Friday, October 9, 2009

A Creative Martial Art - Taido

By Bill Williams

Taido was the brainchild of Seiken Shukumine. He founded this Japanese budo style in 1965. The meaning of Taido karate is "way of the body, and it is based on a classical Okinawan fighting method called Te. Taido was not the only time that Shukumine had developed a unique martial arts style. When he was not yet 30 years old, he created a new kind of karate he named Gensei-Ryu.

Karate and other fighting styles have been widely practiced in the West for a number of years. In those years, prior to the founding of Taido, most training was rudimentary and the original techniques for this "empty handed" style of fighting remained essentially unchanged. yet, peoples perception of martial arts was changing and Shukumine was a student of philosophy and noticed what would have to be rethought as far as how traditional martial arts styles of training were concerned.

Shukumine thought that there were some problems with karate that limited the way it could be applied and learned. There was a lack of innovation and originality and the training methods of the essential punches and kicks would quickly bore many trainees.

Older martial arts techniques involved set and uninspired movements. Karate didn't change over the years with new methods and instructions that were given to the students.

Shukumine saw that a martial art would be accepted as a defensive art form if he could conceive a way to include more adaptable movements and innovations. He wanted to provide students the chance to become inspired by their training and this required that the work and instructor had to inspire them. These thoughts became the driving force that would lead him to create Taido karate. Before he founded Taido, Seiken Shukumine developed a martial arts form that is still practiced today called Genseiryu. This was universal in its appeal, but still he knew that he could do more.

He felt that he could expand upon traditional karate techniques and training methods, and finally after ten years of experimenting his new Taido karate form opened. Taido is a contemporary, sophisticated styleof martial arts that used many aerial moves. It requires a student to make use of twists, spins, speed and changing angles of the body. Shukumine's wish was to use Taido karate to evolve the study and practice of karate and other martial arts.

The aim of Taido is to raise the awareness of the students who train this martial arts form. Shukumine had one highest goal as far as the study of Taido karate was concerned. He expected to be able to help all Taido practitioners reach their maximum potential in all aspects of their lives.

Taido's Five Principles

A Taido student must make sure that their mind is calm and relaxed. The mind needs to be as smooth as a polished mirror. Then they can understand the very heart of any situation. When the mind is kept untroubled and even it will prevent a student from being confused.

Taido teaches students that the mind and body must be harmoniously composed. They must work together as a single entity. When a person acts in the right manner, any type of threats will not worry him.

Taido students are taught to learn to call upon the inner spirit that is at the core of their being. Once a Taido karate practitioner has achieved this level, they will cease to experience any anxiety of confrontation or battle.

If a Taido student follows these actions, he will always manage to conduct themselves in an honorable and correct manner.

Taido teaches creativity, adaptability and flexibility in both movements and ideas. When a person has the correct moves, their opponents cannot best them.

Basic Techniques of Taido

Sen- Taido techniques that involve vertical spinning. Un - movements making use of wave like motion that ascends and descends. Hen - techniques that are initiated by a toppling motion resulting in changes to the axis of the body. Nen - movements with horizontal spinning. Ten - diving or rolling motions.

Besides the punches and kicks, there are two different methods that are used to prepare to deliver the strikes. Unsoku - fast and wide footwork for adjusting space and angle to the opponent. Unshin - locomotion movements that are acrobatic in nature and dont involve actual stepping on the floor.

Taido Tournaments

There are a few special types of Taido Karate competitions that students can engage in. Jissen is the act of sparring, Taido style. Taido forms are called Hokei - closely related to kata in Karate. Tenkai- these are bouts that are acted out by teams of Taido members in which the central hero must stand against five of his "opponents" and demonstrate challenging or unique techniques.

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