An Aikido discussion - Josh Gold and his AI
https://kogenbudo.org/aikido-a-first-principles-examination-a-guest-blog-between-josh-gold-claude-ai/
Interesting blog post on my budo bud Ellis Amdur's site.
I apologize if this was posted earlier - but it doesn't show in the search function as I can use it
The essay identifies several common claims made about aikidō then addresses them:
- aikidō protects the attacker
- aikidō creates harmony out of conflict
- aikidō trains musubi, or connection with intent
- aikidō is a budō of peace
- aikidō is based on non-resistance
- aikidō uses ki as unified energy
"Preface
This is my thirty-fifth year of practicing aikidō. I’ve been Executive Editor of Aikido Journal for a number of years and have run Ikazuchi Dojo for over twenty. In that time I’ve fielded a lot of questions — from students, from people curious about the art, from people outside the martial arts world entirely — about what aikidō is actually about. And I’ve heard, just as often, people espouse principles that I find difficult to reconcile with what the technical system actually contains or what the history of the art actually shows.
I should say at the outset that none of what follows comes from disillusionment. Aikidō has been a foundational part of my adult life and it will remain so. I love the practice—the feel of it, the community it creates, the questions it asks of you on the mat and off. It is precisely because I take the art seriously that I think it deserves serious examination. Examining what we actually do, and whether the common claims made about it hold up, feels like one of the most respectful things I can offer the art.
There are questions worth asking. Are we communicating about aikidō in ways that are accurate? Are there assumptions or fallacies baked into how we talk about the art that aren’t doing us any favors?
This piece is an attempt to examine those questions honestly—starting from the technical system and the historical record rather than from tradition or reputation. First principles, not received wisdom.
My thinking partner for this exercise was Claude, Anthropic’s AI. I’ll admit I was genuinely surprised by how useful it turned out to be. Claude functions as a capable representative of the collective knowledge and opinions the internet holds about aikidō—which made it an effective sparring partner. I asked it to lay out the commonly articulated principles of the art, pushed back on most of them, and proposed alternatives grounded in the technical system. Claude synthesized the exchange. What follows is that summary, refined through several rounds of back and forth.
......"
Josh Gold
Chief Instructor, Ikazuchi Dojo Executive Editor, Aikido Journal CEO, Budo Accelerator