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Coldstone Interview
by Sachet, Moderator @ www.BeyondMass.com
For more information on Sachet and BeyondMass.com
( please click on the above banner.)
Over the past year, I have been reading and asking people what made them choose the martial art they do and which martial art they feel is best for a female to learn. Of course, each art has it's benefits, however how would a 117lb female be able to adequately protect herself if she were to be confronted on the street by an aggressive 190lb male who might be talented in BJJ?
Once I'm brought to the ground, it's all over for me..
I would think doing something to stun him just long enough to run like hell is the only answer. I have been learning and reading about Aikido. It's a very interesting Martial Art in that you learn to blend with your attacker and evade him by redirecting his energy.
I'm not a fan of fighting.. In fact, the sight of someone merely slapping another in play upsets me, so the whole philosophy of harmony and peace really appeals to me. Although, I want the ability to defend myself in some aspect since I believe everyone has the right to defend themselves.
Aikido is split into three Japanese characters which can be defined as 'The Way of Harmonious Energy'. 'Ai' means harmony, 'ki' means energy and 'do' meaning path or way. In this interview, which I found in the East Bay Aikido, Oakland CA site, there's an interesting technique where you're able to pin your aggressor regardless of the differences in your sizes.
http://www.eastbayaikido.com/articl...sinterview.html
http://www.eastbayaikido.com/articl...sinterview.html
A: When you say you pin a person with one finger, do you push on a vital point?
O Sensei: I draw a circle around him. His power is contained inside that circle. No matter how strong a man he may be, he cannot extend his power outside of that circle. He becomes powerless. Thus, if you pin your opponent while you are outside of his circle, you can hold him with your index finger or your little finger. This is possible because the opponent has already become powerless.
B: Once again, it's a matter of physics. In Judo also, when you throw an opponent or pin him you place yourself in the same position. In Judo, you move in various ways and try to place your opponent in such a position.
My friend, Coldstone, who practices Aikido, allowed me to pick his brain a lil
Coldstone Profile
Age: 26
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 202 lbs.
Nationality: Asian
Education: 6 Years of College
Years Practicing Martial Arts: 15
Years Practicing Aikido: Almost 5 years
Rank in Aikido: 2nd Kyu (Brown Belt)
Years Weight Training: 3 Consistent Years
- Sachet: Hiya Coldstone.. Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions regarding Aikido. Can you tell me about it's history?
Coldstone: Hey Sachet, and I would like to thank you for inviting me and giving me the chance to do this interview with you..."Aikido, meaning 'The Way of Harmony', was founded by Morihei Ueshiba or as we like to call him, O'sensei meaning 'The Great Teacher', in 1942. Aikido is rooted in several different styles of Martial Arts, which include Jujutsu, Kenjutsu, Jojutsu, as well as many other innovations from the founder himself.
- Was there something significant that happened in your life which made you decide to study a Martial Art? What was your inspiration?
Nothing really too significant, but I was picked on a lot during my years of schooling all the way to mid high school. Also, where I lived, there was a lot of gang activity, so I had to do something to protect myself. LOL, my inspiration...well, it might sound stupid, but what inspired me was the Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu hours, as well as the Japanese Animations, HAHAHAH.
- You crack me up! There are so many different martial arts. What made you choose to study Aikido over the others?
To tell you the truth, I actually did study different arts. I studied Tae Kwon Do, Shotokan Karate, Taijutsu and Kendo. I actually wanted to learn an art called Kenjutsu, which was the ancient Samurai art of the Sword. For six months, I was going through torture, and I just wasn't getting it, so what my teacher suggested to me was this...'If you want to learn the sword, learn Aikido...it will help you in Kenjutsu' With that, I started to train with him.
- What will someone find if they learn Aikido? Does it take longer to master than other MA's?
Learning Aikido, one will find ways to use your partner's strengths, momentum, and angles against them, exploiting the weak angles where they have no strength or leverage to move them to where you want them to be. Those are just some of the things that a practitioner will experience. I can go further into detail, but I don't think this interview is long enough hahahaha. hhmmm, does it take longer to master than other MA's? well...I got almost 5 years under my belt, and a lot of the times, I barely think I know what I’m doing...LOL. So the answer is yes...Aikido is so dynamic in the techniques as well as movements that it will take over half a year of practicing to even just get comfortable with certain movements.
