'The constructal law was stated by Adrian Bejan in 1996 as follows: "For a finite-size system to persist in time (to live), it must evolve in such a way that it provides easier access to the imposed currents that flow through it." - Bejan, Adrian (1997). Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics, (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley'
and
"The constructal law is a first principle of physics that accounts for all design and evolution in nature. It holds that shape and structure arises to facilitate flow. The designs that arise spontaneously in nature reflect this tendency: they allow entities to flow more easily – to measurably move more current farther and faster for less unit of useful energy consumed. - Bejan, A; Lorente, S (2006). Constructal Theory of Generation of Configuration in Nature and Engineering, Journal of Applied Physics. Vol. 100: 041301.'
According to Bejan the constructal law deals with nature's propensity to evolve designs that facilitate flow. Designs that move currents from an area to a point and/or from a point to an area (tree-like designs, circulatory and nervous systems are examples).
As I was reading about this an image of an Aikido encounter arose in my mind. The image conveyed that as the encounter begins uke and I are area bound. As we come together along the paths of our motion we proceed from an area bound configuration to one that is increasingly point bound. The technique executed will take us through the point bound state back to an area bound state as we disengage. The totality of our interaction forms a tree-like structure and its mirror image, as though reflected in a still pond.
Within the context of Aikido, the shape and structure we form facilitates the flow of Ki. As I continue to practice I am better able to shape and structure my movements in order to move more Ki through our connection using less energy. My goal is to ultimately be able to merge my motion with my uke to such a fine degree that our energies become completely additive. Growth via Aikido training is an excellent example of the constructal law in action. Growing more coordinated in mind and body I am able to more efficiently move greater and greater amounts of Ki using less and less energy. In addition, the changes wrought in me provide me with easier access to the Ki that is the result of a coordinated mind and body.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Two Hundred and Ten
With both of us in natural stance, my partner grabs my lapels and holds tightly. His aim is to prevent me from turning my body either left or right via the application of force against my upper torso. I want to turn my body without having to rely on moving my feet from natural stance. My first inclination is to just bull my way through the turn; possible, but difficult even against a partner I can clearly overpower. Turning in that manner involves lots of shoulders and upper body muscle strength. Not much in the way of correct feeling there.
Next I might try to forego the shoulder push and sneak up on the turn by subtly withdrawing one shoulder and then forcefully coming forward with the other one as my partner uses strength to counter my retreat. With a partner who lets his awareness waver this method can be successful. It is, however, just the flip side of the power through maneuver, though it relies more on speed and surprise than raw strength. *Sigh*. Not correct feeling either.
No, confronting his power directly is not what I am looking for in order to perform the exercise with correct feeling. I will need to coordinate mind and body in order to take up slack and move into the turn with my whole body integrated and connected.
When I demonstrate the idea of taking up slack in this exercise I use a physical metaphor as follows: Let's say I decide to turn to my left. My right shoulder will approach my partner while my left shoulder will move away from him as a result of the turn. To demonstrate taking up slack before I move into the turn I extend my right shoulder very slightly to my right and extend my left shoulder very slightly to my left using small circular motions on the direction of my turn before beginning to turn into my partner. This has the effect of neutralizing his hold on my lapels. The result is that I am able to turn freely (provided I am able to move my body as a unit, more on that in a bit).
Of course if I were to try this for real my partner would make adjustments to his holds and stop me from moving. But it is only a metaphor for what's occurring inside. In actual practice I will use his handholds as points of connection and perform the taking up slack maneuver without moving. When I am on the grabbing side of the exercise and my partner does this correctly he seems to go away and I feel like I'm holding an empty jacket.
Having taken up the slack, I must now move my body as a connected unified structure in order to effect the turn. I notice that I don't lead the turn from my hips, waist or shoulders. Rather, they all move as a single unit. I also make note of the fact that my one of my legs will turn slightly outward, the other inward as my body turns.
As with all partnered Ki exercises, my partner will apply just enough resistance to take me just to the point of failure to give me the opportunity to move through it. If I am unable to he will back off slightly until I can perform the exercise correctly.
