Kotsu Kotsu

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 progres...