Tomiki Sensei’s second major borrowing from Judo, and one which has unfortunately been misunderstood, was randori and shiai. Randori is sparring practice against someone who is resisting. The levels of resistance can go from the negligible (as in kakari-geiko), to the substantial (as in hikitate-geiko), to the total (as in shiai). The purpose of randori and shiai is not to defeat anyone. It is to improve one’s Aikido, and that of the person with whom one is playing.

Tomiki Sensei’s first borrowing from Judo was the idea of a compact, logically developed curricula. Compared to traditional Aikido styles, relatively few techniques are practiced in Tomiki Aikido. Whereas other styles attempt to guide students to the true principle of a given basic technique by showing them dozens upon dozens of variations, Tomiki Sensei thought it better to repeat and practice a few techniques many times, looking to work each day upon improving speed, timing, and kuzushi. Thus, if you visit our Syllabus Page you will see that the course of study even up to 5th Degree Black Belt is parsimonious.

Sadly,as randori and shiai matches have all the trimmings of, say, Judo tournaments, many Aikidoka from traditional styles mistakenly assume upon seeing such a match that what is going on violates the fundamental principles of Aikido–it’s very name, even. For Aikido means “The Way of Harmonizing Energies,” and Ueshiba Sensei gave it this name because he wished people to get along, to be harmonious and good. Yet, one is often faced with people who are petulant and defiant, people who are, in Buddhist terminology, fixated. One should in every way seek to guide them peaceably along the Way. And, in most cases, this can be done by simple acts of sympathy and by small remonstrations. However, one may encounter a person who is completely implacable–and, if the situation is a dire one, a person who is hell bent on harming you.

Tomiki Sensei though that the best way to prepare for such a situation was to replicate it. However, as we are Aikidoka and not Navy SEAL’s, hurting the attacker just because it would be an easy way to defend ourselves is not a morally tenable path. We aim to subdue the attacker–hopefully without causing him any lasting harm–and give him the time he needs to cool off and assess the error of his ways. Randori and shiai attempt to give the player experience in just such a process of subduing without harming. In a tournament, one is pitted against a smart, trained player who is not giving you an inch–who, in fact is doing his or her best to plunge a Styrofoam “knife” into your chest. It is full speed, and as close as one can safely get to combat. And, what gives it its ultimate value is that it forces one to make one’s Aikido work: One has to apply techniques that subdue, but that do not injure the other player. One has to deal Justly, Kindly, Harmoniously, and in the True Spirit of Aikido–and do it under the harshest of circumstances. It is for that reason that shiai is valuable, for it is as much a test of spirit as of skill.

What is more, it constantly forces the player to deal with a poor mind set. For the temptation is always there in a tournament–as it is in life–to be fixated upon winning, upon the ego, upon petty and worthless thoughts. As one plays more and more Randori and Shiai, however, one learns to reject these illusions, to become one with the moment, and to enjoy and experience true Aiki.

For having given us such a good mechanism for facing down the ego and learning–indeed living–the Spirit of Aikido, Tomiki Sensei deserves the highest praise.

–Sean Flynn, Vassar College Aikido
(Excerpt from JAA/ USA website, http://www.tomiki.org)

antagonism, bout, clash, contention, contest, controversy, counteraction, fight, opposition, rivalry, strife, striving, struggle, tilt, tug-of-war, warfare.

There’s got to be a better word that’s equally as engaging.

I can’t find my Japanese to English dictionary and the online translators won’t process the Japanese word ‘Shiai’; anyone (ahem, K to the U to the R to the T) care to provide a translation?

Nao
*is it just me or is the word ’synonym’ impossible to touch-type?

Nao’s quote from the Dalai lama, however, seems to point to this interpretation–ie: that we should withdraw from the world because it’s a nasty place, which might upset us.

A modification of this interpretation would mean that just because life is a state of suffering at this point, freedom from suffering is not impossible at some point. This interpretation, seems to be rather more complimentary to the Budo spirit.

So, in this case, we’d say that competition is a good thing, because it allows us to compare ourselves to others, and that this comparison allows us to learn about aspects about we might not otherwise learn. As an example, being able to do a kata with a partner, for example, is wonderful, but it really doesn’t teach you anything about self defence. However, the experience of even a dulled version of that (in Randori) is something that can be fed back into the rest of your practice.

The major difference between this interpretation and what I can see of O-Sensei, is that even in competition, you’re still not actually in conflict with your enemy, or partner-this is very true of the sporting attitude as applied to Shodokan Aikido.

Please use this link for comments and debates about the use of competition in Aikido

Nao (Grasshoppa!) Says:

June 13th, 2007 at 03:32 am e

I don’t know if this is the correct place to discuss this so please (senesi!) feel free to remove this posting if it is in any way inappropriate for the blog site!

I’d like to discuss the competitive nature of Tomiki Ryu and O-Sensei’s (Aikido’s founder) disapproval of competition within Aikido. It is my understanding that O-Sensei disapproved of competition because he felt that competition (the comparision between individuals) ultimately leads to conflict.

This is a very ‘Buddhist’ point of view; the Dalai Lama writes, “… comparison with those who are smarter, more beautiful or more successful than ourselves … tends to breed envy, frustation and unhappiness.” - HH Dalai Lama et Howard C. Cutler, MD. (1998) “The Art of Happiness” London: Coronet Paperbacks ISBN 0340750154

However, I believe Tomiki Sensei intended for these competitions to be of great benefit to Aikidoka (or “Aikidoists”, as National Geographic likes to call us) and provides a means by which Aikidoka can develop, test and refine their movements.

I happen to agree with Tomiki Sensei because I think Tomiki Sensei was ultimately talking about competition with one self. Every training session, let alone ‘tornament’, *is* a competition with one self. I am sure I am not alone when I say that I love training at the dojo because with every session I have an opportunity to guage how well I have developed, tested and refined my movements.

I think Tomiki Sensei intended to create this competitive element within Aikido as a means to extend practice beyond the boundaries of the ‘classroom’. It was his intent to bring Aikido to the Physical Eductional curriculae of Japanese Universities as a means to promote and disseminate Aikido and the art of O-Sensei’s teachings.

Any thoughts?

Nao