Enjoy.
As with all partnered Ki exercises, my partner will apply just enough resistance to take me just to the point of failure to give me the opportunity to move through it. If I am unable to he will back off slightly until I can perform the exercise correctly.
Enjoy.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Two Hundred and Eight
I've had students who, when I would speak about the necessity of blending and harmonizing with uke in order to create Aikido, would assume that blending and harmonizing necessarily preclude violence; as though they're somehow mutually exclusive. They're not.
Blending and harmonizing refer to how I will interact with uke primarily with regard to our mutual motion. In blending with uke's motion I seek to avoid points of non-tangential intersection along our mutual paths. Successful blending gives rise to a harmonious relationship between uke and myself as it relates to our motion and connection. The result of this interplay of forces is that uke is taken off balance and guided to the mat where I will either disengage from him or seek to immobilize him via a pin or joint lock. The meeting of uke and the mat can be thought of as violent due to its ofttimes sudden materialization leading to the abrupt cessation of his motion. It is violent, and no less blendy and harmonious for being so.
Pins and joint locks involve pain due mostly to torquing and can also be thought of as violent. However, the violence is controlled in that I can bring uke to the point where further movement on his part will cause pain, and stop. If he ceases moving he will feel nothing while continued resistance on his part will induce a painful sensation at the point of application of the pin or lock. In essence he will be inflicting violence upon himself. His choice and a natural consequence of his aggression.
In Aikido blending and harmonizing are procedural ideas while violence can be seen as a consequence arising not out of nage's intention but as a result of uke's aggressive behavior.
Blending and harmonizing refer to how I will interact with uke primarily with regard to our mutual motion. In blending with uke's motion I seek to avoid points of non-tangential intersection along our mutual paths. Successful blending gives rise to a harmonious relationship between uke and myself as it relates to our motion and connection. The result of this interplay of forces is that uke is taken off balance and guided to the mat where I will either disengage from him or seek to immobilize him via a pin or joint lock. The meeting of uke and the mat can be thought of as violent due to its ofttimes sudden materialization leading to the abrupt cessation of his motion. It is violent, and no less blendy and harmonious for being so.
Pins and joint locks involve pain due mostly to torquing and can also be thought of as violent. However, the violence is controlled in that I can bring uke to the point where further movement on his part will cause pain, and stop. If he ceases moving he will feel nothing while continued resistance on his part will induce a painful sensation at the point of application of the pin or lock. In essence he will be inflicting violence upon himself. His choice and a natural consequence of his aggression.
In Aikido blending and harmonizing are procedural ideas while violence can be seen as a consequence arising not out of nage's intention but as a result of uke's aggressive behavior.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Two Hundred and Seven
I'm always finding new Aikido avenues to explore. Lately I've been experimenting with the idea that Ki extension must be accompanied by a relaxed body in order to be effective. The first time I had an inkling that this may not be quite the case was during a demonstration of weight underside. The exercise has 2 ukes, one on each side of nage, grasp nage's forearms and, together, try to lift nage off the floor. I usually demonstrate this exercise two ways. First with my arms held stiffly at my sides with elbows locked. My partners are able to lift me in that position. The second iteration I relax my body, especially my arms and shoulders, and as they lift I let their force circle around, without stopping at my shoulders, and feed it back to them in the form of downward pressure. My feet stay firmly planted on the mat.
As I have continued to practice this exercise I am noticing that it's getting more difficult for them to lift me even while I remain in the stiff armed position. After checking and confirming that I hadn't added 20 or 30 pounds of stealth weight I surmised that something else must be afoot.
I then began to practice the exercise totally stiff and found that I could indeed remain rooted to the mat with ease. To make things more difficult for myself I had my partners drop their centers below mine so they could lift from underneath my center of gravity using their legs and not their back muscles. Same result. In fact the downward force I feel is more evident and active from the stiff armed position. When they try to lift me my partners are literally driven to the mat by the force of their own energy.
