Taido – An Evolving Martial Art 

By Sven Person

Taido was thought up Seiken Shukumine. He founded this Japanese budo school in the early 1960s. The meaning of Taido karate is “way of the body, and it is based on a classical Okinawan fighting method known as Te. Taido was not the only time that Shukumine had founded a unique martial arts style. When he was not yet 30 years old, he created a new kind of karate he called Gensei-Ryu.

Karate and other martial arts had been popular in the West for a number of years. In those years, prior to Taido, most practice was very basic and the common techniques for this “empty handed” style of fighting remained essentially unchanged. yet, peoples perception of martial arts was going through a transition and Shukumine was a student of philosophy and noticed what needed to be altered as far as how old-style karate styles of training were concerned.

Shukumine thought that there were some problems with karate that limited the way it could be applied and learned. There was a lack of innovation and originality and the training methods of the essential punches and kicks would quickly bore many trainees.

Older martial arts techniques involved set and uninspired movements. Karate didn’t change over the years with new methods and instructions that were given to the students.

Shukumine saw that the martial arts would be accepted as a defensive art form if he could conceive a way to generate more movements and innovations. He wanted to allow students the opportunity to be inspired by their training and for this to happen the work and teacher had to inspire them. These thoughts became the driving force that would help him to create Taido karate. Before he founded Taido, Seiken Shukumine launched a martial arts form that was called Genseiryu karate. This was quite popular, but still he knew it wasnt enough.

He felt that he could expand upon traditional karate techniques and training methods, and finally after ten years of experimenting his new Taido karate form opened. Taido is a contemporary, sophisticated styleof martial arts that used many aerial moves. It requires a student to make use of twists, spins, speed and changing angles of the body. Shukumine’s wish was to use Taido karate to evolve the study and practice of karate and other martial arts.

The purpose of Taido is to improve the awareness of the students who practice this martial arts form. Shukumine had one ultimate goal as far as the study of Taido karate was concerned. He wanted to be able to help all Taido practitioners reach their highest potential in all aspects of their lives.

The Five Principles of Taido

Taido practitioners must make sure that their mind is calm and relaxed. The mind needs to be as reflective as a polished mirror. Then they can understand the very heart of any situation. If the mind is kept calm and clear it will keep a student from being confused.

Taido teaches students that the mind and body must be harmoniously composed. They must work together as a single entity. When a person acts in the right manner, any type of threats will not worry him.

Taido students are encouraged to learn to call upon the deepest power that is at the center of their being. Once a Taido karate practitioner has achieved this level, they will not experience any anxiety of confrontation or battle.

If a Taido student maintains these actions, they will always manage to act in an respectable and right manner.

Taido teaches free thought, adaptability and flexibility in both techniques and thought. When a person has appropriate moves, their challenges cannot best them.

Basic Techniques of Taido

Sen- Taido techniques that involve vertical spinning. Un – movements making use of wave like motion that ascends and descends. Hen – techniques that are initiated by a toppling motion resulting in changes to the axis of the body. Nen – movements with horizontal spinning. Ten – diving or rolling motions.

Besides the punches and kicks, there are two movement ways to set up the strikes. Unsoku – fast and strategic stepping movements for controlling space and angle to the opponent. Unshin – locomotion movements that are acrobatic in nature and dont involve actual stepping on the floor.

Taido Competition

There are a few special types of Taido Karate competitions that students can engage in. Jissen is the act of sparring, Taido style. Taido forms are called Hokei – closely related to kata in Karate. Tenkai- these are bouts that are acted out by teams of Taido members in which the central hero must stand against five of his “opponents” and demonstrate challenging or unique techniques.

For complete information on Taido, visit Taido/Blog – with tons of articles on Taido sentai and techniques.

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