The Pleasures of Drowning(samharris.org)
samharris.org
The Pleasures of Drowning
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-pleasures-of-drowning
6 comments
The Aikido videos are indeed sad. The saddest part is knowing how surprisingly representative they are of the Aikido mythos, originating with the founder himself. Accounts of Morihei Ueshiba and his supernatural adventures in ki are perplexing at best.
That being said, I don't think Aikido is as ineffective as the videos may lead one to believe. I recall a similar experience to the one described in the article, when I strolled into the Aikido dojo with a new black belt in TaeKwonDo. The sensei saw my colossal attitude and broke my confidence repeatedly in front of his students. It was entirely open ended; I attacked and he countered. Each attack landed me in a painful pin. And while my strength and stamina were utterly exhausted, he managed me effortlessly. I was made an example; humbled.
The core techniques of value are not exclusive to Aikido, however, being borrowed from prior arts, and I believe more practical sources of them are Bujinkan and Krav Maga.
That being said, I don't think Aikido is as ineffective as the videos may lead one to believe. I recall a similar experience to the one described in the article, when I strolled into the Aikido dojo with a new black belt in TaeKwonDo. The sensei saw my colossal attitude and broke my confidence repeatedly in front of his students. It was entirely open ended; I attacked and he countered. Each attack landed me in a painful pin. And while my strength and stamina were utterly exhausted, he managed me effortlessly. I was made an example; humbled.
The core techniques of value are not exclusive to Aikido, however, being borrowed from prior arts, and I believe more practical sources of them are Bujinkan and Krav Maga.
It made me cringe to watch that. This isn't the first time I've come across this. There are plenty of such people going around deluding themselves and their "students" (or maybe they're just liars). Youtube has several such examples.
It's a great article on Brazilian Jiu Jutsu (BJJ) and MMA with a couple of mind blowing examples highlighting blind faith in martial arts. Watch the videos. They will make your day maybe in a sad sobering sort of way.
This is all moot, of course, if the opponent brings a gun.
If the other party is armed and you are not then chances are your fate is sealed. Still a sudden violent attack when no option to escape is present is still likely the correct course of action. As Harris states in his early post(1) if they shoot you during the struggle (or escape attempt) they where likely going to shoot you anyways.
1. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-truth-about-violence
1. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-truth-about-violence
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One-by-one, we watched the fights devolve in to a standing clinch, with many athletes sporting a confused look, glancing at the referee as if to ask "aren't you going to separate us?" The fact was that many of these fighters, althogh well respected in their individual arts, had absolutely no idea how to "fight".
We even saw a few self-defense specialists enter the ring. One guy had formed some self-defense art with "bear" in the name. I can't remember the specifics. He was refreshing. During the pre-fight interview, he was confident, but humble. His comments could be summarized as, "I feel pretty confident that what I've developed works, but we're about to find out for real."
It was a unique time with a lot of the layers of delusion being stripped away with the swipe a leg and a thud on the mat. Sometimes I wish we could turn the clock back, just to watch it all over again.