- Are there different styles of Aikido? If yes, which do you do?
Yes, there are many styles of Aikido around the world today, each using the core ideas that was founded by O'Sensei, but each focusing on different aspects of the art. For example, Kokyu-kai will focus on the Breath Power, and their techniques will evolve around harnessing the breath, while Tomiki-ryu focuses on reversals of techniques. The school that I attend is affiliated with is Aiki-kai, but our techniques are slightly different from the traditional Aiki-kai schools. Only a handful of schools around the world actually do what we do
- Do you have competitions?
Heh, I get asked this question a lot, and the answer is no, except for one style of Aikido which is the Tomiki-Ryu.
- What can you tell me about Morihei Ueshiba, the Aikido founder?
Not much, other than that he was a man of small stature, but of great power. He was born on 1883 in an area of the Wakayama Prefecture now known as Tanabe. Throughout his younger years he studied many different martial arts including Tenshinyo-ryu, Kito-ryu, Shinkage-ryu, to name a few. He was a strict follower of the Samurai code of Bushido, and was a renowned poet as well as a calligraphy master. His quest to discover the 'Perfect' Martial arts led him all over Japan, as well as many martial arts, eventually discovering Aikido. He past away on April 26 1969, leaving a great legacy that still lives today.
- I think the fact that Morihei Ueshiba was a man of small stature is what's so perplexing to me. Aikido seems to be mystical or should I say spiritual.. What is the spirit of Aikido?
There really isn't anything mystical about Aikido, it just seems like it to the untrained eye. The spirit of Aikido is, in the words of O'sensei, Love and Harmony. Aikido practitioners would rather avoid a conflict all together and discuss the issue over drinks instead.
- O Sensei (Morihei Ueshiba) has been quoted as saying 'The technique of Aiki is ascetic training and a way through which you reach a state of unification of body and spirit by the realization of the principle of heaven' Also 'The ultimate goal of Aiki is creation of heaven on earth' Since you are agnostic, how does this philosophy affect you? For example; I am extremely science minded, yet I have a deep belief in God. I realize that adhering to responsible ethical behavior will often cause conflict in my research.
Do you feel you will ever reach a point where you can't progress in Aikido due to your lack of belief?
Hmmm, you know this question has been going back and forth between Aikido practitioners for years. Did O'sensei integrate his religion, Omotokyo, with Aikido or not. From my understanding, and from what I have heard, was that his intentions was NOT to integrate Aikido with Religion.
He wanted everyone, not only the religious, to practice Aikido. What I believe is that he was talking about 'Creating Harmony' when he mentioned heaven in the Aikido context. Harmony with others that you connect with, as well as Harmony within your own self. That is my interpretation on his sayings, so I don't really believe that his philosophies and mine contradict with each other, and I'm pretty open minded, and not set in my ways, so I don't think it will hinder me in my progress in Aikido.
Besides, that's like the last thing I should be concerned about, hahahahaha...
- *LMAO!* Yes, that's very true, but from a western's point of view.. When anything has a spiritual dimension, we often try to place it into a religious category *lol* I agree, religion doesn't seem to apply to Aikido. However, it does seem to relate to a supernatural realm since it does teach you to unite the body and the mind in a way, which is not common in the west. It's extremely intense and appears to require much more discipline than other MA's I've been reading about. Practice seems to be the key. What generally takes place at practice and how often do you go? Do you wear uniforms?
Well, and average class is about an hour to hour and a half in most schools, including mine. For the first 25 to 30 minutes we do the warm up, with one of the students leading it. We loosen and warm up our muscles, starting from our toes, working our way up to our head. Warm ups include stretching our ligaments to breathing exercises known as Kokyu. The reason why the warm up is so long, is that the warm up is one of the most essential part of Aikido. It teaches you the correct foot, hand and body movements, and also it's really designed to tire out the students.
