Aryana Libris

Author : Nishio Shoji
Title : Aikido Yurusu Budo The Irimi-Issoku Principle
Year : 2004

Link download : Nishio_Shoji_-_Aikido_Yurusu_Budo.zip

Foreword. A number of people have suggested over the years that I publish a book. So far I have always refrained from doing so for several reasons. First, I have always considered myself simply another follower on the path, in a position neither to serve as a model for others nor to assert my views on budo technique. However, having grown older, and having already mourned the passing of such teachers as Seigo Yamaguchi, who held my highest respect from the very beginning of my aikido career, and Morihiro Saito, who worked so tirelessly to transmit the Founder’s aikido in its purest possible form, I began to consider what will happen to aikido from this point on. Aikido is a “budo,” a “martial way,” and therefore inextricably rooted in “bujutsu” or “martial technique.” Yet when I look at the aikido world today, I see very little “budo-ness” being expressed in technique, and I wonder if people haven’t begun to forget these important roots. While people often say things like, “Aikido is sword technique...” and “throws and pins are actually strikes....,” there is rarely any explanation of such ideas. There are even some who claim that aikido has no need for things like striking and weapons techniques. In many settings these days, aikido is becoming little more than a kind of health exercise pursued by the elderly and women and children. It was in light of these considerations that Aiki News Editor Stanley Pranin once again approached me to publish a book, and I fi nally agreed with the caveat that I would simply be expressing my own thoughts on training. I often tell people who come to train with me my view that the value of a budo is determined through comparison with other budo; even if you’ve superfi cially mastered techniques like ikkyo and nikyo, these are pointless unless you can make them work in the context of other budo. Judo, kendo and karate all have their own stong points and we must study these too. ...