|
|
Student Article
Competition as an Inhibitor to Learning:
Aikido's Philosophy of Peace
Andrew Garner
11-12-01
Aikido is unique among martial arts in its emphasis on harmony and avoidance of
conflict. Many arts seek conflict either through competition among practitioners
or through techniques designed to clash with an opponent's energy and thus overpower
the attack. However, the philosophy of aikido teaches growth and development instead
of conflict among students. Aikidoka are taught that learning is accomplished through
a spirit of cooperation, where students help one another to grow as martial artists
and as human beings. In waza, techniques are designed to accept the energy of an
attack and redirect it in a way least harmful for both uke and nage. In this manner,
the philosophy and the martial application of aikido are combined to create a system
where conflict is avoided.
Such a system is more conducive to learning and development than one that places
heavy emphasis upon competition. Judo or karate schools oriented towards tournament
competition tend to create a disincentive for students competing in these tournaments
to teach other students. Especially where students within the same school compete
against themselves, the motivation to achieve superiority through competition will
make it far less likely for a student to help another student learn techniques that
later will be used against him or her. After all, to help a lower-level student
achieve mastery is self-defeating for the upper-level student who is already accomplished.
The fundamental purpose of a teacher is to help students grow and develop beyond
what the teacher has shown them. Furthermore, human nature strives towards self-preservation,
and whatever esteem or achievement needs are fulfilled through competition will
be jeopardized by helping another student achieve superiority over oneself. We seek
superiority and achievement for ourselves, not for someone else. Thus, competition
will inhibit learning because it violates our most basic human tendencies and interferes
with the need for achievement fulfilled by a competitive victory.
With aikido, the incentive is on development and growth for all students instead
of a single student at the expense of all others. That is, superiority and achievement
for one student does not mean inferiority and defeat for another. In fact, achievement
is found by helping other students grown and develop within the martial arts. And
by helping other students, the student-teacher (if the teacher is not a sensei or
shihan) helps herself learn more about the technique. Teaching is a higher form
of learning and often the teacher learns more about a technique or concept than
the students who are seeing it for the first time. Students have an incentive to
help other students, and often mastery comes only after helping someone else overcome
his deficiency. This supportive environment aids learning for all students at all
levels by providing a larger pool of experience from which students may draw. Knowledge
is passed more quickly from more experienced students to those who are new to the
art.
This should not be taken to mean that learning is impossible in a competitive atmosphere.
Older practitioners in other arts will retire from competition and seek to pass
along what they have learned to those coming up in the system. Or some accomplished
martial artists might not compete at all and therefore will aid students who enter
competitions. Learning is indeed possible, but it progresses at a much slower rate
when a school or system is oriented towards competition than it does when achievement
is defined by helping others. Cooperation speeds the learning process instead of
inhibiting it, in other words. With a cooperative environment, there is less reason
for students to jealously guard their "secrets" and hard-earned experience. In aikido,
new insight into a technique can be openly shared without fear that someone else
will use it against you. In fact, the learning itself leads to the fulfillment of
achievement and esteem needs. Competition between students may only fulfill these
needs when the individual dominates those less experienced, when one students "wins"
while another "loses". And by inhibiting learning, competition ensures that even
the most accomplished student will lose when it comes to developing her art and
helping other students learn.
Competition is also not without merit. Competition does increase proficiency by
pushing competitors to become better than their opponents, who in turn strive for
greater proficiency. This market approach is similar to "Social Darwinism", where
individuals adapt to their environment and evolve in order to survive (in the competitive
sense). There is truth in this view, and indeed Olympic competitors continue to
achieve new levels of mastery by breaking old records and overcoming the obstacles
of other competitors. In fact, Tomiki-ryu aikido incorporates non-combative competition
into its practice. The attempt by Tomiki sensei was to combine the proficiency benefits
of competition with the growth benefits of aikido's philosophy of peace. However,
as O'Sensei often noted, the fundamental concept of competition is incompatible
with aikido. The purpose of aikido transcends martial application. Aikido is certainly
a martial art with fighting applications, but it is also a way by which individuals
grow as human beings. In helping "all things grow and develop" within a system of
martial arts, we help others grow as human beings and thereby help ourselves grow
and develop. Thus, competition might make us better fighters but it cannot make
us better human being.
Back To Articles
Return to Top of Page
Please note. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information
on this site.Please contact Marietta Martial Arts or Shihan Kelley for verification
of any of the information contained on this site.
|