I was just thinking about Aikido in my long journey to my martial education. I always loved it, but it was always too soft to be practical.
I started studying Aikido when LA got its first important dojo in what is now the LA Arts District. As I was fairly broke I would only come to talk to the master there. I was entranced by the idea of using your opponent’s force against them. Prior to that I had done a stupid little bit of judo as a kid, but quite a bit of street fighting. I have never in my adult life (maybe foolishly) felt the need to defend myself with martial arts. So it was always entirely the aesthetic that appealed to me.
Somewhere around 1993 I joined the dojo in Cambridge MA. I attended a few classes and got bored to death. Although there were wooden swords on the wall, the instructor made it clear nobody touches these for at least two years. Honest to god it felt like a dance class. So I decided to take capoeira instead. That instructor was all about showing off but at least it was honest dance. But he flaked showing up to his own class. In the end I bought a Body by Jake, got ripped and played basketball. Nevertheless there was a soft spot in my heart for Aikido.
Fast forward 17 years, 25 pounds, a wife and three kids later. I’m back in LA and ask myself what I have never learned all these years. I never had a true martial education. Why don’t I know what paramedics, cops and soldiers know? So I go to night classes and learn a bunch. One of the things I also study is firearms. I learn to shoot and all of this new knowledge changes my life. In addition I’m getting back into shape. I lose the 25 pounds doing circuit training and diet. During this time, I look for and find a couple Aikido studios, and I audit. Once again, I am less than impressed. But what could it hurt since I just want to learn the art? Well, I cannot forget the lesson I’ve learned in pistol training. You fight like you train and you train like you fight . I could clearly see these instructors would be wasting my time. It’s not fighting, it’s dancing.
One day as I’m attending a class for a ham radio license I see this dude warming up in the park. He’s doing moves like I’ve never seen. Instantly I know he’s a warrior. I speak to him and he says its Hapkido. But he doesn’t teach adults because most are fools. OK. Fair enough. So I start looking for schools that teach Hapkido. Very few. But do find one that is primarily TKD with some Hapkido thrown in.
Since I’ve lost most of the weight I wanted to and my circuit training is ridiculously expensive, I switch to TKD at the new studio. I love the instructors. But I had spent a lot of time thinking about BJJ and Krav Maga. I really wanted Hapkido. Long story short, TKD to me was more dancing. I could not remember the choreography, but whenever we grappled with the Hapkido moves, I was all over it. My natural fighting instincts go back to my judo as a kid, wrestling and street fighting.
Most recently I have done some training in ‘Kali Tudo’ under one of the instructors of the Dog Brothers . This is the most realistic martial thinking I have ever studied. It makes sense in the context of the street fighting I know, the pistol training I know, the combative tactics of police, and my desire, ultimately to train for an unfair fight as a man approaching 60 years old.
I never felt any need to be a badass, but then neither would I want to fight half-ass. I understand, because I felt for half of my life, the appeal of Aikido, but I’ve never met an instructor or practitioner who, like a cop, needs to submit violent people with prejudice and talked about his skills in those terms.
Quite honestly, I hope that the Supreme Court overrules the crap law in California so I can CCW. All this martial arts dancing is good for your ego and your posture, but I want more literal bang for my buck. In the meantime I can run fast and far enough to get clear of 99% of trouble, but if you follow me to my car…
Bottom line, let Aikido be Aikido. It’s appeal is not to badassery or unhinged fighting. It doesn’t need to be re-invented. It is what it is.
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