Welcome to Swinburne Aikido Blog. The blog has been quiet for quite awhile due to some reasons and difficulties faced by the committee. However, with the commence of new semester, the enthusiasms of the committee has been raised and we are certainly looking forward for you to join us.
We always get common enquiries from fellow students asking that will the techniques cause pain? Is the technique effective? How fast can I get a black belt? Is there any competition. Well, dear friends, if you spare me some time, I will be delightful to clear your doubts and convey our principle and beliefs.
Aikido is actually derived from the ancient Japanese warrior martial arts and gist from several arts such as Judo. The art itself focus on the utilization of the opponent's strength against the opponent itself. Aikido practices the flow of motion and manipulate the situation by going along with the flow and execute technique at the correct timings. The technique will involve pinning, joint locks and some throwing techniques. As the joints are usually the weakest point of a human being despite the built of size, most of the techniques go against the mechanism of joint. Despite that Aikido can be dreadful if one had achieve certain ability to execute the techniques at right circumstances, the martial art focus on LOVE, PEACE and HARMONY.
Aikido does not have any competition and it is a rule and principle that is to be follow by all practitioner. This is due to the fact of the art itself can be dreadful when one is determined to hurt another, especially in order to win a competition. Aikido is a self defense martial art that emphasize of self defense techniques that polishes one's reflect and prepare the person in the state of mind of what to expect.
As Aikido apply the principle of LOVE, PEACE and HARMONY, we do not encourage fighting and do not promote the perception of being invincible after learning the art. The art should be practice with the heart and intention for self defense. Self defense, for us, is not referring to to beat the attacker or to knock out the opponent to show your strength and superiority. However, Self defense is more to the ability to survive when you are under attack. Say a hypothetical situation of you being rob where by the robber is holding a dagger in his hand. You are not ask to disarmed the robber immediately and take him down by executing the techniques. However, you should prioritize your safety and life under all circumstances. If the attacker still insist to harm you, the Aikido learning that you have is to allow you to use your reflex and ability to distract the attacker and earn the opportunity to ESCAPE safely. Yes, escape. This does not make you look like a coward, trust me. What is the point of fighting where you can survive?
Meanwhile, the grading of the club will depending on each practitioner as their skills and improvement will be monitored by the qualified instructors of the Dojo. The beginner starts as 6th kyu and will have their first upgrading to a 5th Kyu holder and proceed until 1st Kyu. After all the stages, will be the beginning of black belt holder, 1st dan, after going through various of tedious test. For our Dojo, practitioner are not differentiate according to the color of the belt and they will wear the same white belt from the beginning till 2nd Kyu. This is with the intention that the practitioners will not practice for the sake of exam but to truly understand the art itself and to be humble at all time. The practitioner will be granted a brown belt when they obtain their 1st Kyu in order to increase the sense of responsibility of the individuals and to equipped themselves with the proper knowledge and skills to be a qualified 1st Dan holder.
After trying to set the concept right , there will be another common doubt that is to be clarified which is the issue of PAIN. Well, there is a saying of: "no pain, no gain". In Aikido, when the technique is effective, the receiver should feel the pain, however the pain is definitely bearable. The practice requires the executer to control the amount of strength and the receiver to give signal when they require the executer to stop. Hence, this will not be a big issue of joining Aikido.
In short my friend, even if you do not have any martial art background or has been practicing one, we will welcome you to join us any time. All you need are positive attitude, open mind, perseverance and the will to protect yourself
By,
Eileen Phoan
Vice President
