By Michael Wood
Aikido is a practical noncompetitive Japanese martial art focused on self-defense, emphasizing harmony, balance, relaxation, individual growth and creative resolution of conflict. Aikido is translated Òthe way of spiritual harmonyÓ as such we find it has considerable application in every day life beyond the obvious self-defense situation. Since most of us are not faced with combative situations in our every day lives, it is nice to realize that our Aikido training has application that extends beyond this; off the mat, in the work place, in our family life etc. This paper explores some of these day-to-day applications of Aikido.
The beginning student will find the training simple invigorating and fun. The environment is friendly and other students are always eager to help. As the training proceeds, the student is led through several practical rolling exercises directed at developing the ability to fall in a safe and developmental manner. Several body movements and basic defense techniques are introduced and a few basic rules of etiquette are provided. The training is simple practical and focused at self-defense and remains just that – simple practical self-defense.
Students train together in mixed classes with emphasis on mutual development, with all ranks working together; learning by example and through supervised exercise. With the obvious outcome of lower ranking students learning from higher-ranking students. Not quite so obvious is the culture of mutual support and learning that is developed through this process.
The beginning students quickly realize that the learning occurs at all levels. Not only do lower ranks learn from higher, but also peers learn from their peers and higher-ranking students learn from the lower and even beginning students. This is quite an amazing dynamic. Essentially a culture of mutual development is maintained in the dojo, which has far reaching implications for the students in improving interpersonal skills. As training progresses one finds their ability to deal with the people around them is improved. Ones ability to explain things, teach or manage situations of conflicting opinions and ideas improves over time.
As training progresses, the student goes through many levels of development such as the following:
Technical application – The initial training is concerned with mimicking basic steps and movements of technique. This is called Kaishiwaza; A conscious deliberate focused method of training. This initial form of Kaishiwaza is what I call – dance step practice. This is where we become familiar with the technique and begin to develop muscle memory. The idea of Kaishiwaza practice is fundamental to our training and remains a tool through all levels.
Sequential application – As the training progresses, the techniques become less awkward and we start to become more aware of the subtleties of technique. As this happens, we tend to transition to a more fluid form of practice focused towards smoother more cohesive movement. At this level we begin to address things such as entering blending redirecting and we begin to connect with our opponent on a physical and pseudo-mental level. We begin to move with our attacker and begin to unbalance and lead them.
Continuous – As we develop further, our ability to receive technique improves. With this, the intensity of training increases and we begin to open our awareness – or more appropriately become more aware of our lack of awareness, especially during key moments of encounter or what I think of as points of chaos. Why because itÕs precisely at these points of chaos where our technique breaks down. ItÕs at that critical moment of attack where our attacker unleashes their entire maniacal subconscious, where our minds want desperately to fall into frenzy.
So more and more we find that the simple practical comments of our instructors require us to somehow address this tendency toward frenzy and so for the sake of improvement, our awareness improves and we are faced with our desires emotions - the most difficult obstacle of all – ÒOur SelvesÓ.
At this level, we strive to become ever more aware expanding our consciousness to address more and more subtle aspects of technique and begin to develop ways to bring this to the precise moment of attack. This is where centered movement begins to develop and deeper levels of technique start to take root: Satori awareness, Kamae body stance, posture alignment relaxation balance. Musubi continual connection, Mai distance and timing, Tai-sabaki strategic body movement, Kuzushi taking and breaking balance, Ki continual projection of spirit, Kokyu continuous coordination of breath, Mushin empty mind, Zanshin expansive focus.
Unconscious practice – This is where active movement with out consciousness attempts to take hold. Were we start encouraging movement without intervention of thought, Were we attempt; striping ourselves of emotion goals or targets, just simple creative spontaneous response. Movement or freedom within chaos Where Mushin and Zanshin begin to mingle – Were age has seized leave of senses and where our bad habits inevitably surface.
So the training is focused on simple practical self-defense, basic body movement and subtlety of technique. There is little talk of esoteric spiritual subjects in class. There is no need, but underneath, internally we are led to address some of the most fundamental issues of personal development. Somehow we find that good practical self-defense technique is rooted in our own personal development. It is this personal development that offers us so much in our every day lives.
So, we face a real enemy every day – ÒOur SelvesÓ. Our egos, desires fears etc. Our unwillingness to face our egos and emotions tend to have us respond poorly to situations of every day life. But regular Aikido training maintains ones awareness of these things and helps us to improve our selves over time.
Aikido teaches us that our body and mind, emotion spirit etc. are all inter-connected and that we are all connected with the people around us. Even though, the basic Aikido training is very practical and directed wholly towards basic defense tactics.
How is it that the day-to-day practice amplifies our emotional and spiritual tendencies in our physical body movement? It is easy for most anyone to understand that a stressful day or severe emotional event has an effect on ones physical performance. As we train we begin to experience this as a profound tenant of our physiology that is exemplified at every level in our training.
For instance if one is anxious and goal oriented they may rush through the initial part of a technique, possibly bent forward missing fundamental initial portions of technique making the final execution difficult. Or one might be self-conscious and find difficulty in exaggerating movements with larger people or obtaining full extension. Or maybe another person has a fear of falling that effects their technique or another tends to be right minded and so stutters on the left. The possibilities are as endless as the stars.
So, as we train, each one of us begins to realize that our own individual emotional and spiritual imbalances become obstacles to progressing in our technique and performance. The more we train the more, we try to refine our technique, the more this becomes evident. Until we find that our training is literally targeting our own personal imbalances of mind and spirit. We find that each of us has something, something we struggle with continuously and that our technique and our very lives are limited by it. Training has somehow brought us together on some strange journey. We wake up one day realizing that some how we have wondered onto some strange personal or spiritual path, then quickly put it aside, till next we trainÉ
Aikido training elevates the western ideal of fitness by combining traditional aerobic training with Ki development. Ki is an intricate eastern concept, which we usually refer to as spirit. But, I like to think of it as that which connects our mental process with physical movement. Your mind creates movement by causing Ki to flow. So it is that Ki is literally that which connects spirit and mind with the physical.
It is well known that aerobic training is a highly effective means of stress management for another wise healthy person. In the east, Ki development is also known to be an extremely effective means of stress management. This makes the hybrid training of Aikido an extremely effective part of any stress management program.
I am a software engineer and for many years I took technical classes in order to maintain and improve my performance at work. The analytical training was reasonably effective, as one would expect, but always limited at some level. This continued until the experiences of Aikido training proved to be far more significant. They never told me why and I have never asked – but my experience has made it clear that Aikido development has tremendous application in the work place! YouÕll just half to train a few years to experience it.
As mentioned above, day-to-day Aikido training is focused on practical self-defense. I have been lucky enough not to half to test this during my years of training. However, discussions with people who do encounter physical conflict in their workplace such as police officers, psychiatric orderlies and the like reveal that the practical skills provided by the training are indeed effective.
More importantly, Aikido training provides us with an effective scalable self-defense system. It emphasizes practical self-defense in a manner minimizing injury to the attacker. This provides a practical defense system that is in line with modern legal and professional ethics. Thus providing a practical system that provides the tools for Ôa moment of needÕ, but also provides a way to preserve our selves and avoid legal professional consequences associated with other more violent forms of self-defense.