One Hundred and Ninety-nine

When I was still in high school I spent a summer playing handball on Saturday mornings with my cousin. We would go down to a local park, slip on our gloves and bat that little black ball around for a couple of hours. Got so's we thought we were getting pretty good at the game; lots of sweat, huffin', puffin' and whatnot.

One Saturday as we were getting set to play a little old man shambled onto our court and asked if he could join us. Now it may be that I was seeing him through the eyes of youth, but I swear, that guy looked to be at least a hundred and seventy. We asked him to join us and inquired as to who he'd like to play first. As he was taking his gloves, which, if possible, looked older than he did, out of his pocket he looked up from under bushy eyebrows and matter-of-factly informed us that he would play us both at the same time. Amused, sure that we'd be back to playing each other momentarily, I tossed him the ball and bade him serve it up.

Two hours later we were dripping wet, sucking wind and thoroughly beaten. The old dude had barely broken a sweat when we finally threw in the towel. He chuckled, put his gloves back in his pocket, thanked us for the game and, back in his shambling gait, left.

Looking back I can see now that he played with mind/body coordination any Aikidoka would be proud of. He moved with economic grace and always arrived where the ball showed up using the least amount of movement. His shots were  never more than an inch or two off the ground and almost impossible to return. Definitely minimum effort for maximum effect. As time wore on he grew, if anything, more relaxed and played with a joy that was not dependent on how he was performing.

In short, he embodied the four principles: Keep One Point, Progressive Relaxation, Correct Posture and Positive Mind. Aikido in daily life? It's all around me, all I have to do is open my eyes and look. And my Aikido doesn't have to end when class is over. I take what I have learned and practice each day to move through life with the same coordination of mind and body that I display on the mat. Life's just another opportunity to train.

One Hundred and Ninety-eight

The bokken and jo staff are excellent tools for training correct feeling. When doing solo work with the bokken or jo my aim is to connect with the weapon so that instead of "moving it" I move me and let the weapon trace a path through space that arises naturally from my motion. Strikes, blocks, slices, thrusts and the transitions in-between are executed with a minimum of hand and arm movements. My movements are continuous and I look to avoid retracing arcs with the weapon.

The weapons work I do is employed strictly for Ki development and physical conditioning. I decided many years ago that the probability of my getting into an altercation involving bokkens or jo staffs was reasonably minuscule and that perhaps alternative forms of weapons training would better suit me. Consequently I derived my method of practice and have abandoned conflict based scenario training. In addition, all the forms I employ are "off the cuff" in that none of them are worked out before hand. I never cared for fixed katas that had to be memorized like multiplication tables. I want my Aikido to be spontaneous and feel that long sequences of prearranged movements stifle spontaneity.

Below are a couple of short clips of some free form movement.

Bokken free movement

Jo staff free movement

One Hundred and Ninety-seven

Solo Ki exercises are a core element of my practice. They aid me in developing focus and mastering the basic movements from which technique grows.

Ki testing enables me to gauge my progress in the strengthening of correct feeling. A Ki test involves my interacting with a partner. These tests require that my partner push, pull, lift or compress various places on my body while I either remain stationary or move with intent, in either case ignoring the pressure being applied. When I am the tester I am careful to apply force in such a way as to aid my partner rather than demonstrating to my partner how strong I am. Ki testing is a cooperative endeavor. My goal as tester is to help my partner grow stronger.

Ki tests also provide me with a set of exercises that I use to strengthen correct feeling. As my correct feeling grows stronger my partner will provide more and more force for me to deal with. This has the same effect as lifting weights does for my muscles; gradually increasing the amount of weight lifted will, over time, strengthen muscle tissue. Gradually increasing the amount of force I have to deal with in Ki testing will, over time, strengthen correct feeling. I have posted about this before, but the idea is so central to my development in Aikido that I feel it warrants repeating.

One Hundred and Ninety-six

Synergy is the phenomenon in which the combined action of a coordinated mind and body is greater than the sum of their effects individually. 

So, how do I develop correct feeling?

First I need to know what correct feeling is. Correct feeling arises when I have coordination of mind and body. Super, but what does it mean to have coordination of mind and body? Coordination of mind and body is the synergistic relationship of both that represents my strongest, most dependable state. When my mind and body are coordinated I am able to perform at my peak efficiency; I am said to have correct feeling.

It's important to note that correct feeling isn't an on/off state of being. I always possess mind/body coordination to some degree. Generally speaking, the closer my mind is to "now" the greater the degree of my correct feeling. Since my body is always in the present moment, the closer my mind approaches the moment, the greater are my mind and body coordinated. Carrying this further it can be seen that the degree of correct feeling approaches a limit defined by "now" since my mind must always lag behind the moment by some amount of time. If correct feeling is, therefore, the natural state of my being it would seem that there is no need for me to develop it. What is needed, and afforded by my Aikido training, is the ability to strengthen and enhance correct feeling.

When I first began studying Aikido there came a month in which classes were suspended. I decided to practice Ki exercises every day on my own until classes resumed. This decision, I believe, had a profound effect on my internalizing the idea of coordinated mind and body. Years later I went through a period of time when I neglected Ki exercises in favor of waza. It was during, what was dubbed by one of my students at the time, my "One Throw One Kill" period which, thankfully, I managed to outgrow. With my interest in Ki development renewed I have since made doing Ki exercises a twice daily routine. As a result, to borrow from and paraphrase a line from Bob Dylan: Ah, but I was so much younger then, older I'm stronger than then now. 

For me the secret of strengthening and enhancing correct feeling was locked away in the relatively simple movements of the solo Ki exercises. These exercises allow me to focus my mind ever closer to the moment as my body performs the physical movements. Continued daily practice of these exercises enhances my Aikido experience and I strongly recommend to my students that they adopt this regimen for themselves.