The Way of Open Mindedness

Aikido is the way of harmony. And to harmonize the world, the usage of the techniques alone will not help, the development of human values and addition of virtues and wisdom will also not be enough for the way of harmony. To totally harmonize with the world, we must not only harmonize with our own mind, soul and body, but also everyone, nature, the world and the cosmos.

Tao or the way is the concept of Taoism, and to gain the world, it is through acceptance and open-mindedness. To win over people's hearts, we must put our disagreement and dislike aside and accept all reasons of everyone. When O' Sensei was creating his own martial art, he studied many ancient text, not only his own religion, Shinto, but he also studied Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and even Christianity. All these religions have a similar and whole concept, it is virtue, harmony and unity.

In O'Sensei's quotation, Aikido is not just a self defense martial art, it is also a philosophy. Harmony is open-mindedness and acceptance. All martial art have a common goal, sharing, accept and enlightment. Arrogance or Discrimnation shuold not exist. Different schools have different cultures, they have disadvantages and benefits. Putting ourselves in other people's shoes, we are able to understand the feelings and the reason behind their very actions.

Aikido is not to correct others, but to correct ourselves and then share the different experiences to the world.

Joke of the Day

Anyway, Scabies is a skin infection :)

Weapons of War!!!!

In almost every martial art. there are needs of weapons. In Taichi, straight chinese swords are used. And in Aikido, we used Jo(stick), Bokken(sword) and Tanto(knife). What are the usage of weapons and how many weapons are there in the world???

Weapons are mostly used by martial artists or warrior. Weapons are the arms of the warrior, the extra expansion of a warrior hand. For example, stick or spear are long ranged weapon. Ever long range will be archery.

In Chinese martial art, there are Eighteen weapons of War:

1. Sabre
   
2. Spear
3. Straight sword
   
4. Staff
   
5. Halberd
   
6. Axe
   
7. Battle Axe
   
8. Hook sword
   
9. Fork/ Trident
   
10. Steel whip
    
11. Mace
    
12. Hammer
    
13. Talon
    
14. Ranseur/ Trident-halberd
    
15. Lance
16. Short cudgel
    
17. Stick/ Crutches
    
18. Meteor hammer
    

These weapons are long ranged, short ranged and destructive.
For example, the sabre can be long or short ranged. The Green Dragon Sabre used by Guan Yu is a long ranged one and destructive due to it large and sharp blade, therefore it is heavy in weight and hard to handle.

Spears and lances are commonly used by soldiers or knight. They are long and light in weight. Although it is easy to control and have increased agility, but it is a soft weapon, it possess less strength than the Sabre.

The choice of weapon depend on the capabilities of the particular person, the strength, the area of space and comfort.

The Science of YONKYO!!!!

In the different kinds of Aikido locks, they are used on the bones, joints, ligament and tendon. Among all the different locks, Yonkyo is the most "special" kind of lock. In Yonkyo, the inner edge of the hand (between the thumb and the index finger) is applied to uke's upper wrist. The force is applied to the side of the part above the wrist.

Using the anatomical study of science, the force is applied to the tendon that hold the muscles of the hand and the upper arm. Locating near to these tendon were the ulnar nerve and median nerve. The Ulnar Nerve is one large unprotected nerve. With a certain force applied to the ulnar nerve, it will send sensory impulses to the brain for the sensation of pain. Therefore Yonkyo is known as a nerve pinch. The pain is more of a sharp and electric feeling of pain. But Yonkyo is not a lock that can be applied to every person, firstly the finger coordination must be correct. Sometimes a person arm is protected by a layer of fats or the different position of the nerve.

How to do a correct Yonkyo???

• The angle of the arm must be 90 degree
• Press downwards
  
• Ensure that the uke's elbow is below the level of your fingers that applied the lock
• Ensure your arms are straight
• Do not move the uke's arm sideward
• Do not hesitate on pushing down the uke's arm
  

Videos for GRADING FOR BLUE!!!!

These short clips are the fundamental techniques needed to be performed during grading from white to BLUE belt

Christian Tissier

Is Ki for Real?

KI

Ki, in Aikido, is known as the mental energy that centralized a human body. What about other views.

In Chinese, it is also know as Qi or Chi, lifebreath, that all living things requires to survive. Mencius noted that Qi is essential for human beings to carry out countless activities. It is also known as energy-flow or spirit.

In the book of changs, I Ching, it stated that Ki is the mental wave that create the two primordial forces Yin and Yang in order to develop the cosmo and make the worlds.

If there are many definition, then it is real?

Yes. It is true, According to Acupunture and chinese medicine, when the body fluids were blocked, it is said that the Ki is obstructed. Through the treatment off acupunture and chinese medical methods, the blockage is broken, enable the flow of the fluids.

Ki is the most difficult thing to control in our body, for there possesses no true appearance of it. It is unpredictable. Some people may not even believe it. In Aikido, ki is widely used, unlike strength. Strength is limited while Ki is limitless. It can improve our attacks, movements and positions spiritually and mentally.

As Ki is also the energy flow, the movement of Aikido are circular so that the ki is able to flow easily and blend with any obstacles. While using straight and squarish movement, the hitting impact will be high and at maximum.

When things develops, it will not grow straight, it will started to curve and change shapes.