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Cultivating peace
Despite the quick moves and the loud clashing of the wrapped bamboo Yagyu Shinkageryu Fukuro Shinai swords, the art is actually rather peaceful.
The founder of Aikido, O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, once said, "The way of the warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake."
Masami Shioda takes a stance during a training session with one of his students. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)
The small Japanese man, who gained world renown when he was in his 80s continued "The real way of a warrior is to prevent such slaughter."
Shioda shares a similar philosophy on his art. He says that through the practice, he and his students "glean the importance of life."
There are many misconceptions of the martial arts, explains Shioda. He says often people come to him wanting to fight, or even challenge him. He laughed as he recalled once when a fencing sword fighter challenged him to a match when he was young, and Shioda accepted. He said the match was "50-50. I lost a little bit because he kept stabbing my toe." Shioda laughs as he imitates a stabbing motion at a student's feet.
"Very hard to block," he adds.
A large portion of the techniques are based in teaching self-control and using less force to achieve a greater result. Shioda adds that he wants his students to understand "that you don't need speed, you don't need strength. Just physics and dynamics is all you need and you have the potential to reach the greatness of the founder."
"It's not about muscle and speed. It's technique," he says. "That's what makes it so interesting."
He adds that in teaching the philosophy and principles of the art, he wants his students to "enjoy first, and then if that sort of knowledge makes it more enjoyable, then so be it."
