User talk:Archie3333

Hi Archie3333. It;s clear that no-one has yet welcomed you to Wikipedia or informed you about how things work here, so allow me to do so. First of all: welcome! We always appreciate new contributors. However, the way you're going about making changes is not entirely in line with Wikipedia's policies. The first and probably - for you - most important page to read would be the rules on edit warring, that is to say; repeatedly changing the content of an article to reflect your preferred version. If other editors disagree with your changes, as is happening on the Aikido article, you need to discuss those changes - simply restoring the article to what you think it should say is not conducive to collaborative editing.

With regards to your latest changes, I don't see any problem with stating that "According to the founder's philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikidō is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness" but you need to provide a source that state these were his intentions. Linking to definitions of terms elsewhere doesn't do anything to demonstrate that he actually intended aikido for this purpose. As it happens, I agree that this was the Founder's intention for aikido (to a degree) and that some mention of it should be made in the article; I have added suitable sources to support your addition. However, as you correctly point out, the article is about "aikido" - not "what you think aikido is". Wikipedia's strength is that it does not rely on the opinions or ideas of its editors, but on what has already been published in reliable sources, so such sources are necessary for any statement that you make in Wikipedia's voice.

For more information on getting started on Wikipedia, you might want to take a look at the tutorial, or feel free to ask me directly if you have questions. Yunshui 雲 水 14:23, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

Dear editors, thank you very much for your welcome on my behalf. The edits I deemed necessary in the article on Aikido are based on practical and theoretical sources, not my subjective appreciation. My Teacher was a student of Tamura Sensei, Arikawa Sensei, Kobayashi Sensei and Nonaka Sensei (who in turn were direct students of Ueshiba). That Aikido is, according to the founder's philosophy, essentially non-competitive is not something that I invented myself today. It is a demonstrable fact that practically all the traditional styles of Aikido, except that of Tomiki or the "Real Aikido" of Vracarevich, are non-competitive. And this is also explainable taking into account the biographical and traumatic events that the founder lived in his youth and older, World War I and the experience in Manchuria as a prisoner, and then, in addition, the events of the Second World War, which were also a Japanese national trauma (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Aikido's non-competitiveness is a direct consequence of the history of Japan and the biography of Ueshiba. Aikido is defined numerous times by the founder and a large part of its main students (who later became teachers, some in their own lines, others staying in Aikikai) as the Art of Peace, Love and Non-violence, even being an effective and powerful Martial Art that could be applied in a very violent and lethal way (and precisely for that very reason). If this is something that some independent styles of Aikikai or the other traditional styles do not please, it is perhaps necessary to create additional articles that derive from the main one about Aikido, and that are named as Tomiki Aikido or Real Aikido (from Vracarevich). Since Aikido is of great importance in my life (because it is one of my current sources of income) I will keep abreast of the article and plan to contribute in the future respecting the rules and methods that I know exist on Wikipedia. That said, again, thank you very much for your welcome and advice. Sincerely, Artem Badassian (Archie3333)Archie (Artem Badassian Davtian) 15:16, 2 April 2020 (UTC)
 * FYI there are stand alone articles on all the major styles of Aikido. Please see Aikikai, Yoshinkan, Iwama Ryu, Shodokan Aikido and Ki Society.  By long standing consensus the Aikido article was sort of an umbrella discussing commonality, touching on the differences, leaving the specifics to individual articles.  There has been quite a ballencing act trying to remove individual bias (favourite style) yet retain an informative article. There is still room for improvement and contributions are welcome.  As an aside, its true competition is controversial but in my experience not as devisive as some would think.  Three of the styles mentioned above have some form of competition and I certainly was initially surprised by the number of Aikikai Shihan who were guests at the events - some with participating students.PRehse (talk) 17:43, 2 April 2020 (UTC)
 * There's a fascinating debate to be had on what Ueshiba actually meant when he talked about "peace" (certainly among his circle of acquaintances and within his religion, "peace" meant "world peace under the benevolent dictatorship of Japan", and Kisshomaru is on record as specifically saying that his father was not a pacifist, and that aikido was outside the dialectic of "peace" entirely) but sadly Wikipedia isn't the place for it. Suffice to say that while _most_ aikido styles have an emphasis on peace, love and non-violence, there are definitely at least some that place more stress on the martial efficacy of the system, especially some of the older styles that have more in common with Daito-ryu. As such, as PRehse points out, Wikipedia's article on the general concept of aikido should attempt to encompass all the different "flavours" of aikido without placing undue weight on any one interpretation of Ueshiba's philosophies. Tamura himself said that he and his fellow students generally had no idea what their teacher was on about much of the time!
 * I hope you're coping under the current situation; personally I'm lucky enough to have other sources of income than teaching martial arts but many of my friends in the aikido community are feeling the pinch from being full-time teachers at the moment. Wishing you the best in these troubled time. Yunshui 雲 水 10:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

By profession I am also a psychologist and preparing to be a high school teacher in a couple of years. But, following the theme, I am well aware of the controversy regarding O Sensei's pacifism, as I also know the Kokuryukai meetings that took place at the Kobukan Dojo. Also remarkable is the phrase by O Sensei "Aikido decides life or death of the adversary in a single instant" and that, despite everything, does not contradict his pacifism. It is possible, paradoxically, to kill without violence. And it does not mean that Aikido, as he designed it, is competitive. Traditional Budo knew only one form of competition, and it was the death duel, not a sporting challenge. Of course this cannot be put into an encyclopedia. Greetings to all !! Archie (Artem Badassian Davtian) 14:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)