I'm now experimenting with katate tori. I have my partner grab my wrist and push into my shoulder. I'm noticing that I can remain immovable regardless of my physical state, be it relaxed or stiff armed. I'll continue to explore this aspect of Ki development and application and most likely will have more to post about it in the future.
As I have continued to practice this exercise I am noticing that it's getting more difficult for them to lift me even while I remain in the stiff armed position. After checking and confirming that I hadn't added 20 or 30 pounds of stealth weight I surmised that something else must be afoot.
I then began to practice the exercise totally stiff and found that I could indeed remain rooted to the mat with ease. To make things more difficult for myself I had my partners drop their centers below mine so they could lift from underneath my center of gravity using their legs and not their back muscles. Same result. In fact the downward force I feel is more evident and active from the stiff armed position. When they try to lift me my partners are literally driven to the mat by the force of their own energy.
I'm now experimenting with katate tori. I have my partner grab my wrist and push into my shoulder. I'm noticing that I can remain immovable regardless of my physical state, be it relaxed or stiff armed. I'll continue to explore this aspect of Ki development and application and most likely will have more to post about it in the future.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Two Hundred and Six
My partner places her hands on my shoulders while facing me. The heels of her hands lie just below my collar bones, her fingers rest lightly on the tops of my shoulders. We begin by having her lightly push allowing me to stabilize my center and become acquainted with the general intensity and direction of her applied force. For her part, in addition to providing the force of her push, she will be learning to recognize when I have centered; it's easily felt. When she can feel my center she will apply more force to her push.
At this point the exercise diverges from the simple static Ki exercise from which it was derived. What I want to do is divide the force of her push in such a way as to make one side of her work against the other. I do this by creating a "positive" point for her to push against on one side and a "negative" point for her to fall into on the other. As a result, her arm pushing against my positive point will cause her shoulder to pop up while her opposite side arm will extend into what feels like a void even though she remains in contact with me continuously. As she corrects her compromised structure I will reverse the direction of my positive and negative points causing further disruption of her posture and balance. As I practice this exercise I can see how the shortening of her arm that pushes against my positive point causes her other arm to lengthen. This makes it difficult for her to apply any kind of effective force at my shoulders. (Note for uke, it's important to apply pressure continuously during this exercise.) With continued practice I will develop the ability to capture her push on contact and compromise her posture and balance from the outset.
I can vary the exercise by allowing myself to be pushed backwards. While moving I can experiment with creating positive and negative points in order to change direction on my terms or simply stop in order to allow myself to be statically tested. I can also have uke push my shoulders from behind or push at my hips from front or back.
At this point the exercise diverges from the simple static Ki exercise from which it was derived. What I want to do is divide the force of her push in such a way as to make one side of her work against the other. I do this by creating a "positive" point for her to push against on one side and a "negative" point for her to fall into on the other. As a result, her arm pushing against my positive point will cause her shoulder to pop up while her opposite side arm will extend into what feels like a void even though she remains in contact with me continuously. As she corrects her compromised structure I will reverse the direction of my positive and negative points causing further disruption of her posture and balance. As I practice this exercise I can see how the shortening of her arm that pushes against my positive point causes her other arm to lengthen. This makes it difficult for her to apply any kind of effective force at my shoulders. (Note for uke, it's important to apply pressure continuously during this exercise.) With continued practice I will develop the ability to capture her push on contact and compromise her posture and balance from the outset.
I can vary the exercise by allowing myself to be pushed backwards. While moving I can experiment with creating positive and negative points in order to change direction on my terms or simply stop in order to allow myself to be statically tested. I can also have uke push my shoulders from behind or push at my hips from front or back.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Two Hundred and Five
Uke is like an electron. Not the electron of Classical Physics, a hard little ball of indivisible stuff following a predictable path; rather the electron of Quantum Mechanics, until observed neither here or there but both, following a path(?) seemingly of its own choosing.
