Maybe I am seeing too much in this History Channel special, Warriors : Islands of Blood, which is about the Hawaiian fighting arts, but it certainly looks like a lot of the same movements we do for our Aikido practice, but adapted to attacking, with or without weapons, and dealing some pretty dangerous life-threatening attacks.
It isn’t just the hand to hand, but the spear-catching and the application of their weapons systems that reawakens my attempt to reach some of the pacifists and narrow-minded people who don’t search out the many martial arts around the world that are similar in movement to aikido.
What is interesting is … there are so many similarities to the safe practice techniques of Aikido … I think it would be worth your while to examine this television special? I am not sure but it could be in the online look at an episode when you go to either the history channel or look up this program online.
Either way … No matter why you practice aikido, for exercise or for it’s martial aspect … it certainly is better you see the weaknesses of your defense or attacks and figure out a way to close those gaps. Be it hand to hand, hand against weapon, or weapon against weapon, to be forewarned is to be fore-armed, right?
Never stop learning, searching, investigating …. looking beyond the simple safe techniques practiced in class because …. that is how we keep aikido alive and fresh generation after generation.
http://www.history.com/content/warriors/warrior-cultures/hawaiian-warriors
As Mr. Sugano said in 1962 when asked about the differences in the various “martial arts”, “All same thing.”
Eventually, the human body, as complex as it is, is a finite system. Techniques, therefore, are finite. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a large number. The number might even be too large for one person to absorb in a lifetime. This leads to the reinventing the wheel problem. Especially in a relatively peaceful society there is the related problem of inventing square wheels. They’re different, and if you don’t actually USE them might look attractive…