Words of Wisdom

Relativity

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:43:23 +1000

Relativity... and I don’t mean E=mc2. I refer to the placement of feet, hands relative to one’s self when performing a technique.
The junior aikidoka often move their arms, legs and body solely to intercept an incoming fist or foot. They are so caught up with the idea of defeating an opponent or executing a throw that the principles of aikido and general common sense are thrown out the window.
I touched on this in an earlier article regarding weapons training, where an aikidoka may be drawn into a chanbara type of weapons training. In this type of training, weapon to weapon contact is made for dramatic cinematic effect. In actuality, a wildly swinging sword would have missed its target, but it is blocked purely for the sparks and clanging of steel.
In empty-hand combat, a martial artist with this frame of mind may reach up, or lean in to meet an attack which may have actually missed or been ineffectual if left to run its course. Apart from being a waste of energy and time, it is a reflection of an uncentered mind and presents an avenue for self-development.
From a purely martial perspective, you are subject to being manipulated by your opponent, revealing openings because you may have over-extended yourself in an attempt to block a feigned blow. It is also slower and more difficult to pull off an effective counter. By trying to meet the attack, you are required to see it, judge its timing and trajectory and then raise your defence accordingly. However, if your defence is to raise your arm to cover your head, it can be snapped into position instantly with very little thought. Relative to your head, your arm will always be in the same position, which is a repeatable action and can be trained into your muscle memory. It is akin to switching on a force field defence rather than attempting to shoot down the incoming missile.
If you are able to free your mind from the task of interacting with the intricate details of each strike, you will be better able to manage the combat situation, deal with multiple attackers and view the situation holistically.
Outside the realm of combat, this is very relevant to how you live your life. It is another way of stating that commonly heard phrase… “be yourself”. At a first glance this may seem selfish however it is not necessarily so. By driving your life from what is directly important to you, things such as greed and wealth relative to others can be removed from your perspective. In my view, living according to your own values tends to imbue your life with substance, and a sense of purpose.

Breath

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 19:32:04 +1000

Essential to life is the breath, so we all can appreciate how important it is. However, when you consider that breathing has made its way into the names of aikido techniques, is the core to yoga and has led to the creation of organisations such as the “Art of Living”, it is quite possible that it is not considered deeply enough.
If we observe the effect of breathing on our physical body, you will notice that the in out out breath creates very different sensations. The in breath fills one with energy and confidence. We also take up more space and are a little more static. When we breathe out, we become more relaxed and grounded. We take up less space and are more flexible.
Understanding these aspects fully will help you lead attacks around your personal space, or enable you to burrow into your opponent’s. It can also help you cover distance, similar to how an inch worm expands and shrinks its body to move along.
The breath also has a very apparent impact to one’s state of mind. The in-breath expands perceptions, and dilutes random thoughts which enables one to discern the truth of a situation in an instant and gain a global view of things. The out-breath focusses and intensifies. It is perfect to perform high power, sharp movements, or when a strong, piercing intent is required to overcome distractions in one’s own mind.
The breath is the key to unlocking many facets of aikido which run below the surface of physical kata and form. It its closely linked to flexibility and adaptability - the source of an aikidoka’s power and strength. I strongly urge you to study this for the sake of your long term growth and development.

The Perfect Throw

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:08:30 +1000

Being a defensive martial art, aikido works best when confronted by a committed attacker. Although unrealistic, the ultimate attacker is not after your money, is not concerned for their safety and pays no heed to their ego. When their entire motivation is to attack you, the attacker is somewhat blinded to your defence and will not alter their strike or grip during the throw.
With correct timing the resulting throw is spectacular and effortless. From the aikidoka’s perspective, very little force or effort needs to be contributed to execute the throw. In essence, this is perfect aikido where the opponent’s power is all the inertia required to defeat him/her.
More realistically, an attacker will attempt to protect themselves as soon as they realise that they are losing their balance or in a vulnerable position. If timing is perfect the opponent can be defeated before they realise their defeat, yielding the same situation as described above.
In most cases however, the attacker will become defensive during the throw and the aikidoka will be required to counteract this using some speed or force. A defensive response may be to relax or stiffen, make oneself heavy or alter a grip. In all these cases, the forces given to the aikidoka are reduced, and in response a more aggressive stance is required. A defensive attacker should be dealt with atemi and strikes.
The most difficult scenario is where an attack becomes defensive before being able to execute a throw. If the aikidoka is unable to change to a more aggressive mindset, the resulting technique will be a stubborn wrestling struggle. In these situations, atemi should be used freely to attain a position where the attacker is defeated before they realise their defeat. Alternatively, if the attacker has become purely defensive you may choose to do nothing and walk away.
If you are able to discern the distinct differences detailed above during your practice, you can improve your role as an attacker, and understand the wide variety of situations you may encounter on the street. Remember always that as aikidoka our strength comes from our ability to change, and at times we are required to take the role of the aggressor.

