Dojo-cho’s Column 2 — Aikido’s Idea of Real Combat

Whenever people talk about martial arts, the phrase “real combat” always comes up. Even today, people judge which martial art is stronger in real combat by who wins in mixed martial arts competitions. A martial art that has not proved itself in competition is sometimes said to be weak in real combat.

The dictionary defines real combat as “an actual fight.” But when a fight breaks out, each person in it has a purpose. I believe that real effectiveness lies in how well you achieve and protect that purpose. If the purpose is to win a match, then the strategy and technique for winning are real combat; if the purpose is to protect your health, then the methods suited to that are real combat.

Aikido is often described as “a martial way that knows how to put an opponent in danger, yet shows that it does not do so.” The aim of aikido is to find the best way not to hurt your partner. That is why aikido has no competitions in which people could be injured; instead it has embu (演武), demonstrations in which you show your technique.

The way we train is the same. Tori, who applies the technique, tries to express the technique fully while protecting uke, who receives it, from injury as much as possible. Uke protects their own body while receiving the technique so that tori can carry it through completely. Only when the two take turns in these roles and come into harmony can it be called proper aikido training.

One morning, a member practicing ukemi said to me, “I understand it in my head, so why won’t my body listen? I feel so foolish.” Then the member answered their own question: “I guess there’s nothing for it but to keep repeating it until I get it right.”

They were right. All of us have habits that come out unconsciously. The urge to push back harder when someone attacks is one of them. Aikido is a martial way that governs that urge, protecting yourself and even the partner who attacks you. And that kind of body and mind can be built only through repetition.

If it is truly necessary, you must not back down from a fight. But rather than winning by any means, always thinking about and seeking a better way in which no conflict arises: that is aikido’s idea of real combat. In a time when living together seems to grow fainter and fainter, I think this spirit of aikido is exactly what our society needs.