Inside Nihon Goshin Aikido ~ #45
3 December 2016
Inside This Edition:
Christmas Greetings
Christmas Shopping Ideas for all Aikidokai
Why Do Marines in Fights Feature So Prominently on Youtube?
Real Fight Breakdown ~ Classic Example of the Thoughtful Man Defensive Posture
Well Merry Christmas Nihon Goshin Aikido Aficionado!
I hope the season is treating you well. I hope it treats me well also ~ though the verdict is still out as of yet.
Since it is Christmas, I wanted to speak first to the things I am thankful for. I am blessed to have a Lovely wife, three mostly lovely kids, two dogs, my own business which allows me to work flexible hours, and my eternal salvation.
Along the salvation line, just yesterday I was thinking of what my favorite word might be. I had never really thought about it before. After a few minutes I decided that my favorite word was “Mercy” ~ which means forgiveness in English and sounds like the French word ‘Merci” ~ which means “thank you.” When you combine the english meaning of Mercy with the french definition of Merci, you get a true picture of all the word means: “Thank you for forgiving me.”
So, what’s your favorite word? I bet someone is thinking “Kiai!”
Now everybody remembers the gifts of the magi around this time of the year, so before I have an alter call, I figured we should discuss appropriate aikido gifts.
Aikido Gifts Here
Things you might consider putting on your Christmas List in no particular order ~ Most of these are are listed for sale in our “Store” on ngaexperience.com
1. Sensei William Tolli has an awesome poster outlining all of the testing requirements for each belt in Nihon Goshin Aikido. The poster covers everything through sho-dan. This would be a great addition to any man cave or dojo. I bought one this summer. Cost is $20 plus shipping. You can enquire with Sensei Tolli directly by clicking here:
2. Sensei Jeffery Dutton’s book “Nihon Goshin Aikido, The Art and Science of Self Defense” ~ is essential reading for the Nihon Goshin Aikidokai. This book presents an in depth study of each Classical Technique. In some ways, the book is a “master copy” for your Ni-Dan test requirement to “explain all of the Classical Techniques in writing.”
3. Sensei Steven Weber has accrued quite a bit of recent video discussing every Classical Technique on DVD. These are available for purchase “by belt” or as a complete package (eg: all 50 techniques). I got the whole set when I was preparing for my sho-dan test, and kept it looping on my computer for weeks. Sensei Weber also has a DVD series of applications for every technique, and another series on Reversals.
4. Sensei MacEwen’s “Dynamic Aikido” video series still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I watch it. This is especially true when he says, “ Now At Combat Speed.” ~~~ Dang! If you don’t have a copy of “Dynamic Aikido” you need a copy of “Dynamic Aikdio.”
5. Now those gifts are really nice, but what you really need is a coffee mug with Nihon Goshin Aikido written on it. We’ve got those on our site also, as well as sweatshirts, t-shirts, Yeti Cups, etc. The proceeds from the purchases of your customized Nihon Goshin Aikido Yeti Cups and other NGAexperiene.com merchandise help me buy more Christmas gifts, for my family, so stock up! Lol
What is the Deal with the Marines and Youtube?
Almost every time I check my email inbox, I have an email link to a youtube video with a title that goes something like, “Marine Enters Boxing Match,” or “Marine Blows Up Stuff,” or “Marine Eats Ham Sandwich,” etc.
After awhile these links have become particularly offensive to me. See, as a former Army Infantry Officer, I have first hand knowledge that Marines are the second biggest bunch of “wanna be war fighters” in the United States Armed Services. Simply put, if it were not for the Coast Guard, the Marines would be the biggest collection of wusses in the free world. Of course, any member of the Coast Guard will admit to being the biggest group of wusses in the Free World because as members of the Coast Guard, they only get to pretend to be in the Navy ~~~ So the Coast Guard barely beats the Marines out in the impotent and nonessential “wuss” category.
