Could it be just a matter of perspective? "Aikido does not have attacks" is not the same as "we don't hit people". And I possibly misrepresented this in the other thread by saying we do have attacks. I believe we have what looks to most like attacks, but even the styles which use atemi heavily may not consider them to be "attacks" per-se. It is said that an Aikidoka would never attack someone. But that does not mean we would not hit them first.
Don't take my word for it by any means, I'm still very much figuring this stuff out myself :-)
The single best piece of advice my former Sensei at the old dojo gave me was to keep an open mind to all things, as you begin your journey and at every point along the path. "Shoshin" or "Beginner's Mind". Kind of like Plato's "The only thing I know is that I know nothing". Draw no conclusions about anything because in doing so you close off paths which you may later need. As soon as you think you know something you close your mind to learning something else or something better. This idea is discussed in "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature" and applies to life in general as well as a combat situation. You will find that after 20 some years of practice there is very little if anything that William has drawn conclusions about.
Yeah. it all comes down to definitions. I got in a huge argument with a gentleman on a fencing list about the fact that having perfect defence is irelivant if you cannot attack. Eventually you have to do something to end the fight and the longer you wait to do it, the more chance there is that you will screw something up.
Don't take my word for it by any means, I'm still very much figuring this stuff out myself :-)
The single best piece of advice my former Sensei at the old dojo gave me was to keep an open mind to all things, as you begin your journey and at every point along the path. "Shoshin" or "Beginner's Mind". Kind of like Plato's "The only thing I know is that I know nothing". Draw no conclusions about anything because in doing so you close off paths which you may later need. As soon as you think you know something you close your mind to learning something else or something better. This idea is discussed in "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature" and applies to life in general as well as a combat situation. You will find that after 20 some years of practice there is very little if anything that William has drawn conclusions about.
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I got in a huge argument with a gentleman on a fencing list about the fact that having perfect defence is irelivant if you cannot attack. Eventually you have to do something to end the fight and the longer you wait to do it, the more chance there is that you will screw something up.
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