In the Aikido world, many people look backwards to find authority for the method they are teaching, the style they are practising and the customs they follow.
Some parts of the Aikido community worldwide are very focused on this and are looking to maintain a particular tradition without much adaptation.
Others are looking to evolve and change Aikido. In doing this, some are looking to merge Aikido with other arts or extend the Aikido syllabus to include techniques not included in the traditional system. In doing this, they are extending and shifting the goals of their practise to include the goals of other arts. This could easily cause a confusion in practise.
I see no great need to bolt on techniques from other arts into Aikido training but I do believe Aikido should continue to evolve.
There is no great consensus as to which style is undoubtedly the best. The lack of competition makes this hard to assess and the lack of a consensus on what the goal of the practise is make this difficult also.
Evidence for what we are doing goes back to the word “Aikido” and the techniques themselves.
The word Aikido is roughly translated as the way of Aiki. Therefore our practise is closely related to the study and exploration of Aiki.
The question then becomes “what is Aiki” and further “does our training style lead us to developing/exploring/applying Aiki”.
We have a syllabus of techniques which in themselves lead to disagreement as to how, why and when they are applied. There are different ideas on how the uke should attack for example. This can make seminars with different clubs coming together a bit of a confusion.
High level teachers who have found rare and high level skills in Aikido seem to disagree with each other on how these skills are best attained. Until a clear consensus comes together on this, there is still a lot to be explored and experimented with.
Personally, there are still mysteries within Aikido which keeps it interesting for me.
My Aikido is always evolving and I think this evolution could continue potentially until the end of my life. Therefore Aikido has become a part of a life’s journey.
You are welcome to contact me at aikidoforglasgow@gmail.com
Aikido For Glasgow 