I would like to share with you this video of a historic
ranking at the Shugyo Aikido Dojo
There are several reasons this video is significant and
interesting. Personally, I find dan ranking demonstrations to be among the most
interesting of video materials on Aikido. While instructional videos may be of
more immediate practical use, especially for the beginner, demonstrations or
tests for dan ranks are chances to see the art as practiced by people with
proven experience. As my earlier article
on the meanings of the belts explains: the kyu-grades (colored or white belts
depending on the school) are those of novice students who are still learning
the basic, standard range of techniques, while dan-ranks starting with the
first (shodan) are those of experienced
and dedicated students who are able to practice the art as a whole, and who are
presumably working toward and achieving mastery. In short, those who have
achieved a dan ranking (black belt), know enough to be able to train at a more
mature level of art. So, out of the
numerous dan-testings that we can easily find online, why is this one
significant enough to be singled out?
First, it records a historic occasion: the first shodan to
be earned and awarded in the new, independent style named Shugyo Aikido. It
includes the presentation of Shodan certificate number 1! In addition, there are certain aspects of the
student’s performance and how he got there that are particularly commendable,
and which are inspiring to me, and perhaps to others. I’ll elaborate on these
points.
This video clip, again, shows the first dan-ranking within
this new style or branch of Aikido. Naturally, readers will be curious as to
why there should even be another new style in the first place. My opinion is
that one of the strengths and glories of Aikido is its sheer versatility: it
can be beneficially trained in a great variety of ways, for different reasons
and with corresponding different results. Even training styles that are sometimes
derided as ‘aiki-bunny’ deserve more respect: they serve their purpose well for
those who choose to train that way. There is nothing wrong with it, provided
those aikidoka do not expect the same results as might be found from training
in other styles with other emphases. And even at that, the Founder of Aikido,
and many other later teachers, insist that the true value lies in strong
mastery of the basics – and the significant basics are widely shared among
styles, ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ alike.
This particular new style was, as I understand it, created
to incorporate within its training regimen, elements that most schools of
Aikido shun. I am not a student - at this time - nor a representative of Shugyo
Aikido, so these interpretations are my own, and may or may not reflect the
views of the style’s founder, James Neiman.
The main difference is that students of Shugyo Aikido learn
fighting techniques drawn from other arts alongside the standard Aikido core;
because of this, Neiman Sensei calls it a ‘Mixed Martial Art’, though its name
accurately indicates that Aikido is the core and framework of the art he
teachers. This kind of thing is taken as very
controversial at best by many Aikidoka. While I can see and understand their
point, I also see and understand Neiman Sensei’s point and choices. And I
believe that the versatility I mentioned earlier allows for even such sharp
differences, provided that Aikido and all that It means is not lost sight of.
One important truth that I see in Neiman Sensei’s way of
teaching is that it compensates for a crucial difference between early Aikido
and its present general traits and practices. Namely, in the early days of
Aikido, students had to be recommended to the Founder, and many of them were
already accomplished martial artists in other schools, and in some cases are
said to have been sent by their teacher to Founder Morihei Ueshiba for advanced
training. I repeat, advanced training. In later years, the Founder’s son
Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei took steps to open Aikido to a wider audience, and
this meant that many students start with no background in martial arts, and
mainstream Aikido teaches only the pure Aikido.
Therefore, some teachers, including Neiman Sensei, choose to
supplement Aikido with techniques from other arts, giving their students a
wider range of basic physical skills. On a pragmatic level, this can be very
important for those who may face self-defense or other combat situations.
This should not be misunderstood! People have saved their own lives with basics
as simple as Aikido’s standard ready stance, which looks attentive and
confident, but not threatening nor aggressive; or basic footwork with which one
can sidestep attempted punches. The Founder himself won a duel in which he was
unarmed, against a swordsman, by simply avoiding every cut until the expert
swordsman admitted he was outclassed. This does not even require lengthy
training; Nev Sagiba Sensei tells a story in one of his articles of someone who
took a single class from him before life circumstances forced him to stop –
that lone class focused on footwork, and within a few days after that class,
the one-class student was attacked by a large, belligerent drunk at a party,
and neatly avoided each punch with this single skill he had learned in a hour
or so of practice. Respect the basics!
Despite that great potential in Aikido in and of itself,
some modern-day Aikidoka do practice and teach elements from other arts, and
they do indeed have good reasons. This should be seen as a personal choice –
there is neither cause nor right to condemn either ‘pure’ or ‘mixed’ Aikido.
