You must have heard the common phrase:
“comparing apples with oranges”.
This comes up in situations when people make a comparison between two things that really should not be compared.
Do you have a hobby that people are confused by?
They wonder why you would ever do that? Why is it worth the time? And whats the point anyway?
This is sometimes how it feels to practise Aikido.
But I hear these kind of questions more from people that practise martial arts.
Aikido can be very confusing for people that practise other styles. It doesn’t make sense to them and they can’t see it’s value.
Usually, this is because they have a particular goal within their training that Aikido may not be suitable for. If you want to be an elite boxer, kick boxer, wrestler or grappler then there is already a training programme that creates success with these things and it is not found in Aikido.
Aikido is something different. It’s background is in situations involving weapons. This changes a lot of things immediately.
The art has changed over the years and the techniques have perhaps evolved to explore other things.
For me, Aikido is as much about learning more about my body and mind and developing myself. Some people day they are developing their spirit, their ki or their character. For some it is training in confidence, resilience and relaxation.
At it’s heart, the training will develop self defence skills, but sometimes that is hard to notice from watching it.
Your training in Aikido may confused other people, but as long as you know what benefits you are getting from it then it can be a great benefit to your life in many ways
Aikido For Glasgow 