Is Aikido a Martial Art?
At first sight of the above title I am sure that a lot of Aikidoist's will be angry, they will assume that this is yet another attack on the credibility of Aikido by other martial artist's. On this occasion they are totally wrong, I have been a student of Aikido since 1957. In those early days I first started Judo in 1956 and Aikido in 1957 at the Kenshiro Abbe School of Budo.I studied Karate with M Harada Sensei and Kendo with Tomio O'Tani Sensei,with my background I feel that I have something to offer to this debate.
First Impressions
The Aikido that I first saw being demonstrated by Abbe Sensei in 1956 was without doubt a positive martial art.I was immediately impressed by its positive techniques and power, and in those days my fellow martial artists and I were in no doubt that we were witnessing a devastating new form of self-defence as demonstrated by Kenshiro Abbe Sensei.Abbe Sensei had begun his martial arts career at the age of five and became a legend in his own lifetime. At eighteen he was the youngest ever all Japan Judo champion and also the youngest ever 5th Dan at the world renowned Kodokan. He later became the oldest ever all Japan Judo champion at the age of thirty three.
Kenshiro Abbe Sensei arrived in the UK in 1955 he was 8th Dan Judo, 6th Dan Karate, 6th Dan Kendo, 6th Dan Kyudo, 6th Dan Aikido.The question must be asked; would this Budo master have studied Aikido with Osensei Morihei Ueshiba if he did not believe it to be a martial art?
Knowing and studying with Abbe Sensei for many years It is my opinion that Abbe Sensei would not have studied the choreographed Aikido we see so much of today.
Please Break my Finger
As a direct student of Abbe Sensei I asked one day whilst we were traveling to a seminar"Sensei, how did you first become a student of O'Sensei and Aikido"?He smiled as he reminisced for a few moments; then told me the following story:
Abbe Sensei was a young man at this time time and Judo champion of all Japan. As he was traveling on a crowded train across Japan to yet another Judo competition.Sitting opposite him in the same carriage was an old man who was trying to make some conversation with him, Abbe Sensei had his eyes closed as he tried to sleep.The old man said to him " I know who you are !" Abbe Sensei replied rather modestly " everyone knows who I am,I am Kenshiro Abbe, champion of all Japan" he politely asked the old man who he was ?, the old man replied"I am Morihei Ueshiba founder of Aikido" Abbe Sensei nodded politely and suggested that they now try to get some sleep, the old man suddenly stuck his hand forward and offered the smallest digit to this powerfully built young man, Abbe was stunned as the old man said "please break my finger!" Abbe said he thought I will break his neck if he doesn't go to sleep, he was now becoming irritated by this old man, he immediately grasped the old mans f inger in an attempt to shut him up, he freely admitted that in his frustration it was his intention to break the offending digit. To his total amazement he was suddenly slammed onto the carriage floor. As he lay prostrate and unable to move he knew there and then that he had to study with this master. He asked O'Sensei if he could study with him, O'Sensei agreed.Abbe studied with O'Sensei for ten years. Abbe Sensei also continued with his Judo competitions.
I would like to remind the reader that at the time of this meeting Osensei was not an old man, to a boy of eighteen a man in his 40s and 50s is an old man.
O'Sensei had spent many years studying various martial arts, I believe that the art of Daito-ryu and Ju-jitsu had more influence on the development of his Aikido than anything else he had studied,we know he went to Mongolia to fight and this would be the perfect opportunity to test his many skills in a truly hostile situation,we can be in no doubt that this incredible man was a true warrior and modern Samurai.
A Knife for my Enemy
It was this early positive style of Aikido that Abbe Sensei brought to the UK in 1955. At this time there was also the first Japanese master to Europe named Tadashi Abe Sensei 6th Dan AikiKai Hombu based in France. Tadashi Abe was a small man even by Japanese standards,to my mind he was the hardest man I have ever met.
When Tadashi Abe traveled he always carried a knife with him, this was not for his own protection, he carried it to hand to his shocked opponent, he would say "please, this is for you". Abe said that an opponent with his bare fists was no challenge,a man with a knife was "very interesting". During the war Tadashi Abe had trained as a pilot of the one man suicide submarines which were little more than a torpedo.TK Chiba told me at a recent meeting ( 2011 ) that Tadashi Abe was his hero,he added that Abe always regretted that the war ended the day he was due to carry out his duty to the Emperor.
