19 Apr Learning to learn Aikido (and other martial arts…)
Learning to learn Aikido (and other martial arts…) – by Leo Tamaki The shu, ha and ri steps in the learning process of martial traditions are well known. To simplify, shu corresponds to imitation, ha to exploration and ri to mastery. But, if shu ha ri can be linked with the study of a movement, it originally represents the big stages in a practitioner’s life. Today I wish to have a closer look at the much-reduced steps of a movement’s study. Unbelievable techniques Traditional Japanese martial techniques are very subtle tools. Their goal is to allow an adept to survive a confrontation with one or several opponents that are physically superior. Even if the curriculum of a school is made of several steps with increasing difficulty, the first techniques cannot work after few repetitions (by this I mean the first few thousand times those techniques are performed). A superficial vision can lead to the impression that the techniques are levers or strikes that can be mastered in a few hours. The truth is entirely different. The true efficiency of these movements makes them… literally unbelievable. One cannot believe it. An untrained gaze will only see, in a movement, a lever resulting in an insufficient...