I’m not exactly sure what this has to do with Christmas or even aikido, but in the spirit of denigrating the Marines even further, here are a few testosterone replacement therapy laced “Yay Marines!” Videos (see videos to the left). Enjoy! PS: I tried to find some “Yay Coast Guard!” Videos on youtube, but there are none.
Real Fight Breakdown:
Here is a classic example of a real fight caught on video in which the “Thoughtful Man Defensive Posture” is used to perfection. Incidentally, this video was initially titled “Marine takes issue with a flag burner” (I am not making this up). The video quality is not excellent, and you can not make out the words that are being exchanged between the aggressor and defender. That said, there are two very distinct sounds you can hear as you watch the video. I’ll leave the descriptions of those two sounds to you.
Video Summary: At the beginning, the man in the red shirt (the good guy) has his hands up by his face to protect himself if a strike comes. This is the “Thoughtful Man Defensive Posture.” He is demonstrating empathy to the aggressor, but protecting himself at the same time. Apparently he was late for a super heroes meeting or something because he grows impatient waiting on the aggressor’s strike.... And takes preemptive action.
Notes: The decision to drop his hands before striking was unwise, but the openhanded strike is still enough to record the knockout. The strike was not a simple slap. You can see him load the strike from the ground up @ 5 seconds ~ just the way we would do if we were working on the basic Chop out of a neutral stance. (See Jeffery Dutton’s “Nihon Goshin Aikido: The Art & Science of Self Defense” page 69. Don’t have it? Get it Here!).
The strike is also as violent as possible. On the street, you don’t play games. When you strike preemptively, you want to end the fight immediately. Think “tick, Tick, BOOM!” Drop maximum lead on target Ranger!
Stances: Speaking of stances, he is operating out of a shizentai (neutral stance) like we would be. You can see him step out of shizentai when he moves to put the guy in the recovery position.
Other observations. While he did attack first, the man in the red shirt is the good guy. Look at his actions after the strike. He is completely calm. He takes the time to put the other guy into a proper recovery position. He does not kick him while he is down. He does not rob the man.
Still, I suspect that there are probably a few readers who will take issue with the fact that the good guy struck first.
Thoughts, What say ye?
Well Merry Christmas. I’ll see you in the New Year!
Don’t forget those Christmas Aikido gifts, and let’s meet together on the mat, and soon.
All the Best,
Jonathan Wilson
PS: No Marines were injured in the course of writing this newsletter, although one Marine did get a particularly nasty cough.
PPS: Also ~ for the record, I want everyone to be absolutely clear on this. It’s not that I hate the Marines... It’s more the notion that the Marines exist in the first place that bothers me most. ;)
Cool High Soft Ukemi Breakfalls Demonstration in This Video.
I like the way uke meets the mat with the hand, and then worms his way down with an activated core.
The title of the video is “Marine versus Kickboxer” but it’s actually a scene from the movie “Never Back Down.” If there was a Marine in the video, he’d be the one who gets knocked out at the end.
Marine Fires a .50 Cal
Marines Storming the Beaches
Now here is a video worth watching. This is Dr. Pepper’s own Larry Culpepper (the lovable inventor of the College Football Playoff System). As far as marketing campaigns go, this is one of the most ingenious series of commercials that has ever run.
The Thoughtful Man Defensive Posture
The Classic Lines of the Nihon Goshin Aikido training gi are unmistakable.
- White Gi
- “Ai” patch on the right breast
- “Ki” patch on the left breast
- Association patch on the right shoulder.
- Applicable belt (white, yellow, blue, green, purple, brown, black),
- Black hakama (worn only by those who have achieved a black belt in Nihon Goshin Aikido)
Some things simply never change. The student/ instructor uniform should be one of those things. This uniform marks a connection all the way back to the Chitose dojo, and should be preserved.
These are not the Ki techniques you are
looking for.
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Unless otherwise stated, the author’s views, musings, and opinions do not necessarily reflect the attitude of leadership within any of the various Nihon Goshin Aikido associations, or unaffiliated Nihon Goshin Aikido dojos.