I think we can safely assume that as these teachers were so hard and positive then this must have been the style of Aikido that was being taught at the Hombu dojo in Japan. This was the Aikido of O'Sensei as a young man,the Aikido being taught today is that of O'Sensei as an old man, there is no doubt that as people get older they lose the spirit of their youth and become more philosophical in their approach to life.
My father who was once regarded as the toughest man in town,later in life found his peace taking his dog for long walks. I believe that we now have two aikido's, traditional aikido which if truly traditional (this word is much abused) is the martial side of Aikido, the soft fantasy and dancing style of Aikido should simply be categorized as an "Art".
Those who are true Traditional Aikidoists will take no offence at this article, yet the dancers will probably be offended,I care little for their feelings as I honestly believe that this soft Aikido has no more right to call itself a martial art than synchronized swimming has a right to be a sport in the Olympics.
I have attempted to establish the hard style of Aikido that was first introduced to the West in the 1950's. I would like to emphasize the fact that I get no satisfaction from publicly criticizing Aikido.I also get a great deal less satisfaction when I see Aikido being brought into ridicule by the growing number of `Plastic Samurai`.
Hard training
The training and hard exercises in those early days were very physical, with karate style kicking and punching a very integral part of our warm up, followed by 200 press/push ups on the backs of the wrists, with fingers pointing both inwards and outwards, very often while you were in the raised position Abbe Sensei would instruct another student to sit on your back, as we were the only group of five Dan grades in Great Britain,all in the same dojo,obviously this was the training in all the Aikido dojos in the UK as Aikido spread from the Hut Dojo.Today we the Ellis Schools of Traditional Aikido are the only organization in Aikido still doing these press/push ups.
The purists say "these press ups are bad for you" what they really mean is, they can't do them, this is all part of the watering down of traditional Aikido.TK Chiba said to me recently that Aikido is now so watered down it is almost un-recognisable as a martial art. Chiba Sensei added "these are not martial arts clubs, they have become social clubs!"
Choreography
Aikidoists are often accused of practicing " Choreographed Aikido" and to be honest I must admit that these claims are very often justified, with Uke (attacker) preparing to break fall long before he makes his attack, and most of them attack off balance , therefore making any multiples of techniques possible with the minimum of effort and of course this makes Tori (defender) look "fantastic", what is really sad is they believe they are fantastic.
What is also really sad is these people believe that this is good Aikido.Kenshiro Abbe Sensei would always say to us that "two" students are training at the same time, one is Uke who is learning and improving his attacking techniques and his opponent Tori is also learning and improving his defensive techniques, whilst we were training with Abbe Sensei if Uke's foot or heel came off the mat as he attacked Abbe Sensei would give the offending leg a good whack with a shinai (bamboo sword) he would then say " My English is very bad but my shinai speaks fluently!".
If Uke attacks on balance then it is obvious that Tori's technique must be good and strong to throw him, and as Abbe Sensei said so many times " two students are training" .Mark Eastman a strong young Dan grade with me went on a seminar recently where there was a 6th Dan ( now Shihan ). The 6th Dan refused to use him as Uke stating " I can not use you, as you do not harmonize with me", Mark was not being awkward or difficult, simply attacking on balance.
Diluted training
Today all of these traditional exercises and training methods have now changed to a simple warm up routine with jumping up and down on the spot, waving the arms up and down like a demented pidgeon,followed with lots of deep spiritual discussion. Hard exercise is now considered to be aggressive and not in harmony with the true spirit of Aikido.
Abbe Sensei said that hard training developed the spirit, he also rarely ever referred to Ki during those early days as he demonstrated the power of his technique, when asked to explain the meaning of Ki, he said not to worry about Ki as that would be a part of our training and development.
He then said "Only when you reach first Dan will you be able to understand the true concept of Ki as a further extension of your Aikido."I still believe that line of thought, and the instructors in our dojo's very rarely speak of Ki although it is taught as a important and integral part of our training and study.See part two for the rest of this article.
Henry Ellis/
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