The predominant philosophy of Kokikai Aikido is “Minimum effort, Maximum effect”. There are two parts to achieving this.

Firstly, the application of correct technique, blending and moving into our attacker’s weaknesses ensure that we don’t expend energy by fighting and aggravating the situation. This is too large a topic to effectively cover in a single article, so I will focus on the second part – efficient movement.

 By only moving the parts of our bodies that are necessary, our techniques become efficient, elegant and assist in producing the maximum effect for the minimum of effort. It’s more than simply conserving energy or course. After all, the movements involved in every day tasks are hardly taxing. The real benefit comes from maintaining balance, generating speed and keeping joints limber which would otherwise have been locked through muscle tension. In the midst of performing a technique, it could mean the difference between being caught by a kaeshi-waza and effortless execution.

 Here are some ideas we can use when exploring they mysteries of efficient movement.

 It’s surprising how many times we forget that we actually have joints. I know it sounds silly, but consider all the OHS material related to bending our knees when picking up loads. I am sure that if you take a moment to critically examine your own movements you will discover many cases where you aren’t moving freely as you could. Put yourself in a combat situation, and your movements become even less free. Giving ourselves a good shake, spinning and flopping around like a crazy rag doll is a fantastic way to lose some of the tension and restricted movements built up over a day in-front of a computer screen.

 Once we have re-discovered our body’s freedom it is time to discover which limbs, muscles and joints are actually necessary in a particular movement. Starting from a static position such as standing, we let go of everything and progressively relax until we are simply standing. Releasing shoulders, fingers, knees and even our mind eventually leads us to stand with the minimum effort. For those with a regular meditation practice, the resulting feeling should be very similar.

Adding movement is a similar process. From our static standing position we can raise our right hand while keeping everything relaxed. Repeatedly experiment with this simple motion. Keep the mind clear, shoulders relaxed, elbows loose and eventually with repeated practice are assuming the familiar position used in many kokyu-nage. Students who have progressed further in their training will also recognise that the mental and emotional state while performing this movement is the same state when they have managed to pull off that spectacularly effortless technique.

Focus on your core and try some flowing tenkan type movements. With this type of movement you can experience the calm and centred feeling of free rotation around your centre. Progressing to a more spherical movement is a simple extension to the above and forms the foundations to the blending and redirection aspects of our art.

Play with this practice. Return to the basics. Integrating this knowledge into your daily lives will do wonders for your aikido. The best thing of all is that all the answers you need can be found within yourself!