Book Reviews
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Women in the Martial Arts
Aug 02
2010
2010
Women in the Martial Arts
Edited by Carol Wiley
North Atlantic Books (January 15, 1993), 145 pages
ISBN-10: 1556431368
ISBN-13: 978-1556431364
Description
Many women learn of martial arts through a male companion’s interest in kung-fu movies or a six-week self-defense course. Some venture beyond. This book contains the stories, in essay and poetry form, of a group of women who have trained for at least seven years in this demanding activity. Many speak of martial arts as an equalizer of power, with skill being more important than raw strength. Other benefits include endurance, confidence, and determination. There are a variety of viewpoints among this select group, which ranges from a physically disabled student to a Native American practitioner. This collection fills an important niche in a male-dominated sport.
My Reading Experience
This book is a collection of 23 stories by women who started in martial arts one way or the other. I was walking home and stopped in to Fair’s Fair used bookstore looking for Aikido books. There were none that day. So, not wanting to leave empty-handed I pulled this and took it home. It turned out to pretty neat.
The first thing I read was the introduction, of course. In it, the editor Carol Wiley noted that a woman asked her if martial arts are different for a woman then for a man. The response she gave was, “How many men in class have you seen throw their hands above their heads, shrink back, and say ‘Don’t hurt me’? I’ve certainly seen women do it.” She says that women have a different perspective and go through more abuse than men, so yes.
The next part that caught my eye was the ordering or martial arts. Carol says, “Had I started with Aikido instead of Tae Kwon Do, I feel it is likely I would not have stuck with it. I needed to learn the physical confidence before I could face the emotional issues that have arisen in my Aikido training where I must constantly work with partners and cannot escape into the solitude of form practice.” Carol says that in Tae Kwon Do she was able to gain physical confidence and hone her focus and concentration. I like this because this definitely applies to me too.
There are other similar stories. Most of the women who started in Aikido first described their experiences as being scared, mousy and uncoordinated. Those that started in something else like Karate or kickboxing had more self-confidence and progressed well in Aikido.
The next most interesting story is actually an interview with an instructor of Aikido of unknown rank. She said that when she started Aikido when she 22, after about a month and a half of training she had herself recorded and watched the playback. She said “it was the most embarrassing and revealing thing that I had ever seen of myself.” She was “running scared around the mat.” She was supposed to do (shomenuchi), but she kept backing off – “I was cowering behind my arm!” She continues, “Rather than putting out energy and giving the other person something to work with, I was cowering as if I was the one being hit!” She revealed, “It was such a shock to me to see this wimpy, mousy person backing away from people instead of giving them energy that they could learn from. … I ended up crying for about an hour … just trying to come to terms with what I had seen.”
All these women essentially share the same theme: “If you are doing something intense like Aikido on a long-term basis, it’s not just dealing with physical realities; it’s dealing with how you are in the world.”
So women have to deal with their inner Goddess first while they study Aikido. But, they have an advantage over men – they are generally soft and flexible and thus don’t get hurt the way men get hurt in Aikido. Lucky! Men tend to grunt and resist and fight back and get hurt in all kinds of novel ways. Women don’t. So, in that regard women already have an edge over us men.
In conclusion, from the Aikido stories I have read, a common theme is that women (and men) need to discover or forge their place in the world and develop confidence in their body and their mind. It helps to already have fear conquered before progressing in Aikido, not during the course of Aikido or we will get knocked down or fall over every time. It has been described by one woman that only after doing a direct-entry martial art with a lot of punching and kiai could she appreciate the circularity and peacefulness of Aikido. Perhaps Aikido cannot be appreciated appropriately without first appreciating the martial contrast.
This collection of stories has me thinking that Aikido is analogous to a post-secondary education in that we could stand to be educated in broad topics first – like we receive in high school education – and then in this post-secondary education we learn to refine ourselves and develop even more confidence and self-awareness. There are four stages of Budo – stage 1 is starting fights; stage 2 is inciting fights to be justified in fighting back; stage 3 is when attacked, pummel!; and stage 4 is when attacked, diffuse the situation peacefully and without injury. Most martial arts teach at stage 3 like a high-school education teaches one how to work and feed themselves. Stage 4 teaches how to care for one another and put down arms like Aikido teaches peaceful conflict resolution, like a post-secondary education teaches more philosophy. I’ve never considered the effect of starting in Aikido with no background in other martial arts before. I think men can learn from the stories and struggle of women.
合気道パーフェクトマスター Review
Jul 29
2010
2010
Eric
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合気道パーフェクトマスター
In this publication, Doshu and (mainly) his son explain key points to posture, kamae, ukemi, as well as techniques between Aikikai 5th kyu and 3rd kyu levels. The DVD is 97 minutes long and entirely in Japanese (and for region 2 players – not like that means anything anymore). This is great because the viewer can hear the names of techniques with authentic Japanese pronunciation. In my case, I want to hear what Doshu thinks are important points as he explains key points and features. This book and DVD is not a mechanical step-by-step instructional video, but rather it focuses on critical elements that can be applied to more advanced techniques. That is why it is called Perfect Master.
