Budo (martial arts) is not learned as a means of
felling an opponent by force or by lethal instruments.
True Budo calls for bringing the inner energy of the universe to
order, protecting the peace of the world, and molding, as well as
preserving, everything in nature in its right form.
So you must learn the details of strong attacks and effective defenses to
those attacks so that eventually
you will be able to respond to any threat instantaneously and in such a
way to be able to avoid being attacked.
Aikido is a discipline of one’s body, mind, and
spirit in the form of self-defense. To
the first time viewer, Aikido can look like nage (the thrower) is winning
over uke (the person being thrown or pinned).
Very soon after a little practice it becomes apparent that both
nage and uke are winning. Both
people get to practice their movement for their collective benefit and
safety. This is why you will
never see trophies and medals in an Aikido dojo.
Our prizes are the happiness we share and the better society that
we create with one another.
Iaido,
Japanese swordsmanship, is a traditional budo and was developed from
combat practice. Swords were
the primary weapons of the Japanese warrior class who are know as Samurai.
They wore two shinken (real swords) known as daisho.
One was the katana (long sword) and the other was the wakizashi
(short sword). The sword was
seen as the soul of the samurai and was therefore a sacred and very
respectable weapon.
Iaido is
the art of reacting to a surprise attack by counter attacking with the
sword. Most
Iaido training
today is with the katana, usually practiced solo, and eventually with a shinken.