Mindset. The study of strict 'kihon' over the years gives you great
flowing within the syllabus. That is about it. But as some people
have said previously you will not respond on the battlefield with
a 'kihon' response. I say once you have a solid understanding of
basics why not begin to open your mind to applicable self defense
situations? I don't know how many sensei's out there do this or if
yours does or not, but I think if you are worried about martial
applications you should probably study them. I know a great teacher
in Hamilton who happens to put alot of focus on preparing his
students with something to defend themselves using yoshinkan basic
concepts in real life situations. It's very advanced "outside of
the syllabus" training if you think about it, but I don't see alot
of people practicing it. You could develop the martial response
through years and years AND YEARS of basic training and finally get
there one day, or you could train with someone who knows how to
apply the basics in real situations and get there alot quicker.

If you think about it, why do most people start training in a
martial art? Because they are scared or not confident enough to
deal with a hairy situation. I personally didn't join for that
reason, I just wanted to hang out with some new friends and drink
beer. I haven't been in a fight in 32 years and I don't plan on
getting into one. If I did though I am confident that I could hold
my own in one.

Regards,

Daryl




--- In yoshinkan@yahoogroups.com, "captain_black_belt"
<the_conscience@...> wrote:
>
> I have question that has long since plagued my mind. How do you,
as
> Yoshinkan practitioners, reconcile the fact that you devote so
much of
> your time to a martial art that isn't really 'martial'. I mean, we
> understand that the training curriculum is quite standardized with
a
> strict focus on kihon, but the curriculum does not have any venue
for
> actually testing the effectiveness of aikido in violent
situations. We
> train the kihon, develop the principals, and improve our timing
and
> power through jiyu waza. But how do you reconcile the fact that
this is
> a 'martial' art without any means of testing its martial quality.
This
> certainly isn't a dig at aikido, considering that I practice it
quite
> regularly and have been for over a decade. I'm just curious to see
how
> the wider aikido community reconciles this aspect of the art. Or
is
> this aspect of it even important to many of you?
>
> CBB
>