Aikido Technique Videos and Self Defense Training

I read in the aikiinseattle blog that the blog is accessed through strange and recurring keywords from time to time, namely "Steven Seagal bald". I guess it's general interest :).
Based on this observation I conducted my own research into how my blog is reachedvia keywords and key expressions.

The most polite I found was "Bowing in London" :D. Although it's pretty straightforward that and 'l' from Bowing is missing or, less likely, the 'B' was supposed to be an 'R'. Nevertheless, I imagined how someone from the Far East wanted to come to London and learn about the customs of greeting here, just note the capital 'B' :).

My other favourite occurs almost every week, I'm not sure why it is so fascinating or how it is connected to the blog at all: "mother organisation". It is one of the top keywords/key expressions to access the blog. I guess either someone really likes this expression or Google Analytics is playing a game with me :).

Another web-based observation:
My hakama folding instructions post must have been very good because somebody immediately copied it and hosted it along with two tons of ads (I only got to know this from the technorati widget and because I included a link to the previous hakama folding post from this instructional one). I don't mind if someone copies things but I would appreciate if the source was also given because, after all, I made the effort of taking the pictures and writing some instructions to them. Shame on you copycat :).

And finally, in case you are interested: most of the blog's readers are from the UK which is followed by the US, Hungary, Canada, Australia and Spain. Thanks to everyone for reading the blog!



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Here's the sequel to the first post about aikido addiction symptoms.

The list has grown since Monday so I will just add those to the end of the list.

You might still be an aikido addict when...

• you open (fire)doors with tegatana and your hip (essentially the same as extending yourself into the door but I had this item before reading the Aikiweb entry)
• when you are a bit drunk you start doing aikido's dance-like moves on the dance floor (it just comes naturally)
• if you are there with a group you even do the rowing exercises together ('in a crazy world only crazy people are normal')
• you all think these look nice and fun (especially if the party is preceeded by an aikido demonstration)
• you always see your dance partner's irimi points and find it hard to resist throwing her (see handshake in previous post)
• going home from a party you can't resist doing mae ukemi on concrete and then you are delighted to see that your camera in your backpack is still intact (Fudoshin san did it, I wasn't drunk enough)
• in a training camp, you change to keikogi at home (or wherewhere your accommodation is) and get on the bus with your bokken in your belt (when you see people watching you you say you are from the bakery)
• you never hold the handle or hold onto the pole in a bus or train, you try to keep a stable hanmi position without using your arms (but the bus isn't attacking in a straight line so it often finds your irimi point)
• walking in an empty corridor you think about how much space you have to do ukemi (the space you need gets smaller as you advance in your aikido studies)
• walking in an corridor you imagine what your boss and colleagues would say if you pretended to stumble then did mae ukemi and stood up as if nothing has happened (copyright Szilard(o) Sensei who also had baseball cap with a Sensei print created by erasing 'Security' from a cap of Sensei Security company)
• you let your friends try to 'draw the sword' from your bokken (sorry, that's mean but many of us do it)
• admire your tegatana in the mirror (but you can always see some place for improvement)

And the three extras:

• You teach your whole family how to roll after just three months of training
• You play with children of your friends/family in shikko dachi and you both feel very happy about it
  
• You teach ukemi to your dog and the dog loves it: runs around, attacks, rolls and runs around and attacks again (ryotedogi kokyunage or, the Hungarian version, iriminage kutya, the latter meaning dog, obviously). As the aikiweb forum says, ikkyo doesn't work on dogs. I have never tried that one, only kokyunage :).
  

I couldn't help but continue the list of Aikiweb's 'You might be an aikido addict if...' topic with my own entries. Initially I thought I would find a couple of entries there which are relevant to me but then it turned out that I can add a couple from my own aikido addiction. Moreover, it's not only a couple of lines but 24 :) and it's only 24 because I can't remember more but I'm sure there are a couple more to make the number 30 :).

First, my favourites from Aikiweb regardless whether I have experienced them or not (but it's likely that these are my favourites because I've experienced them at least once :) ):

You might be an aikido addict if...

• you don't just open a door -- you extend into it from your center
• you immediately stop what you're doing and sit down whenever you hear someone clap their hands
• you find yourself with an irresistible urge to bow every time you enter or exit a room
• you eagerly wait for Halloween (or any other costume party) to wear your gi and hakama outside the dojo
• when you see a strait wooden stick, such as a broken broom handle, you automatically refer to it as a jo
• any building you are in that has a large area in it you think, "Gee this would make a great dojo."
  

Finally, my own list with my own comments (1-12 for now, 13-24 are coming in the next post). Enjoy and add more if you want.

You are (I am) an aikido addict because...

1. on your way to a tranining you warm up your neck and wrists (these are the warm-up moves that attract the least attention)
2. you go home from a training and keep thinking about when the next will be and what you should focus on more (immediate withdrawal symptoms)
3. on your way home from a training you play the training's techniques in your head (usually you are tori)
4. on your way home your arms are always in tegatana and sometimes you walk in aiumiashi and tsugiashi (it's usually dark already so you think noone notices you)
5. on your way home you think about ways how some basic principles can be taught to beginners even better (frustration over not being thrown enough times to get so tired that you need to take the bus home)
6. when you are cold at home you don't turn on the heating or put on more clothes but do an aikido-style warm-up (and you say it's just because you are saving on the energy bill)
7. you close your eyes after going to bed and see aikido techniques played in front of you (not as scary as it sounds)
8. sometimes you participate in these techniques as tori (but that needs much more concentration)
9. you can't sleep because you suddenly remembered a good topic for your aikido blog and can't beat it out of your head until you have it 'written' in your mind (usually starts at 2am and finishes at 4am)
10. you see something on the street or hear a word somewhere and you immediately start thinking about its aikido connection and how it could be written down and posted in your blog (that's how the car alarms inspired me)
11. you treat a handshake as aihanmi katatedori (very hard to resist 'harmony')
12. you redirect other pedestrians on a busy street with tegatana and aiumiashi (detailed experience description coming in another post :))

Others coming next... :P

I was checking out the blog to see if all the wigdets work fine when I found an ad our friend Google has chosen to show to us.

The good news is that as a result, I learned something new: how to filter out ads.
The bad news is that the behaviour of the ad's creator can deceive a lot of beginners or people knowing little about aikido.

Please read the quote below and laugh (I highlighted my favourite parts). According to the real spirit of aikido, let's love the author for giving us this entertaining bullsh...erm... text.

Aikido is by far one of the most popular martial arts and forms of self-defense in the world. Ever since its induction in to the Olympics in 1968, it has fast become a very popular and martial art!

Aikido focuses on both ground fighting and standup fighting on an equal basis as far as training goes. The theory is, if most fights end up on the ground so you need to be prepared for both.

Aikido is an offshoot of jujitsu which mainly focuses on ground fighting and not standup self-defense. Due to the nature of Aikido, training is done almost full-contact. This allows for the student to learn exactly what full-contact resistance feels like as well as is great for conditioning and muscle development.

Some of the downsides of this fighting system is, the standup techniques are not focuses as much on striking, kicking and grappling (standup). This has brought a lot of criticism to the art of Aikido because many feel that it is an inadiqute form of self-defense and personal protection.

I'm not giving you a source link, it doesn't deserve that. Chris says, the writer should be locked up for a year and be forced to read articles about Paris Hilton :D.

Happy New Year, I'll be back with more meaningful posts soon ;) (and might analyse the above text more deeply when I'm not in a positive mood like now).