When I interact with uke I can assume nothing, expect nothing, predict nothing. Assuming, expecting, predicting all distance me from now. Uke can be neither right or wrong. He can't move too early or late. He can't be ahead of the technique or behind the technique. He can only be where he is, doing what he's doing, from moment to moment. Being in the now requires that I simply accept what uke offers me at any given moment. In so doing we provide the fertile environment from which technique may grow.
The moment we connect there is no uke, no nage, no we. Connection is the key. Though our roles are opposite they are at the same time complimentary, each necessary for the entity we become to be fully realized. A coin has two sides. Imagine a coin with no depth. Where is the line dividing one side from the other? Where is the distinction that differentiates me from uke once we have begun to interact?
When I interact with uke I can assume nothing, expect nothing, predict nothing. Assuming, expecting, predicting all distance me from now. Uke can be neither right or wrong. He can't move too early or late. He can't be ahead of the technique or behind the technique. He can only be where he is, doing what he's doing, from moment to moment. Being in the now requires that I simply accept what uke offers me at any given moment. In so doing we provide the fertile environment from which technique may grow.
The moment we connect there is no uke, no nage, no we. Connection is the key. Though our roles are opposite they are at the same time complimentary, each necessary for the entity we become to be fully realized. A coin has two sides. Imagine a coin with no depth. Where is the line dividing one side from the other? Where is the distinction that differentiates me from uke once we have begun to interact?
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Two Hundred and Four
Spirit is the boundary between mind and body. Mind provides intent, body provides mechanics. Spirit provides the interface whereby mind and body may work in harmonious synergy, blending their efforts, subsuming their individuality and realizing the state of mind/body. Spirit endows the mind/body unit with cohesiveness and structure. Spiritual power, in this case, is not measured in terms of the ability to perform work. Rather spiritual power is expressed by the strength of the mind/body unit.
Mind and body having achieved the state of mind/body are said to be coordinated. Correct feeling arises when I become aware of this state. When my spirit is healthy, strong and highly positive I am acutely aware of correct feeling. Conversely, when my spirit is ailing, weak and highly negative I have almost no awareness of correct feeling.
Aikido training first introduced me to these ideas. Prior to starting my training I had no inkling of the complex relationships of my three aspects. Continued training allowed me to slowly engender my awareness of correct feeling and begin to explore it within the context of interactions with partners on the mat. As my study deepens I can really delve into how my spirit regulates the interaction of my mind and body; how by strengthening my spirit I am able to forge an ever more integrated mind/body, thereby amplifying my awareness of correct feeling.
The realms, processes, realizations and relationships of mind, spirit and body may be distilled down to the single word - Ki.
Mind and body having achieved the state of mind/body are said to be coordinated. Correct feeling arises when I become aware of this state. When my spirit is healthy, strong and highly positive I am acutely aware of correct feeling. Conversely, when my spirit is ailing, weak and highly negative I have almost no awareness of correct feeling.
Aikido training first introduced me to these ideas. Prior to starting my training I had no inkling of the complex relationships of my three aspects. Continued training allowed me to slowly engender my awareness of correct feeling and begin to explore it within the context of interactions with partners on the mat. As my study deepens I can really delve into how my spirit regulates the interaction of my mind and body; how by strengthening my spirit I am able to forge an ever more integrated mind/body, thereby amplifying my awareness of correct feeling.
The realms, processes, realizations and relationships of mind, spirit and body may be distilled down to the single word - Ki.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Two Hundred and Three
"Like the balance embodied in the equinox, a balanced life and a balanced culture are both possible and necessary. In an act of cosmic irony tied closely to the celestial imperatives of the equinox, grand ideas coming out of science and cosmology are setting the stage for such a change." - The Tyranny of Modern Time by Adam Frank, posted 9/23/11 on 13.7 Cosmos and Culture.
I'm continually reminded of the close connection between Aikido and cosmology. Aikido presents me with a way of being in the world, a mechanism by which I can relate myself to the rest of creation on a variety of scales, both time and distance.
