Aikido and its Relevance to 21st Century
In the age of the 21st century, the timeless wisdom of Aikido continues to captivate minds and stir questions. Many sceptics wonder if Aikido holds its ground in the intense battlegrounds of MMA or real-life confrontations. Truth be told, Aikido is not designed for such contexts. MMA relies on forceful dominance, whereas Aikido embraces a cooperative training model, seeking alternatives to forceful confrontations and fostering win-win outcomes.
Despite sharing some techniques with MMA, Aikido serves a profoundly different purpose. It is a genuine martial art, empowering individuals with potent combat techniques that have been effectively utilized in hand-to-hand combat. Nevertheless, Aikido transcends mere fighting skills; it offers something profound and transformative.
Aikido's true essence lies beyond self-defence or discipline. It can be likened to an operating system upgrade for humanity, one that instils the ability to create collaborative relationships in every facet of life. From personal interactions to engagements with organizations or ideas, Aikido empowers us to centre our interactions on persuasion and freedom of choice, replacing coercion with harmonious engagement.
A unique educational system
Coercion is pervasive, and it may achieve short-term outcomes, but it leaves behind a trail of destruction for both the coerced and the coercer. Aikido, on the other hand, serves as a powerful training ground for nurturing non-zero-sum relationships, where each encounter generates value through persuasion and freedom of choice. Its brilliance lies in its purposeful optimization for this very mission.
Consider Aikido as a unique educational system, contributing not only to martial arts but also to broader realms of education. In our world grappling with issues like polarized politics, inequality, and environmental crises, Aikido can have a profound impact on how we face these challenges. “True victory is victory over oneself”, said O-Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba.
In the realm of Aikido practice, we take on roles, namely uke and nage. Uke represents the attacker, while nage is not a mere defender but a transformative force. Rather than responding with defence, Aikido teaches us to reshape the attack within the relationship, forging new pathways forward that benefit all involved.
The techniques in Aikido don't seek to defeat opponents or terminate relationships but rather protect our interests while offering our partners viable exit pathways. As we embody the role of uke during training, we learn to find creative solutions even under immense pressure, instilling a mindset that assumes there is always a way out and forward in the face of challenges.
The Way of a Warrior is to establish harmony
Budo, the way of the warrior, encompasses all Japanese martial arts, exploring the interplay between ethics, religion, and philosophy through direct experience. It transcends mere sport and techniques, delving into self-cultivation and understanding. “Do” the Japanese word for the way, beckons us to seek inner peace and self-mastery, going beyond competition. And the ideogram “Bu” also means to cease the struggle. So, the point of Budo is not only to compete but to find peace and mastery of the self.
Why a martial art for such profound lessons? The genius of Aikido's design lies in its embodiment as a martial art. Facing high-stakes challenges, attuning to hostile circumstances, and trusting collaborative processes demand courage and faith. The martial techniques in Aikido carry real power, simulating terror to instil the strength to pursue collaborative outcomes despite fear and anxiety.
Aikido's essence rests on transforming "power over" into "power with." It requires martial integrity to achieve this, as it is not about retaliatory counterattacks. Instead, Aikido seeks to dissolve the dynamics that create winners and losers, striving for a non-zero-sum situation where adversaries become collaborators in a transformative relationship.
In this turbulent world, Aikido stands as a beacon of hope, guiding us to embrace collaboration, respect, and harmonious engagement. By upgrading our operating system, we can transcend competition and hostility, forging a future where collaboration becomes the foundation for progress and collective growth.