Working on the Farm

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:28:37 +1000

O-Sensei himself spent much of his time farming. He often stated how he enjoyed a good day’s work. Saito Sensei also followed in his footsteps, choosing to maintain the Iwama prefecture farm as a part of his daily activities. Manual labor is spiritually purifying, and can teach you much about coordination and efficient use of your body, breath and mind.
These days, office jobs and sedentary entertainment keep us away from manual work. Gone are the days when one would fix and fiddle with the car, the garden or things around the house. Overly protective policies means that our children no longer can climb trees, tinker with go-karts or rough each other up. Leaving the new generation uncoordinated and feeling less confident of themselves.
I see it sometimes in my students, unaware of how to use their legs and bodies to generate power as if they have never lifted carried or pushed something heavy in their life. Sometimes it is apparent in their complete disregard of maii (distancing), indicating that they have never experienced a school-yard tussle.
I am not recommending that we encourage our kids to go out and fight, but at the very least we should encourage them to partake in more manual tasks. This applies to our generation too.
There are so many opportunities to toughen and strengthen both body and mind without wasting money and hours in the gym. Walking to the shops and carrying groceries home, mowing the lawn, gardening, washing the dishes by hand, taking the stairs… the list goes on and on. Not only will you be building some muscles, getting your joints moving, but also strengthening your mind. Building discipline and mental endurance to push through the discomfort you may feel in your shoulders from bringing groceries home, or the mental tedium from doing the dishes.
All this spiritually polishing work, builds tolerance to discomfort and adversity. It increases your sense of appreciation for the effort you and others put into work, or raising a family.
The benefits to society and your own wellbeing would be immense. You would feel the reduction in road rage if people became more tolerant to minor incidents in the traffic. You would be happier with improved moral in the workplace when you appreciate the effort everyone is putting into their daily tasks. A good meal would taste even better when you think of the effort involved in making it - from the farmers to the chef. Your body would be healthier, more coordinated and your aikido would be fantastic if you just did some of these everyday things the old way.

Ki Tests

Thu, 27 May 2010 18:27:38 +1000

Not found in all styles of Aikido because their practicality is sometimes questioned, “Ki testing” is the application of varying types of pressure/force on an aikidoka to determine how centred and stable they are. In the Kokikai style of aikido, these tests form a part of the grading curriculum so it pays to know how to pass them. That said, I believe that one can benefit from Ki tests, if you take the time to investigate and experiment. If you look at some old O-Sensei footage, he also performed these demonstrations of Ki.
A quick experiment can show that if you can picture your goal, you will have more success in reaching it. With eyes closed, attempt to push your partner across the dojo. Repeat the same with your eyes open, and once more with arms pointing towards your destination. You should discover that you are more successful in reaching the other side of the room when your mind is engaged and focused on the goal.
This is all well and fine when you are physically moving, and looking, and pointing all at the same time. The situation becomes more complex when you are physically bound to stay motionless as in a Ki test. If you are able to discern the separation between your physical form and your mental state, you will be able to maintain movement and freedom in your mind although you are physically still. The old footage clearly shows from O-Sensei’s body language, that his mind is free, moving and not encumbered by being stationary. This state can imbue you with a feeling similar to the experiment above.
Having freedom in your mind is a pre-requisite to being able to re-direct forces and examine the technical aspects of beating these tests. Technical experimentation with “Ki tests” gives you an opportunity to experience the principles of non-resistance more fully. Any force applied to your body, should be redirected in a manner which will increase your stability. For example, horizontal pressure on your shoulder while in a standing position should be directed downwards into your toes. You will notice that if you direct the force into your heels, they will dig into the mat and you will be easily tipped over. This study can yield you numerous mental “tricks” which will deepen your understanding of the non-resistance, and at the same time increase your ability to free your mind.
If you are from a style which does not practice Ki tests, you may like to approach a teacher from the Kokikai, Ki Society, Kenkyukai, Yushinkai styles. I am sure they would be happy to help.

