The Strength of Women in Aikido

Just a Few of the Strong Women in Kokikai Aikido

Women are some of the strongest practitioners in my aikido school. 

In Kokikai Aikido we train to practice with "minimum effort for maximum effect." We see proof in every class that using less muscle is more effective. And yet, when faced with a challenge, most people fall back on muscle power.

Why women are strong in Kokikai:

• Women take self-defense seriously. To cite just one statistic, nearly 75% of family violence victims are female, (while nearly 75% of family violence perpetrators are male). Learning to defend ourselves against a strong male attacker is real-world stuff.
• Women are not naturally endowed with a great deal of muscle strength, therefore we don't spend years of training learning how not to use muscle.
• Women don't tend to fall back on using muscle when the technique doesn't work. We know muscle won't work.
• Women therefore address the principle of "relax progressively"more wholeheartedly, with more trust that it will work.
• Women, in my experience, seem to be able to "feel" their partner more easily, working to move their partner, rather than simply moving their own bodies in a prescribed fashion. 
• When Sensei says "I weigh 128 pounds, if I can do it, you can do it," women understand this on an intuitive level, since they typically weigh much less than their male partners.

Some of these are generalizations, but in 20 years of practice and 13 years of teaching, I have found that they hold up pretty generally.

What can you learn when you have little muscle strength?

Sensei tells a story about his early days practicing in Philadelphia. He founded his first Philadelphia dojo, on Arch Street, 45 years ago. A few years later he was hit by a car while crossing the street.  He was very badly injured, broke his hip, and was in a coma for several days.

After Sensei recovered and was able to teach again, the right side of his body was still very weak. Now he was faced with a challenge: how will I throw these big Americans with no muscle? Not only was teaching aikido his livelihood, the idea of using less muscle and being more relaxed was an underlying principle of his style. Now he really had to prove it.

Sensei has said many times that this was an important watershed for him. He learned that he could throw using much, much less muscle power than he previously had. And now, some 40 years later, his students continue to benefit from that epiphany as Sensei's power and control have continued to grow.

A sex change is not necessary!

I certainly don't want any of my students to have a life-threatening accident, nor do I think they need to be women, to learn what it takes to throw using minimum effort. My advice: watch Sensei for proof that it's possible. Maintain an attentive practice. And learn from the women!