I left aikido to pursue TSYR. I had to decide between the two martial arts as my time was at a premium with a young family. Now, with my girls getting older, very soon, hopefully I will return to aikido training once more.
So I find it timely that I stumbled upon this article by Ellis Amdur.
This article resonated with me for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I have always believed the founder of Aikido was a man of remarkable skill and ability as a martial artist. Like many founders of martial arts he had a certain presence and the backing of important people that allowed him to be successful but ultimately it was his martial prowess that won many people over. However, over the generations, we are not seeing students of aikido emerging with similar skills. Why not? In my opinion, Morihei Ueshiba had developed a different way of powering his techniques that most of his students simply didn't pick up. Ellis Amdur states this much more eloquently in his book, "Hidden in Plain Sight" so I won't even attempt to articulate further.
So it was that I went on the search for a martial art that could teach me how to develop internal strength. I found TSYR.
Secondly, the article talks about incorporating internal strength into aikido practice and this is something I have been thinking about for some time. I am very interested in studying this further and I have dabbled with moving with a connected body using the shapes of aikido techniques. It will take some time but inspired by the article I think there is value in pursuing it.
So the irony is, my TSYR training may end up informing my aikido practice. Isn't that interesting?
