why is it we do what we do?

Why is it we do what we do? I mean if you’re bothering to look up my obscure blog on aikido then I’m going to guess that you spend at least four hours a week in a dojo, but odds are high that it’s actually much greater then that.

So why is it that we spend so much time doing the thing?

The most obvious answer is self-defense. But, what a ridiculous diminishing return we get on our time if our only goal is self-defense.

Using aikido (specifically the type that I do), in the first I don’t know 8 months, it seems you learn enough to keep yourself safe from a fair percentage of the population. You can handle angry mothers, grandmothers, old guys and a good chunk of the skinny white guy posers. In 8 months you’ve got the get off the line and punch the face (shomen-ate) down pretty pat.

After two years-ish, around shodan you’ve got enough of the intricacies to all of the "not so scary folks" and you've started to enter into the I can take some of the scary dudes land.

On the Real street brawls guy's page he points out that most scary dudes have one trick. A single trick that they use to win almost all their fights. According to Karl, thats how most of the dudes in Japan rolled, back in the day (what a good saying). They would learn one technique very well and they could wipe out pert near anyone with it. How long does it take to learn that one good technique. Two years? Anyway this is my point. After two years your capable to self-defense from almost everyone.

That last bit of dudes are the super powerful guys and the guys with even greater training then you. If he’s bigger/stronger/faster you have to maintain all of the principles of your art, without error. The more superhuman they are the more error costs you. Error free is hard.

Or, doda’s got more training then you. If he (or she) can do his thing better then you can do yours, its pain time.

So, it’s the rest of your life to get that last collection of folks. Not a good investment on your money. Since you can never get to 100 (that one guy who can kick everyone’s ass is too busy training to read this) if you’re in it for self-defense alone, you’re wasting your time.

My point is that there has to be something more to keep us coming back. I know that folks in our dojo come back cause I’m so much fun to hang out with, but there has to be more the just my pretty face.

Seriously, the same amount of time spent doing some sort of partners dancing would net a return a hell of a lot more tail.

Since I don’t believe much in Ki, I don’t think I’m getting any benefit there.

So it’s not the women and it’s not the force, what is it?

It’s the coolness of the thing. It’s the most interesting, mind boggling puzzle with the neatest rewards ever. I don’t think that I could keep doing just any old martial art. (and to each their own) But, the never ending complexity that often reveals itself to be simplicity that I just didn’t grasp before makes this one worth while. How cool is an effortless throw?

Cool enough to keep me showing up for practice 8 hours a week.