Consider, too, that the Founder himself studied several arts before and in the
course of developing and refining his Aikido. He also taught a wide variety of
people with very different needs, ranging from military, intelligence and
police personnel to dancers. (Yes, actual dancers – there are photos of the
Founder instructing classes of Japanese dancers in formal kimonos, so even
those who do Aikido like a dance really shouldn’t be criticized – but all
students should be aware of how they are training, and be sure that it is the
kind of training they actually want and need.) A final point here is that many
aikidoka practice cross-training, by also studying other arts at other dojos.
The Shugyo Aikido method appears to simply bring, in effect, cross-training
into the aikidojo.
Now, on to the more
personal side of my interest in this video – senior student Neil Remolar sets a
very nice example in sheer dedication and attentiveness to his study of Shugyo
Aikido, resulting in rapid progress and unusually quick attainment of the
Shodan degree. As Neiman Sensei explains during the promotion ceremony after
the demonstration, a student practicing at the normal rate should earn Shodan
in about five years, but through his dedication and extended and intense
training, Neil was able to fulfill all the requirements of in about one and a
half years. This is an extraordinary achievement. Alongside earning the shodan degree, he
successfully worked towards the requirements of becoming a Senior Instructor of
Shugyo Aikido. His example should be
inspirational even to the many who for whatever reason cannot do the same. He
did this, as I understand it, with intensive training as often and as much as
his life allowed, under the close personal guidance of Neiman Sensei. He would
have been an uchi-deshi (live-in disciple, traditional-type apprentice) if
their circumstances allowed, but Neiman Sensei arranged a program of
instruction and other activities to keep him well-rounded that came as close as
possible to the uchi-deshi experience, and having similar effect. All this came
at Remolar-san’s own request – which he followed through on, successfully reaching
this milestone.
Furthermore, life threw at him a special obstacle in the
form of a respiratory illness; he could no doubt have postponed his
demonstration, and even in the course of it was offered the option to opt out
of certain portions of the demonstration because of the illness, but he chose
to press on with the entire program as planned.
This is not surprising given the force of character and will that got
him there so quickly in the first place. In harsh reality, we can’t choose when
we may need to engage with a hostile attack, so it is good for a martial artist
to be able to act as needed even if distinctly unwell. An enemy, unless
possessed of a chivalry rarely seen these days, would only take advantage of
illness. Nevertheless, in practice, many choose not to practice when unhealthy,
on the reasonable grounds that it can be much more dangerous. Neither choice is
bad or wrong, but it is inspirational to see someone take the harder road in
search of better gain.
Another aspect to this accomplishment is to the credit of
Neiman Sensei and his teaching methods. In contrast to many schools that hold
testings infrequently on a set schedule, and in many cases seem to even
discourage students from focusing on advancement in the art, Neiman Sensei
allows student to advance in rank as they meet the curriculum requirements.
Thus, they aren’t held back solely because of an arbitrary schedule, and their
actual advancement in knowledge and skill is acknowledged as the milestones are
reached. To be complete and fair, those teachers who test rarely have their
reasons, which some of them have explained in interviews, articles or books.
Some have said they want to be sure the students have patience, or aren’t
rushing ahead solely out of a belt-collecting ego-trip, etc., and some have
pointed that many Westerners misunderstand the meaning and significance of a
black belt, in particular inflating its meaning, making them over-confident
upon achieving their first black belt – so that forcing a longer training time
before it is achieved will result in that much less “over’’ in their confidence.
Thus, there are pros and cons to each method; it seems wise for teachers and
students (some of whom will be future teachers) to know about different
possible teaching methods and to carefully consider those pros and cons.
Going back to Neil’s demonstration, let’s not forget that,
whether we call it “mixed martial art” or “cross-training” or something else,
the effect of the curriculum means that a shodan in his art of Shugyo Aikido is
considered to have learned and demonstrated competence in the important basics
of not one, but a whole range of martial arts with different emphases, bringing a variety of skills, and a state of
well-roundedness, to students. And is this not an ideal demonstrated by a
number of the best widely known martial artists, ranging from Aikido founder
Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei, to Bruce Lee, to Jet Li, and many others with less
fame?
So, let us congratulate Neil Remolar on attaining the first
shodan in the independent style of Shugyo Aikido! I look forward to seeing his
future progress, as well as other students in their art who will follow in his
footsteps in due course.
No comments:
Post a Comment