Assuming you are a white belt 6īth kyu, how do you even begin to understand aikido if there is no waza and only aiki ?
Waza leads to aiki and aiki leads to new realizations thus new techniques. Thatīs life.
The grand irony of this is it is all backwards, it's sort of like asking: If you've never done math, how can you even begin to understand math if there is no calculus and only learning how to count or do arithmetic? Do we expect people to critique Shakespeare when the only words they yet know are Mommy and Daddy? Look at how most Chinese martial arts conducts learning: body skills, how to move, are primary. Only once the body understands how to move, so that the students' mind is not scattered in a hundred directions just trying to take a step, just trying to hold a defensive stance, just trying to throw a punch, etc. do you even begin to learn to techniques, to learn to fight, etc. I'm not just talking about how to do irimi or tenkan, or how to take a fall, I am talking about how to move
, like everything down to the way you wiggle your toes or point your fingers. When that is at a subconscious level done correct, then you do waza. That is a process that by itself takes years. Why is it that aikido has decided it is proper to go the other way, trying to teach waza when a beginner can't even stand upright in-place