Training outdoors

Mon, 10 May 2010 20:34:56 +1000

Training day after day on a flat surface such as the mats of your dojo, can leave you with some bad habits. The chance that you will be attacked on a smooth flat surface is next to zero. So when your instincts kick in you will be probably be learning for the first time what it is like to defend yourself on an uneven surface.
In the dojo, you can get away with dragging your feet, and can count on consistent grip on the floor. In the dojo, you don't have to contend with kerbs, fallen chairs, table corners etc. Although a safe training environment is important when running a class, it also leads to a lowered sense of awareness.
I recommend conducting some classes outdoors. Taking ukemi on grass can be quite a different experience, and at the same time greatly increase your confidence. Try to perform a technique on an incline and you will immediately notice the extra effort required to cover distance uphill. Wet grass can result in a sudden loss of traction, or a tree root can trip you up.
If the above occurred in a combat situation, would you maintain your composure and focus? Would you be able to regain your balance?
I find kumi-tachi (paired sword training) perfect for outdoor training. It requires you to cover more distance, at greater speed, and deal with avoiding a weapon. It is also a great opportunity to utilise the additional space if you have a smaller dojo or the ceilings are low.

Randori

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:52:50 +1000

Aikido differs from many sports martial arts in that randori or multiple attack is an integral part of its techniques. Even in basic one-on-one training, the body movements ensure that we are constantly moving and having visibility of our surroundings.
Being surrounded by multiple rushing attackers can be quite stressful. It also provides a wonderful training opportunity which can push your body and mind to new levels.
To assist you in maintaining your centre, think of your multiple assailants as one, albeit a fast moving and persistent one. Deal with each attack decisively one at a time by constantly positioning yourself outside the circle of your opponents. If you try to keep track of all attackers at the same time you will find yourself spread too thin and feeling confused.
As you deal with attack after attack your technique may start to become sloppy and you face ending up on the back foot. This can occur from excessively moving around which disrupts your balance. At times it is better to stand your ground and dispatch your opponents from the same position.
Randori is the perfect situation to demonstrate takemusu aiki, where you spontaneously create techniques as required. It is up to you to use both movement and stillness as I have described above to deal with the situation at hand.
Practice and understand the benefits and disadvantages of both approaches. Sometimes try performing randori where you are constantly flowing amongst your attackers using quick simple techniques. At other times constrain yourself to a single mat and focus on sharp powerful hip movements.

Confidence

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:23:43 +1000

You have probably noticed in your training and hopefully other areas of your life that being in a confident mind space makes a great difference to the successful outcome of an activity. Confidence allows one to commit to a decision, and have the momentum and follow-through to see it through to a successful conclusion. In many cases, it doesn’t even matter if you are right or wrong.
Having a strong conviction ensures that your entire being works towards achieving your goal. In the case of an aikido technique, your whole mind and body will work together creating a powerful synergy. In a new financial venture, it can rally others to your cause and give you a team working towards your success.
So how do we gain in confidence?
Confidence is derived from a sense of security, either through some form of protection or a certainty of a particular outcome. In the martial arts, we can derive protection by building our bodies up and hardening ourselves. Our techniques may be far from perfect, however if we have a physical robustness in the form of a strong stance and structure, we are able to receive an attack with incorrect timing or absorb a hit or two. As we age and our physical condition degrades, we gain in wisdom which compensates for our loss of protection. This wisdom which allows us to ‘read’ and anticipate our opponents gives us a certainty of their movements. You may have observed this when evading your junior student’s predictable movements.
We can apply the same principles to our finances. Dr Demartini, a popular motivational speaker promotes the importance of savings and the benefit is has to our emotional state as a financial cushion. His presentations describe numerous scenarios where having stable savings have led to greater wealth through a better emotional state than that of volatile highly leveraged investments which often lead people through an emotional roller coaster.
In your aikido training strive to be physically strong, flexible and fit while you still can. Although our ultimate goal is to exhibit wisdom in our techniques, it pays to have the confidence of physical strength until we reach that stage of our training.

