through his writings, and I'm a student of my local instructors. I'm not a jujutsu practitioner learning aikido movements, but I like Japanese jujutsu. I can't do aikido quite the way that taller/shorter/heavier/lighter/stronger/weaker people do aikido. Bouncers and policemen need a more "martial" martial art than bankers and dentists and lawyers. These differences, and perhaps others, necessarily create subdivisions. Subdivisions are not a problem. I think it makes the art more vibrant. I can teach you something new, and you can teach me something new.
I do concider myself a student of o'sensei's art, I am a student of aikikai's form of aikido and my sensei has done an incredible job passing down the message of o'sensei to us. Also, just because the other forms are slightly different if the message of aikido is not lost through the transition of styles then you too are a student of o'sensei, aikido is the physical means in which we train our spiritual self and if the spiritual emphasis is lost in that transition then you are in fact not learning aikido but movements that look pretty.
I think that anyone that tries to tell you that what you're doing isn't aikido (assuming you're learning from a reputable source, and any Shodokan school that traces its lineage to Tomiki is certainly such a thing in my book) should be smacked in the head repeatedly with a frying pan. In my opinion, the only one qualified to say what is and isn't modern-day aikido died in the late 1960s. Yet, in his lifetime, he acknowledged both Yoshinkan, Yoseikan (which have offensive atemi) and Shodokan (which has competition). I usually hear things like "Aikido has no offense" and "There is no competition in Aikido" from folks that wouldn't dream of getting on the mat in a free-sparring environment to try out their stuff.
I don't know if I'd ever say this is Aikido but that isn't. What I do know is Aikido is a very varied art. Different styles emphasise different aspects and as a result some techniques are done differently. People will form their critisisms and opinions but that's just part of the process of learning.
Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me that O-Sensei defined aikido for us. It's what he taught his students. And it just doesn't seem "aiki" to me to be criticizing whatever it is that those students taught us (or taught our teachers, who taught us).
i read somewhere that when you study any martial art for years and become highly skilled so that your techniques flow perfectly not due to strength but from perfect timing that what ever art you study becomes aiki
I study Aikijutsu and do not consider myself a student of O-sensei. I dont think I completely understand the question though, it almost sounds that you are insinuating aikijujutsu/jutsu/jujitsu have derived from aikido. Which isnt true. For my sanity when MA lae people ask what art I study I tell them Aikido since it is the closest thing they will recognise to what I study. For those in the MA community I will make the destinction of which aiki art I practice. I do have the utmost respect and admiration for O-sensei. He was a magnificent martial artist and philosipher. Here is a decent page on the subject http://www.aikidofaq.com/introduction.html I do feel the did a poor job on explaining the roots of aikido however.
