Two Hundred and Thirty-six

The eye of a hurricane is a zone of calm. The body of a hurricane is a whirlwind of power. Without either the hurricane would not be a hurricane. Separating the eye and body of a hurricane is the boundary layer that also serves to unite them. Without the boundary layer to separate them, eye and body would coalesce and lose their distinctiveness. Without the boundary layer to unite them, eye and body could not function as a unified whole. The boundary layer is defined by both eye and body, being wholly neither.

Using the hurricane as a metaphor, I visualize my mind as the eye of the hurricane, my body as the body of the hurricane and my spirit as the boundary layer that separates and unites both. Spirit is a synergy of mind and body. It facilitates mind/body coordination enabling me to experience correct feeling, my most dependable and powerful state of being.

Two Hundred and Thirty-five

In conflict, energy in the form of combatants is at a higher level than in the absence of conflict. Aikido is a martial art that endeavors to facilitate the transition of high level energy in the form of the combatants to the lowest energy state possible in conformance with the Minimum Energy Principle.

O Sensei (taken from The Art Of Peace, John Stevens) -

"... we put ourselves in tune with the universe..."

"A warrior's mind and body must be permeated with enlightened wisdom and deep calm."

"If your opponent strikes with fire counter with water,... it swallows up any attack harmlessly."

"...once you envelop them you will be able to guide them along a path indicated to you by heaven and earth."

"Let attackers come any way they like... blend with them...Redirect each attack and get firmly behind it."

"Enter, turn and blend with your opponent..."

"Draw him outside of that sphere and into your own, and his strength will dissipate."

"...keeping yourself in a safe and unassailable position... no one will suffer any losses..."

Two Hundred and Thirty-four

Harmony - Agreement, accord, concord, synchronization, congruence, coordination, coherence.

Mind-like - Agreement, accord, concord.

Body-like - Synchronization, congruence, coordination, coherence.

Agreement (settlement of conflict), accord (concurrence of views), concord (peace).

Synchronization (organization of movements), congruence (correspondence of form), coordination (bringing together mind and body), coherence (unity of action).

Harmony as a functional precept of Aikido.

Two Hundred and Thirty-three

Positioning myself properly
I can utilize the energy
of our movement

as does a dolphin

make use of the energy
contained in the bow wave
of a moving boat.

Two Hundred and Thirty-two

Presence, as in: an impressive appearance or bearing, is often established via the application of atemi during the execution of a technique. Atemi delivered in an indifferent manner or with the intention of missing the intended target will embolden my uke and serve to diminish my presence in his eyes. Part of my training is getting my partners to believe in the reality of my atemi, even while they know that I'm not going to apply the strike with force enough to do any damage.

Atemi delivered with correct feeling will result in uke feeling the energy of my intent long before the blow arrives. This, in turn, will adversely affect his positioning and balance thereby increasing my presence as perceived by him. When I deliver atemi during practice I make it known to my partner that, 'if you don't move I'm going to hit you', via the projection of my intent and by applying the blow accurately, on target.

Two Hundred and Thirty-one

Minimum Energy Principle -
Energy in any form seeks stability at the lowest energy state possible, and will not transition to a new state unless acted on by another energy source. - Louis A. Del Monty, Unraveling the Universe's Mysteries

Notes to self:

Tightly coordinated mind/body - high energy state, sharply focused, suppression of conscious thought preceding action, expansion of awareness/contraction of reference.

Loosely coordinated mind/body - low energy state, diffused focus, conscious thought preceding action, contraction of awareness/expansion of reference.

Degree of coordination of mind/body (Ki) transitions to a higher degree in a conflict situation due to the influence of another energy source (uke).

Aikido is a vehicle for implementing the MEP.

Ki development work facilitates the transition to higher energy states brought on by influence of uke's energy input. Waza provides a mechanism for transitioning to lower energy states via the neutralization of uke's energy.

When engaged in solo training I become the energy source normally supplied by uke in paired training. Solo training takes me from a low energy state to a high energy state and back again. With time and experience I come to see uke as a physical projection of the same energy that I am capable of generating on my own. With an uke my inner solo training is externalized and brought to life.

Two Hundred and Thirty

In the very early universe, Planck-time moments after the Big Bang, all the known forces were unified. As the universe cooled and expanded this super-symmetry began to unravel and the four forces of nature that we currently recognize emerged. I liken the cooling and expansion of the early universe to the growth of conscious self awareness in the developing human being which breaks the symmetry of mind and body.

I suppose that there isn't an individual moment in the past when I first became aware of "me" or an exact time when I first thought of "my body" as somehow separate from my "me-ish" essence. Consciousness of self, I think, happened gradually; that it kind of crept into my awareness when I wasn't looking. Prior to the emergence of self my mind and body were tightly coordinated and very close to the moment. Self awareness opened the doors to past and future which broke the symmetry and gave my mind the ability to wander from the moment.

Two Hundred and Twenty-nine

With mind and body
coordinated
I am one... point.

It's not a thing separate from me that
I must seek out
and somehow
anchor my consciousness to.

One... point
isn't
a place inside of me.

One... point
is
my most dependable
and
powerful state of being.

A state arising from
a mind and body
immersed in the moment.

Just one... point.

Two Hundred and Twenty-eight

Aikido is a two-fold way. And the folds, as befit their natures, lie opposite one another. I have come to the conclusion that Aikido was purposely developed around the idea of life and death being in constant juxtaposition, each in its own way tempting me with choices as I train.

With each attack I execute I can choose to come down on the side of death and deliver a blow that will injure or kill; an attack that has behind it the willful intent to do harm. I can also choose to come down on the side of life and deliver an attack that presents my partner with a gift; of energy, of commitment, the gift of my body as an instrument for my partner to use as a sounding board for the furtherance of his or her learning.

As nage I am presented with the same choices. Am I going to crush my partner into the mat beyond his or her ability to safely take the ukemi? Will I crank that nikkyo past the point that distinguishes pain from injury? Or will I seek to mitigate my response such that enough will be enough and my partner will be able to arise and attack again?

Each and every time I get on the mat I have to choose anew. Despite my mood, the events of my day, perceived rights and wrongs done to me or by me, I must still make that choice over and over again with every attack, every throw. With continued training I am learning how to thread my way along the seam where life and death meet and to favor neither one or the other; realizing rather that responses to situations contain varying elements of both.

Two Hundred and Twenty-seven

To closely coordinate my mind and body I must bring the temporal difference between the processes of my mind and the actions of my body as close to zero as possible. I must endeavor to remove conscious assessment from the "sense-process-act" loop in order to bring mind and body into tight temporal alignment.

Coordination of mind and body enhances correct feeling. Heightened correct feeling warps Ki in much the same way that mass warps the geometry of spacetime. One characteristic of a high degree of correct feeling is that my partner will notice an increase in my resistance to being moved if stationary or an increase in my weight if in motion. I call this perceived mass, a subjective quantity observed by my partner. Intensified correct feeling will also cause an slowing of subjective time as perceived by me.

Ki exercises, Ki testing and technique practice have the common goal of coordinating my mind and body in order to maximize correct feeling and realize my strongest and most dependable state.