Introduction of Aikido

BEIJING, 30^th August – After the Aikido Advanced Skills Performance, the news conference “The Aikido Recommendation in the Sportaccord Combat Games Beijing 2010” was held in the CAU press conference room. The IAF chairman Peter Goldsbury，the IAF secretary-general Kei Izawa, the representative of Finland Aikido Association Mari Lehtinen and Juuso Kenkkila was present in the press conference. They all answered the questions from journalists.

Peter Goldsbury

On the Aikido as the non-competitive event::

“If the action is too fast in the Aikido training, it will be more dangerous and easy to hurt the athletes. Even in the competitive event such as Judo, some dangerous techniques will be cut down by considering the safety and the economic interests to enlarge the influence of the sport. The aim of Aikido is to cultivate people’s mind. As a result, it focuses on personal feelings and the aesthetic techniques. If you just want to win the match, it will do harm to both of the competitors.”

On the comparison with Wushu:

“by comparing with Wushu, Aikido is more soft and gentle. On the contrary, Wushu has lots of competitive skills”

On the prospects of Aikido in China:

“Aikido will become a worldwide sport event and accepted by more and more people. As for china, I think the most difficult thing is lack of experienced couches. If I use Chinese to teach them, my already sparse hairs will all lose.”

On the development plan of IAF:

Currently, we haven’t any plans to develop IAF in China but I can’t promise or the Chinese will disappoint. Each year, we send couches to Beijing and Shanghai to pass on Aikido. There hasn’t had formal Aikido club in China yet. The most important thing for Chinese is to train some young and skillful couches.

Izawa Kei

On the comparison with Wushu:

“In Japan, people live and learn Aikido. Some senior citizens are still thrown on the ground at the age of eighty. It has some similarities with Tai Chi because both of them emphasis harmony. In western countries, many people practice it as a way of relaxing.”

Mari Lehtinen

On the hardware of the Sportaccord Combat Games:

I have some Chinese friends who know Aikido, and they often gather some buddies to practice Aikido. I’m very glad to be here. The Games are definitely out of my imagination. The host provides the best facilities and service from the beginning to the end. Just now I had been trying to think of some drawbacks, but nothing came into my mind. I do hope I can stay here forever.

Juuso Kenkkila

On the features of Aikido:

Aikido is a very accurate and elite martial art. During demonstration, in order to make it easy for spectators to have a clear impression, players often exaggerate their actions. Actually, in Aikido, one can beat his opponent by some very small motions. And Aikido focus on “Ukemi”, which needs the combination of one’s body and mind. Meantime, it is a long process of exploration.