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The sphere of Martial Arts is one of the most important contributions of Asia to the world. Who will forget Bruce Lee and the fact that he was first and foremost a martial arts competitor before becoming a movie star? Martial arts pictures are a huge hit with the ever-increasing popularity of Asian cinema like ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and more recently ‘The House of the Flying Daggers’.

The Chinese are the first nation that come to mind when it you think of these things, but the Japanese are just as athletic with a rich tradition of body contact sports in their history. Modern Japan still honours the martial arts by holding tournaments and promoting their sports around the world,

One of these is Aikido. It is interesting to take note of the fact that the word comes from three Japanese words from which one derives the meaning of the one word. Ai means ‘joining’, Ki signifies ‘spirit’ and Do means ‘way’. From this we can understand why Aikido lies beyond just the physical talents of it students, especially since its first advocate, Ueshiba, focused on the spiritual and philosophical improvement of his students.

In Aikido, one is not taught violence instead, one is trained to be in concord with the opponent so that you are able to defeat him more easily. This might seem strange but it really works. In attacking an opponent, the aim of the Aikido practitioner is to be one with the adversary so as to be able to attack him where he is weakest and in so doing, divert or immobilize him, but never to kill him.

This is where Aikido becomes an art form. Art is something beautiful to look at and something positive and Aikido is all that. At least one of the people involved in the combat is searching for harmony and concord can only be achieved if there is elegance in the actions. The moves may be calculated, but there is an air of elegance in performing these movements. Not a feminine grace, but a grace that emanates peace. The ‘art of peace’ is what they call it in Aikido and it is one of the most affirmative influences of Aikido on its students and to everyone else who chooses to learn about this Japanese martial art.

Some of the techniques in Aikido embrace the following.

Ikkyo is the first technique. Using this technique, you direct an adversary by using one hand to hold his elbow and one to hold near the wrist. This action is supposed to allow you to pin your opponent down to the ground.

Nikyo, the second technique, is when you perform a wrist lock which enables you to twist the arm of your opponent which will in turn cause nerve pressure.

Sankyo, the third technique, is a technique that creates upward-spiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder. There are many other techniques but the first three are enough to give you a basic idea.

When you are studying Aikido, it is important to keep in mind that, along with building physical strength, you will need to improve your mind to be able to overpower your adversary. Just like in any art form, it takes a lot of training and discipline to perfect the art of Aikido. The chief thing to remember is, that anyone who wants to get into the art, must have the determination to give honour to the art by performing it in the best way they can.

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