After you are huffing and puffing by the end of the warm-ups, then the real fun begins. The teacher (known as Sensei) will come in, bow to the head of the School (Known as the Shomen) and then calls up one of the students to show the techniques that they will be learning and practicing for the session. Now since I'm the senior student in my school, that would be me going up there, and getting abused by the teacher, hahahaha. It's pretty difficult, taking the techniques (also known as Ukemi) is very very draining to a student. It's really hard to describe to others, and they most likely won't understand even when we do, why one can get so tired so fast, unless they have actually felt it. Then after the Sensei has finished showing the class one of the techniques, we choose our partners, and try do discover what he did. In most classes we would work on 3 to 4 techniques. Oh, I forgot to mention bowing...there's a lot of bowing, before the training, after the training, etc...It’s a sign of respect. Well, I used to attend classes 4 days a week, and I did that for about 8 to 9 months. Then the whole training, and driving 90 miles round trip to train finally got to me, and I decided to only train 3 days a week. As for uniforms, we really don't have an official Aikido uniform. The students basically use a single or double weave Judo Uniforms (also known as Gi's), and the teachers would sometimes wear Karate Gi's. When a man obtains a rank of Shodan (First Degree Black Belt) he wears a big skirt like pants called a Hakama, but a woman can wear a Hakama starting from 3rd Kyu onward.
- What's a good age to begin studying Aikido? How old were you when you started?
I would say a person can start in any age, but would more likely to recommend ages in mid teens. Aikido has many difficult ideas to comprehend, as well as the body will be much stronger around that age to take the serious pounding they will receive through their training. I started Aikido when I was 20 years old.
- What have you found the principles of Aikido to be? It's my understanding that you don't attack your opponent.. How do you defend yourself from an attacker?
The principles of Aikido are simple, don't attack, and don't lose your center. Like I said earlier, we would rather avoid the conflict than to just break a guys nose, but there will come a time, when that is not possible. We defend ourselves by using our opponent’s strengths and momentum against them. Using specific angles and leverages to throw or take down an attacker, or use small joint manipulation and locks to make them incapacitated.
- Are there many techniques in Aikido?
Yes, actually there are about 3000 techniques with 16 different ways in executing each technique, so there are literally thousands of techniques, and almost infinite number of ways to apply them.
- I've also noticed that it seems that Aikido is quite different from Karate, Judo and the other traditional arts. For instance, in Aikido, there aren't many instances when someone grapples with their opponent as they do in Judo. Most who have studied Aikido can eventually handle many opponents at once. Would you say that's an accurate statement?
Yes, in Aikido, we do not learn any kicking or punching, but instead we learn the defenses against them. But we do have few techniques where we take down our partners to the floor, and pin them, like some Judo, or Jujutsu techniques. And yes, we do have multiple person defenses, it's called Randori. Ran meaning Chaos, and Dori meaning Order. It's is one of the main focal points of training for the Black belt test.
- Are there ranks in Aikido?
Yes, we do have ranks. Aikido students are ranked by something known as Kyu system. When a student first joins an Aikido School, they are what are known as Mu-Kyu meaning, No Kyu or No Rank. Then they take a test for the 5th Kyu, then 4th Kyu, 3rd Kyu and so on till the 1st Kyu. Then they take a test for Shodan, which is the 1st Degree Black belt, all the way up to 7th Degree.
- How long does someone generally study Aikido before they reach a point where they can't learn anything new?
Till they die. No one person can actually become a true master where he knows all there is to know. Even O'sensei, till his dying day, was still a student first then a teacher. He was always learning, and growing. A martial art isn't just about the techniques; it's deeper than that.
It has many many layers...just like an onion, when you think that it is the last layer, there's another under it to discover. There's always something new to learn, or discover something new about something old.
- *Grins* What are some common Aikido related injuries?
LOL...ahhh, injuries, there are a lot of Aikido related injuries, but the real kicker is, it's not really the techniques that hurts you. If you get injured, it's YOUR fault, but like all martial arts, injuries do occur. The most common injuries pertain to small joints. Since a lot of Aikido's techniques require small joint manipulation. There are a lot of injuries to your fingers, wrists, elbows, sometimes toes and ankles, and the injuries to those parts are usually hyperextensions. Another common injury in Aikido is the dreaded Mat Burn. When you are being slammed to the ground, you try to stop most of your momentum using your hands and arms, and sometimes, well...it slips a bit, and gets dragged across several inches of mat space. Now there are some uncommon injuries in Aikido...well, at least in my school, LOL. Several times I had to go home with a split lip, busted nose, partially dislocated jaw, strained larynx, bruising every where, hahahaha.
- You sustained a rather extensive injury to your foot while participating in a demonstration. Since you're an extremely active person, this is something that is causing you to go completely bonkers because you're unable move around much. Can you tell us about your injury?