Aikido brings balance to my life which in turn helps bring balance to the culture, albeit at a "quantum" scale. I am one person in a roiling sea of humanity. One person who has achieved balance and lives in relative harmony amid the chaotic maelstrom of modern life. By providing a space for others to explore their Aikido and hopefully bring their own lives into balance, Mary and I contribute a little bit towards the further balancing of our culture. For if it's going to happen, if we're ever to rise above the pettiness that has crept into life in the Modern Age, change will have to come one person at a time.
The true nature of O Sensei's gift of Aikido is the ability to affect just such a change of attitude in the folks who undertake their study seriously. So while science and cosmology set the stage for the change on a cosmic scale, Aikido works on a much smaller scale engendering a new attitude at the level of the individual. I undoubtedly won't live long enough to see the emergence of a new cultural balance on anything like a grand scale but it's with some satisfaction that I can look back and say that I've contributed to its growth.
I'm continually reminded of the close connection between Aikido and cosmology. Aikido presents me with a way of being in the world, a mechanism by which I can relate myself to the rest of creation on a variety of scales, both time and distance.
Aikido brings balance to my life which in turn helps bring balance to the culture, albeit at a "quantum" scale. I am one person in a roiling sea of humanity. One person who has achieved balance and lives in relative harmony amid the chaotic maelstrom of modern life. By providing a space for others to explore their Aikido and hopefully bring their own lives into balance, Mary and I contribute a little bit towards the further balancing of our culture. For if it's going to happen, if we're ever to rise above the pettiness that has crept into life in the Modern Age, change will have to come one person at a time.
The true nature of O Sensei's gift of Aikido is the ability to affect just such a change of attitude in the folks who undertake their study seriously. So while science and cosmology set the stage for the change on a cosmic scale, Aikido works on a much smaller scale engendering a new attitude at the level of the individual. I undoubtedly won't live long enough to see the emergence of a new cultural balance on anything like a grand scale but it's with some satisfaction that I can look back and say that I've contributed to its growth.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Two Hundred and Two
It has been said that continued practice of something done incorrectly will not lead to any improvement. Interesting. The underlying assumption is that the incorrect practice is repeated over and over in exactly the same manner. That's not really practice though, is it? It's nothing more than mindless repetition. Practice entails iterations of performance, analysis, correction and refinement.
Aikido practice is a process of self discovery whereby I continually engender changes within myself via analysis of my performance so that I may make corrections to refine the totality of the interaction with my partner in order to improve my performance. Aikido is a wonderfully self correcting activity.
When I began my study I was able to rely on muscle power in order to effect the execution of technique. As I moved along the path and ukes became less willing to just roll over for me I had to find another way to perform that relied less on muscle and more on the principles of Aikido that were presented to me by Maruyama Sensei. In short, I had to find correct feeling, and once felt, strengthen and polish it. The process is like watching hair grow. The road from baldness to shoulder length hair is crystal clear in hindsight while altogether invisible day to day. Growth in Aikido and my attainment of correct feeling is the same; no "Ah ha, I've got it!!!" moment; just a gradual continual improvement due to daily practice.
To continue to grow I must practice mindfully in order to be able to analyze, correct and refine my performance.
Aikido practice is a process of self discovery whereby I continually engender changes within myself via analysis of my performance so that I may make corrections to refine the totality of the interaction with my partner in order to improve my performance. Aikido is a wonderfully self correcting activity.
When I began my study I was able to rely on muscle power in order to effect the execution of technique. As I moved along the path and ukes became less willing to just roll over for me I had to find another way to perform that relied less on muscle and more on the principles of Aikido that were presented to me by Maruyama Sensei. In short, I had to find correct feeling, and once felt, strengthen and polish it. The process is like watching hair grow. The road from baldness to shoulder length hair is crystal clear in hindsight while altogether invisible day to day. Growth in Aikido and my attainment of correct feeling is the same; no "Ah ha, I've got it!!!" moment; just a gradual continual improvement due to daily practice.
To continue to grow I must practice mindfully in order to be able to analyze, correct and refine my performance.
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