Onegaishimasu!
In Aikido, “Onegaishimasu” (spoken when you wish to practice with a fellow student/teacher and when you enter the dojo’s mattress) means “Please” as in, “Please let me train with you” or “Please teach me” or “I make a request”. Aikido is famous for its unique combat style. Many people said that this martial art is so soft you can even say “hey-it’s-not-martial-art-it’s- BALLROOM-DANCE!”, and yes, many ladies attracted to Aikido because of that “soft combat-style”.
Aikido may seems “too weak” for a martial art, maybe because the main focus is mostly defense, not offense. Aikido uses the enemy’s power in order to win the fight. But please, martial art is still a martial art. Don’t be fooled by the sweet and beautiful moves of Aikido. Actually, it’s not that smooth at all.
First time practice, you have to learn how to fall safely (ukemi). Gampangnya sih, latian salto ke depan dan salto ke belakang. Guling-gulingan lah. Pertamanya mual banget, tapi lama-lama biasa juga, paling pusing dikit susah berdiri tegak. Hahaha. For me, the hardest part is ushiro ukemi (roll belakang). Especially when I have to use my right shoulder. Ack!! Ukemi is not that easy to master, but it’s really essential to understand most of the Aikido’s techniques. So yeah, one of my New Year’s resolutions is: I have to train ukemi at home every single day. Mwahahaha.
Tentunya Aikido ngga cuma belajar guling-gulingan. Di situ juga diajarin cara pake pedang (ken) -a wooden sword, of course- dan belajar pake tongkat (jo). Kadang-kadang pake pisau kayu juga. Rasanya kalo nontonin film kungfu atau silat kok kayaknya gampang banget yaa bak-bik-buk pake pedang gitu.. tapi pas praktekin sendiri.. ampun deh. My hand was in the right position, tapi kakinya! Keinjek dikit bisa-bisa saya udah mati ditusuk 
Terus di sana banyak diajarin teknik tangan kosong. Variasinya banyak banget and yes it’s pretty complicated if you’re a beginner. Tekniknya banyak dan vocabulary Aikido yang harus dikuasai juga nambah terus tiap sesi. Jadi emang harus sering latian sih.. biar makin lancar.
Mungkin pertama-tamanya ikut Aikido bakalan bingung, capek, ngga ngerti sama istilah-istilahnya. Apalagi, surprise nih, Aikido bener-bener ilmu bela diri yang bisa berubah jadi sangat ‘keras’ alias badan bisa sakit semua gara-gara kebanyakan dibanting sana-sini. Kalo didemonstrasiin sama senseinya kayaknya ngga semenyakitkan itu, tapi pas coba sendiri.. wuih! Tapi rasanya emang seru sih ngeliatin sensei and senpainya saling membanting gitu, jadi pengen bisa juga.
Anyway, I can’t compare it with any other martial arts, since I’m not the combat-person type.. hahaha. But my brother, who studied Capoeira, said that Aikido is more to “Do No Harm” thingy. Well, I don’t know much about any other fighting styles, Aikido is my first martial art. Tapi mungkin di Aikido latihan fisiknya ngga sampe segila Karate atau Taekwondo. Di Aikido yang paling penting itu pemanasannya, ada semacam pemanasan tersendiri gitu deh.. saya pernah terlambat masuk kelas dan ngga pemanasan bener, akhirnya tangan saya keceklik selama hampir 1 minggu. Hehehe. Trus salah satu keunikan Aikido itu karena kita harus bersikap ‘lembut’ alias rileks waktu ngejalanin teknik. Kalo justru ‘menguatkan diri’ atau ‘ngelawan’ malah gagal total tekniknya. So, lawan yang make tenaga ‘kuat’ harus dibalas dengan teknik yang dilancarkan dengan ‘lembut’. It’s pretty weird, but hey, it works! Aikido emang cocok banget buat orang yang mau belajar bela diri self-defense. Jadi buat cewe-cewe juga pas banget.
For me, learning Aikido is really really fun. Even though I’m just a beginner, but I guess I already fall in love with this martial art. I can’t deny that the techniques are sometimes quite difficult and I need time to get used with it, but I one thing for sure, I do love the way Aikido moves. So soft, yet very powerful. You don’t even have to move more than 3 steps to defeat your enemy. You can even hurt your enemy without moving your feet.
Meskipun awalnya cuma iseng nyobain kayak apa sih namanya bela diri itu, akhirnya saya malah keterusan. Kalau ngga latian rasanya sayang aja gitu. Apalagi di dojo tempat saya belajar is a really good place, with a wonderful sensei and nice people. Hmm.. even though I still don’t have any good friend there *sobs* Well, the dojo’s filled with boys! I mean high school and junior high boys. Hahaha. And since I’m just a newbie and joined the dojo all by myself (not with my friends/siblings), sometimes I feel kinda lonely. But that’s okay, sayang banget if I quit just because of that reason, padahal sebenernya saya suka sama ilmunya. Heh. There are two females in my class (including me). But since the other girl’s already high-leveled, I rarely had practice with her. We just chat before and after the class. Too bad.
Tapi sekarang iniii.. saya udah ngga latian 3 minggu!! Aaah!! Sedih banget kalo lagi ngga ada waktu gini. Soalnya, buat saya Aikido itu ngangenin sih.. hihihi.
2 comments March 22nd, 2008
