Fight me! Erm... No...

i had to write this post after reading all the comments that followed from this YouTube clip.

i have started doing Aikido again. this is after a long long break because of my injury and work.

no... i don't do Aikido so that i can beat people up. i know that i probably never can. because my reaction is too slow. i will almost definitely lose a fight to some one who is somewhat proficient in any martial art. does that therefore mean that Aikido is useless? that it doesn't work?

yes and no.

yes... Aikido is useless as a means to beat the living shit out of someone if i'm the one using it. but if someone else, who's reaction is much faster uses it... then perhaps it is useful.

so. if someone else trained in some other martial art can beat me in a fight, he has not shown that his martial art is better than Aikido. he has only shown that he is better at beating people than i am.

why do i do Aikido then? well... i do think that it can, should i ever need it, be used as some form of self-defence. because most thugs on the street i might meet probably won't be a black belt in Karate/Taekwondo/any other martial art. if he/she is, then this persons martial art instructor ought to stop teaching for being a super lousy judge of character. so... my mediocre skills might still be able to help me get out of somewhat sticky situations. of course, i won't go picking a fight with someone like XH. and i know if i meet him in a dark alley, i probably don't have to fight him (i just have to run fast... i think i can out run him...).

another reason why i do Aikido... well.... i am getting fatter. and it is a form of exercise if one takes it seriously enough.

and also... well... i take it as a form of moving meditation. i like the philosophy behind it. Aikido literally means "The Way of Harmony". the best story where is where this guy, after getting his first grade black belt in Aikdio, boarding a train, saw this drunkard bullying a pregnant lady. so our Aikido black belt guy wanted to give it to the drunkard. old man in the same carriage stopped our brash hero-to-be, then started talking to drunkard nicely. found out that drunkard lost his job, wife ran off with someone else, so super upset. old man comforted drunkard. drunkard stopped being aggressive was apologetic. and old man went on to counsel drunkard. Aikido hero-that-wasn't realised that that is the highest form of Aikido. when you win a conflict without having to use any techniques.

in fact, that is what Sun Tzu said in his Art of War. someone who fights a hundred battles and wins a all of them is not the best general. the best general is one who wins without having to fight. Lao Tzu in his Tao Te Jing also said, if you never fight, you will never lose. Jet Li's character in Fearless had this to say, the greatest victory is the mastery of oneself.

so... my doing Aikido is a cultivation of the self. it is my way to harmony. to peace. something that i've been searching for, but not having great success finding. i have much darkness within me that i have to fight against. to quote Spider-man 3... the greatest struggle is within... and in my case... it is true.