So I’ve decided to take up Aikido!

I’ve often been interested in doing more than just watching Martial Arts movies, but getting up motivation to go or even selecting a brand of Aikido is difficult. I got a yellow belt in Karate when I was 9 or so but the Sensei there was very angry and shouted a lot. Then some chick called me a pussy for not doing what I want so here I am in a dojo.

I’ve settled on Kokikai Aikido.

Why Aikido? Well, Aikido’s main focus is making sure nobody comes to harm, not even the attacker. It is a Martial Art that is nearly entirely defense, and usually ends in a throw or a grapple, with the attacker on the ground. Being a peace-loving well-wisher this really rings true to me - all duels should be fought with rubber bullets, and causing unnecessary harm is a horrible thing to do.

Why Kokikai? Kokikai is a minimalist variant of Aikido. It focuses on using as little energy as possible, and making smooth, fluid movements to accomplish your task. It also focuses on relaxation, balance, and control of the body. In a way, it’s kind of like Parkour, except with no running away [heh]. I’d label it as “Lazy Aikido” but lazy has all these negative connotations to it, so I won’t. :P

Of course, I like to think I’m an honorable kind of guy, and this is a totally honourable, nice way of fighting. Badguys usually aren’t so honorable. Though I hope to refine the art to a true real-life self-defense state, I have some doubts on it’s actual application in modern times. Maybe though, I’m still new!

Day one of my training was really nice. It is a small class (Sensei, a black belt student, and 3 normal students including myself) and was a really relaxing atmosphere. Sensei is a friendly approachable guy with a sense of humour, maybe in his 30s. He welcomed me in and took me aside and showed me how to fall down on my back without hurting myself, then proceeded to teach as per normal.

We start with some light stretching and warmup before moving on to the lesson. One of the warmups was shoulder rolls, which I was really jealous of, because I’m not allowed to do them yet (maybe next time) so I just practiced flopping on my back some more.

I learned how to grab, punch, and chop (in a half-assed way) so that I could take part in the excercises. It is usually Sensei demonstrating what an attacker wishes to do, a counter for it, the reasoning behind it, and some slow-motion examples. Then we pair off and practice, practice one throw on left side, one on right side, then switch back and forth. I learned 4 or 5 throws and it was really cool - like magic even!

I had to fight a lot of my instincts to move my body in certain ways, or to apply force, or to shove/pull… But it’s really such a relaxed art. I’m simply amazed how a tiny turn of my wrist can make someone fall over. A lot of moves that I would think would twist my arms into pretzels actually sort themselves out with a little turn of the hips and ends with someone slamming onto the mat.

And all of this, and not even breaking a sweat! I swear the defending is incredibly easy. Where I do get my workout is standing up from falling down so many times; it’s really telling that I’m absolutely exhausted at the end of the day as an attacker, but as a defender it’s easy peas.

I’m super suprised at how fluid it all is too. Once you get into the initial position (getting your hands in the right place), you simply “go with the flow”, twist as your body feels natural, and the attacker seems to go sailing by. It’s really cool, I’m so happy I started.