English Version

as published in the 2006 RA News

by Riff Fullan
 
 

Safety versus realism

Many people who have heard of aikido have also heard that a key aikido concept is the idea of balance: of  maintaining one’s own balance as a defender, while at the same time using the attacker’s own momentum to unbalance him (or her). This is indeed central to aikido, but there is also another set of things to balance when we train in the aikido dojo or training hall:  safety versus realism.
 

In any self-defense context, and aikido is no exception, the closer you get to re-creating a realistic atmosphere in your training, the more capable students will be to defend themselves should they ever be confronted with a physically threatening situation in the real world. While there is a strong emphasis in aikido to find alternative ways out of such a situation, it is still important to be  equipped to deal with circumstances where a confrontation cannot be  defused without resorting to physical force. Thus, there is a need to approximate “real” situations in training, but equally important is the concern for avoiding injury when people are attacking and defending with a high enough level of energy that it feels realistic. In other words, there is a tension between having a realistic training atmosphere  and conducting that training in as safe a manner as possible.

How is this tension managed?

First, when students begin their training, techniques are taught and practised in a highly choreographed way so that basics are learned with a minimum of risk of injury for those who are new to martial arts study. Once students have progressed to the  point where they are relatively comfortable as both a defender and an  attacker, their training can be moved farther along the “realism”  continuum.  As we progress along that continuum, we take increasing responsibility for each other’s safety in several ways. There is the  responsibility of the sensei (teacher) to design and monitor the training such that safety and learning are maximized. There is the responsibility of students who are attacking to do their  best to provide realistic attacks, but attacks that are also  controlled so that they require sincere defences, but are not likely to cause injury. In addition, the attackers need to be ready to move quickly in response to the defence in order to avoid injuring themselves.  Finally, there is the responsibility of defenders to be fully present in a way that will allow them to defend effectively and proactively,  while at the same time remaining ever vigilant of the need to avoid  injuring their attackers.
 

Promoting safety first

None of these responsibilities are trivial nor are they taken lightly.  It is a strong spirit of cooperation, mutual respect, and sense of purpose that in the end helps us progress in our training, while managing this dynamic tension between learning a martial art in a serious way and keeping it safe for everyone concerned.
 

 Why not join us?

Oh, and by the way, we also have fun!  If any of this sounds interesting to you, you are invited to drop by  the RA dojo to watch and/or participate as a guest in one of our beginners’ classes. Who knows, you may discover in RA Aikido a great way to stay in shape, build self-confidence, have fun, and learn something that  can be applied in a variety of ways, both mental and physical, to your daily life. It just might be the best move you ever made for yourself!

Prière de vous référer au site web du Centre RA pour un horaire détaillé des cours ou encore pour vous inscrire au cours.