The first instruction is how to sit in seiza and stand from it, then return to seiza. You may think you are a rock star at sitting in seiza and getting up from it, but they make it look cool and polished in the DVD. Also, whether you like to keep your hands up in kamae or not, Doshu makes keeping hands up カッコウイイ。 If for no other reason, when doing Aikido you should set aside your karate stance, your judo stance and/or your kickboxing stance because there is just something confident and non-threatening about Doshu’s Aikido stance that we can learn from, in my humble opinion.
The DVD then goes through ikkyo to yonkyo from various attacks. This is not a complete set of techniques like Tissier has made in his DVD set, but techniques are repeated at different speeds with key points highlighted, plus they are demonstrated by Doshu so it is a good reference. For example, where to press in yonkyo in explained in both omote and ura versions.
合気道パーフェクトマスター screenshot
Takemusu Aikido Special Edition: Budo – Book Review
May 14
2010
2010
Eric
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Takemusu Aikido Special Edition: Budo
Takemusu Aikido Special Edition
Morihiro Saito
Aiki News, 1999
ISBN 4-900586-56-0
168 pages
Technical Description
Takemusu Aikido Special Edition: Budo presents an historical overview of the Founder’s aikido techniques from the time of the mid-1930s through the Iwama period following World War II. It is based on technical material contained in the manual entitled Budo published in 1938 by Morihei Ueshiba supplemented by detailed commentary by Morihiro Saito Shihan. The technical material in this volume includes preparatory exercises, basic techniques, knife (tantodori), and sword-taking techniques (tachidori), sword vs. sword forms (ken tai ken), mock-bayonet (juken) techniques, and finishing exercises (shumatsu dosa).
What I Learned
Photos are by Saito Sensei Sr., his son Saito Hitohiro, and historic photos of O-Sensei. I learned that Budo was the first organized Aikido manual which was published in 1938 and only around a hundred copies were made. It provides a snapshot in time of the development of Aikido. Some techniques have been changed over time by the Founder which makes me comfortable knowing that Aikido can still evolve.
Some technical aspects I learned/confirmed are:
- the ikkyo pin was done very differently in the past
- gokyo was not what it looks like today; it looked more like ikkyo ura
- O-Sensei clearly states iriminage requires grabbing the back of Uke’s collar (p.36)
- shomenuchi nikyo urawaza: do not let uke get back up; after the nikyo pressure grab aite’s elbow and push his shoulder to the floor (p.58)
- for ken-tai-ken men (our kenawase #7), O-Sensei says to strike at aite’s head (pgs.128-131); do not strike his neck or motion to cut if off. Aikido is for peace, not gore.
- O-Sensei says that on shomenuchi ikkyo omote, Nage must grab Uke’s elbow on the initial strike if he does not do an atemi first. (p.45)
Best Aikido: The Fundamentals – Book Review
May 04
2010
2010
Eric
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Best Aikido - The Fundamentals
Best Aikido: The Fundamentals
Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Moriteru Ueshiba
Kosansha International, 2002
ISBN 4770027621
192 pages
My Review
The book starts out with an FAQ about Aikido from the authors – the late Kisshomaru Ueshiba and the current Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba. Included in the FAQ is the purpose of furitama and torifune undo which I have always wanted to know about.
The next chapters are mainly step-by-step stills of a basic technique executed by Moriteru Ueshiba with a numbered description of each still. Techniques range from ikkyo to gokyo, omote and ura, from katatedori, ushiro ryotedori, yokomenuchi and tsuki. Most techniques include explanations from rippo and zaho (standing and sitting).
The stills are very clear, but most techniques have as many as six steps in the technique, but most have far fewer. The written step-by-step descriptions are simple and a teacher is needed to explain more, but the images by the leading authority well make up for this.
Book Description from Amazon.com
At last, the complete and authoritative introduction to all the fundamentals of Aikido, coauthored by the two direct successors to the Founder of the martial art, Morihei Ueshiba. Coauthors Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Moriteru Ueshiba, son and grandson of the Founder, seek to carry on his legacy and to share with the millions of men and women around the world practicing Aikido today the most important techniques and principles of the art.
This book is the quintessential training aid for all Aikido practitioners — whether beginning or advanced — who wish to further their understanding of the forms and spirit of Aikido.
Underlying the forms, or physical techniques, are the spiritual principles of Aikido, which are based on the notion of ki, or “life force.” Ki is the fundamental element to understanding Aikido. But as the authors explain, it cannot be learned merely by watching a demonstration or reading a book. Rather, one must come to experience it through practice, in unifying body and mind.
Best Aikido helps guide the practitioner to this goal. It offers step-by-step instruction that will complement knowledge learned in the dojo. The text is illustrated with a wealth of never-before-seen photographs that feature Aikido master Moriteru Ueshiba demonstrating the fundamental techniques of the art.
Best Aikido is authorized by the Aikikai Foundation, the central organization set up by Morihei Ueshiba.1
- http://www.amazon.com/Best-Aikido-Fundamentals-Illustrated-Japanese/dp/4770027621 [↩]
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