#keeptheflamealive 

OSU!

Just some personal thoughts.. Until Aikido practitioners are able to distinguish between the 'Art' component and 'Martial' component of the discipline and their relationship to each other , 'standardisation' of levels will never be achieved. There needs to be more clarity and consensus about what Aikido actually is across the board...and this needs to be clearly and openly stated. This ambiguity between the 'Art' and Martial aspects of the discipline is the main cause of the lack of standing of traditional Martial Arts in a non Asian context. Other Martial Arts have competition to sort out and focus levels, Aikido needs either to adopt some kind of a competitive framework in aspects of the training or be overtly more practically orientated . If the Kihon Dosa and /or Kihon Waza are deemed to be not fit for purpose in the present, then maybe they need to be revisited, adjusted or changed altogether. I don't think Ueshiba or Shioda would object to this as Aikido was always envisaged as a means to growth through encouraging the reconciliation of opposites . Osu