Leadership

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:48:54 +1100

From when I first started aikido, I have been driven by the desire to master it and to be in a position to teach. I didn’t have aspirations to have my own Dojo in those days, but I understood that if I wanted to be good I needed to have goals beyond where I am now.
Essential to Aikido is leadership and the refinement of one’s samurai spirit. Where other martial arts excel through training the body to extremes of flexibility, speed and strength – the aikidoka is fully aware of his/her physical limitations over time and makes up for it by focussing on spiritual growth. The concept of initiating a situation either through atemi (strikes) or presenting openings sits at the heart of leadership. Way before any attack has been unleashed; the aikidoka strives to subtlety take control of the situation. Body positioning and stance guides an attacker to open themselves and discover defeat even as they unleash a strike.
Spiritual and mental training is an obscure process. The Buddhas of the world have spent many generations slapping their bellies, pointing at the moon, holding up flowers and quoting odd lines of poetry with the hope of reaching some of their students. It is a rare thing to find one of these masters, who is able to reach deep into your consciousness with their teachings. Even so, a teacher alone is inadequate - one must be prepared to look beyond what they are capable of and strive to be a master and leader.
There are many way in which a student may begin their leadership journey.
The physical forms of aikido are relatively simple to pick up, as they are most likely taught in a repetitive structured way. After attaining a few belts, you should be able to lead a class through the basic forms highlighting the same points your teacher does each class. Easier still, you should be able to run a class through their warm-ups and stretches. Even if the situation where you are called upon to lead a class never arises, you should diligently watch your teacher keeping this in mind.
Let the qualities you learn in your martial arts training, be the same ones which separate you from your colleagues in the workplace and catapult you into a position of leadership or management.

Kiai

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:57:10 +1100

The ‘kiai’ or martial artist’s shout came to popular culture with Bruce Lee’s high pitched screeching and Karate’s board breaking. It is also a source of embarrassment to many. While I don’t walk down the street unleashing kiais at swooping birds and bothersome dogs, I am confident that should I need to, I am able to emit a piercing shriek which would stop most canines in their tracks.
I recommend becoming familiar with your own kiai for a few reasons.
• Firstly, a well timed kiai may get you out of a sticky situation – it could even possible save your life! It sounds like a pretty cheap insurance policy to me.
• Secondly, it assists with mind-body-spirit co-ordination, attaining calmness and finding your centre.
• Thirdly, it forces you to keep you airways clear and helps regulate your breathing, both of which are essential for the martial artist.
The art of kiai runs far deeper than you would suspect. There is even a martial art called kiai-jutsu, completely dedicated to studying the kiai. O-Sensei used his kiai during prayer and spiritual cleansing and studied it as an application of the kotodama (spirit sounds). I am not qualified to give a detailed study of the kiai, but I can share with you some of my own experiences and findings of a kiai.
I often speak of yin-yang, and I have found it applies here too. When emitting a yell, there is a component which is focused deep within my hara. So although the sound is emitted outwardly, a strong energy is compressed inwardly. Depending on the purpose of the kiai, the balance between inward and outwards is adjusted accordingly. If I am facing a furious attack and the opponent’s intent/force is seemingly overwhelming me, my kiai is focused outwards. In this situation, I transform their intensity, and redirect it back outwards to keep myself in equilibrium. On the other hand, should I be attacking or gripping an opponent, my kiai is focused inward, balancing my own energy which I am manifesting physically as the grip or attack.
A kiai is also a means by which I can co-ordinate physical movements with my centre. For this reason, I believe that a kiai should have no set form, but rather be shaped by the type of action one is performing. To discover the appropriate form takes some trial and error. As a guide to finding the appropriate sound for a movement, I suggest making sounds to express feelings or whenever you perform some manual task. Over time, you will be able to correlate a sound with a certain movement.
As your experience with sound and physical movement interaction grows you will find that you will also be able to shape the sound somewhat. For example you may choose to emit a piercing shriek to cut through to your opponent’s centre, or release a low grunt to facilitate relaxing as your absorb an opponent’s attack. During weapons kata, a continuous kiai can assist with keeping the mind clear, controlling the breath and joining the individual moves into a single form.
If using kiai in your dojo is not the norm, I recommend approaching your teacher before you give someone a heart attack. Your Sensei may even have some wisdom on this matter that they have never felt to share.