けっきょく実力が勝つ
Kekkyoku jitsuryoku ga katsu
Real ability wins in the end
The other day an anonymous martial arts expert on social media commented on one of my videos that “Speed dictates whether your technique works at all, and most of these do not.” I replied that “All techniques are a function of speed, timing, reaction and technical skill. So what works or doesn't work depends on the practitioner doing them.” On the internet, it is easy to be a keyboard warrior and fall into speculative game of judging something from the comfort of one's sofa. However, like Ip Man says in the movie Grandmaster, “Kung fu - two words. Horizontal. Vertical. Make a mistake - horizontal. Stay standing and you win.” In other words either you can do it or just talk or type about doing it. Regardless of style or rank, the martial arts are about life or death and that means it relies heavily on the ability of the individual. Each person is judged by what they can or can’t do and not on what their rank is, who their teacher was or what style they are doing. In Aikido, the person throwing is referred to as the nage (投げ) or “the one who throws” but they are also called the tori (取) or “taker.” It seems strange that the one doing is the “taker” but the word tori actually has an ominous origin that makes sense. When we look at the kanji, 耳 means mimi or “ears” and 又 means mada or “still.” This kanji came from Chinese history where warriors used to cut off the left ear of their opponents as a proof of their prowess on the battlefield. Thus, we can posit that 取 means that the tori is the one who survived and is able to take the ear of their opponents. It is easy to speculate on what will work or what won’t. Ranks and styles are subjective and so effectiveness comes down to the individual and whether or not they have the ability to remain vertical or end up horizontal.
Today’s goal: My friend and fellow Aikidoist, James Takata once said, “Don’t just talk about, be about it.” Wise words indeed.
Watch or listen to the latest episode of the Aiki Dojo podcast to better understand the role of rank.
