And, weapons scenes in movies are always very cool to watch. High level weapons work is inspiring to watch.
Weapons are just so divorced from my usual practice. In empty hand, a partner attacks, and I try my best to do what is being taught. I try to join, and feel up/down, expand/contract, open/close, lead/blend/cut. I get a very intimate and very creative interaction. We're all different; all bringing our own issues to the mat, and then we come together in harmony (or various stages thereof.)
As we use solid weapons, safety issues become a concern. We never get free form in partner practice. Some exercises use a Maai that makes contact impossible. As an Art, we don't employ padding, or strike pads or any practice that would give our weapons work feedback for control, accuracy and power (though there are clips of O Sensei doing exactly that with posts and bunches of sticks). Then, the partner practice is joined by people who do not have sufficient control, accuracy, or power. In empty hand, Uke provides very valuable feedback constantly.
Weapons really trigger some visceral emotions for some people, more than any empty hand technique would. People who know how to choke someone, break an arm, or break a neck will refuse to touch a blade, or allow a toy gun in class.
Our history of weapons in Aikido is very much lethal. The sword is a weapon of instant death, and even a bokken can kill with one strike. A Tanto is a representation of a mutilating, crippling, lethal and messy tool. Jo can be lethal but has many non-lethal applications. Yet I believe the largest single influence on Aikido Jo is the Juken - rifle and bayonet, arguably a weapon with the broadest lethality of the three weapons we use. The Founder's early Aikido was very much associated with handguns and rifles, but we do not as an Art associate ourselves with any projectile weapons. While Tanto-Dori and Jo-Dori used to be easily adapted to pistol and rifle takeaways, newer techniques are becoming common that leave Nage likely to get shot. Does it matter? We're not practicing with guns now. But look at what we do, and compare it to Kobudo or Chinese staff work or Filipino stick fighting - if we want to fight with a stick, we have so many techniques that we could absorb into our art that are compatible with our movements and philosophy. Our Jo work doesn't even resemble traditional Jo work.
Shirata Sensei, Chiba Sensei, Kanai Sensei, Nishio Sensei, and Saito Sensei (and who even knows how many others) all developed very different weapons kata. We do not treat kata like Karate does though. There are about 50 recognized traditional Karate kata. Shotokan uses 27, and acknowledges that Goju Ryu has 15 that are different but still part of the 50. Shito Ryu uses all the forms, but has their own variations on the same kata. Many teachers had to come together for this catalogue of history and methods.
For Aikido, each weapons kata is perhaps treated as a declaration of loyalty to a specific teacher. Few non-Kanai students train Kanai Sensei's Iaido, for example. There has been no attempt to bring all of the different weapons kata and training methods under one umbrella that I am aware of. If anything, quite the opposite. There are rumors and allegations that Tokyo Hombu has been trying to suppress any weapons instruction, and this is why Iwama is now a separate style. Weapons are perhaps more tied to politics than our empty hand work. Later clips of O Sensei with a Jo show free form and depth - more than I have seen in his students' systems. Aikido as I learned it is not kata based, but that is the only way weapons are taught.
Short or long weapons like baton, cane or Bo staff are very likely something the Founder could use well and things that individual teachers have developed, but we don't add to our weapons work as an Art. People like Koga developed baton use that was not absorbed into the larger Aikido world.
Aikido likes to be a circular, soft, flowing flexible art using many restraining techniques, but we do not use a soft, flexible, circularly whirling weapons used to restrain criminals for centuries like ropes or chains. While there are pictures of O Sensei using a fan or a variety of spears, we don't associate them with Aikido. Our philosophy does not guide our weapons work, nor does the Founder's example.
There are many traditional weapons that were designed over centuries to compliment our core techniques (grappling and grabbing) but we do not employ them.
See if someone is too slippery for Kotegaeshi, Sankyo, Kaitenage or Iriminage now...
Of course, these look so much nastier than a sword - though a sword is so much easier to kill with.
Weapons used to be fitted to the wielder, and this decided how it would be used. The Okinawan Roshakubo was a six foot staff, often employed by people who were less than six feet tall. For modern Aikido, whether you are a four foot tall child or a 6'8" adult, a Jo is of uniform length. I was told once that if a Jo was held up beside you, a good length would come to your armpit, and a Bo should be a foot over your head. We do not try to accomodate different sizes and weapons are now standardized.
Are you fighting in an enclosed space? A long weapon is wasted at best - you cannot swing enough to build up momentum. At worst, a long weapon is going to get in the way and hinder your movements. Are you fighting someone on horseback or storming a fortification? A short knife is not going to help as much as a spear, lance, or halberd. A bow is very useful at a distance, and not much use in close quarters without modification. Specific weapons could be better suited for specific situations. Specific weapons like the Kobudo Eiku (Oar) are far more likely to be present in a specific environment too. Aikido weapons work doesn't teach to condition or circumstance.
Teachers who could tolerate a wide variety of expressions of a classical technique get into arguments over thumb placement when a Jo comes out. Is this kata starting with Choku Tsuki or Kaeshi Tsuki? The correct answer, I think, is what end of the weapon do I want to deploy? It's a non-issue for a Jo, but grab any tool out of your garden shed. The difference between Choku Tsuki and Kaeshi Tsuki is the difference between hitting someone with a shovel's handle or head.
None-the-less, when I recently tested for my Sandan, the examiner wanted to see the candidates demonstrate an understanding of weapons. He was right to do so. I am part of a history and an Art. I have ignored weapon kata for a number of years. I never found I could be creative while trying to remember the sequence of a form. My weapons work was not clearly contributing to my empty hand, so I focused on my empty hand. I passed, and I did well. Put a stick in my hand today, and I can fight with it (I have done lots of certain suburi). Time to suck it up and learn the kata.
No comments:
Post a Comment