LOL...one thing I can tell you is I got injured, cause I was stupid, and basically sleeping hahahah. It was, as you already said, a demonstration. It was my teacher, another student, and myself. The demonstration was going really well, till we hit two men Randori. It was our job to basically take down our teacher. During the attacks, I somehow managed to get behind my teacher and was on my way to take him down, while the other student was actually struggling with him. All of a sudden, my teacher throws him backwards, and in slow motion, I saw him coming down at me. My right heel was planted on the ground, and my toes were pointing up to the ceiling. He landed on my toes, and dislocated all my toes, and broke my fourth metatarsal. Well, I got rushed to the hospital, and after all that mumbo jumbo, I end up being misdiagnosed, as a simple bone break. Well, three weeks later, it wasn't really getting any better, so I decided to go to a foot specialist. Well, it turns out that it wasn't just a bone break, but instead it was something called a Lisfranc Fracture with dislocation. What that means is that, I tore basically all of my ligaments holding the mid foot bones, and the toes. The doc told me I needed surgery, and after all that, I'm sitting here in my cast, with four screws and two pins holding my bones together. I've been in the cast for about 6 weeks now, and I have two more weeks before it finally comes off, and I can start putting some weight on it. As for therapy, I have no idea what will come. All I know right now, is I have to take it really slow, relearn how to walk, and take it one step at a time (pun intended) hahahaha.
- How will a foot injury this extensive affect your MA training?
Well, I would have to take it slow in the beginning, really slow. I don't think I can go back to my normal schedule until I know it can take the full pressure of the movements, and all the pivoting. From what the doctor have told me, I will go back to about 95% normal when it fully heals, but I will have some pain when it is used a bit too extensively.
To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure how it will affect me. It's really my first major injury other than my back. I just have to face it and deal with all the changes, if any, when I get to that point in time, and I'll let you know how and what I am doing to cope with it.
- You also have been very dedicated and making impressive gains in (natural) bodybuilding. I'll add a link to your progression pictures.
http://www.beyondmass.com/forums/sh...p?threadid=4398
This injury has caused some major set backs in your weight training as well. Although, in my opinion, you have great genetics and will bounce back in that area quickly. What was your training schedule before breaking your foot?
HAHAHA, I'm not too sure about the great genetics part, but yeah, a lot of things in my life got set back or put on the back burner, by this injury and Working out and training was two major parts. My training schedule would be like this for the week.
Monday: Lifting - Back and Biceps
Tuesday: Lifting - Chest and Triceps
Wednesday: Aikido Training
Thursday: Aikido Training
Friday: Lifting - Shoulders and Abs
Saturday: Aikido Training (Morning) Lifting - Legs (Afternoon)
Sunday: Rest
I just hope that I can bounce back to where I left off, in training as well as in weight lifting.
- I love your body type. It's very sexy in that you're muscular, but at a healthy weight and not carrying a lot of unnecessary bulk. You recently started going back to the gym to burn off frustration-aggression and steam. Since you're still in a cast and wobbling around on crutches, your workout is limited.. what does your current work out look like?
Of course cause of my injury my Aikido training has stopped, and so was my weight lifting for the first month. Then as you said, the whole staying home, constantly looking in the mirror, and seeing myself wither away got to me, and decided to hit the gym. I started with light weights and low sets, doing a fraction of number of exercises that I used to do before. It was funny in the gym...I would finish my set, then hobble over to an incline bench and prop my foot up, to drain the blood away from my foot, letting my spotters to take on and off the weight, HAHAHAHA.
These days, I've settled in for a two day workout period with the rest to try to relax and focus on healing. My workout looks like this now.
Tuesday: Chest and Biceps
Thursday: Back and Triceps
What I've learned through this injury is that, i use my foot for a lot of exercises. I can't believe how crucial your footing is during a bench or even a bicep curl. I'm relearning how to keep balance in all my exercises again, and how not to rely on my feet.
- Guess it brings a whole new meaning to trying to stay centered!
I truly think that Coldstone's training in the martial arts has helped him enormously with the mental battle he's been experiencing since his injury. He definitely has a strong character and I respect his mental strength as well.
* Article by Sachet, Moderator @ www.BeyondMass.com .
* Back to This Issue's Frontpage
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