Message from Takeda shihan
This is a quote from Takeda shihan 8th dan.
Polish up our awareness then the consciousness will arise. As O-sensei declared, We must open our mind to become one with the Universe – we must become aware of Universal Knowledge. Practise misogi.
Practice in old style martial art used to be very much physical level as you can still see it in recent judo championships. The winners lift up their fists when they defeat others. That ugly gesture has been a symbol of winning, and unity with the partner has been lost.
Without unity, the higher level of consciousness, that is the unification of the Universe – “I am the Universe” will be permanently far away.
We must practise thousand times, million times to wake our half asleep consciousness and become aware of (go back to) the universal power within ourselves.
Training aikido form is not aikido. So, just drop your doubt and have a childlike mind and just practise. Then gradually your consciousness will open up.
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An inspiring thought indeed! May I refer everyone to the article (also on http://www.aikidosydney.com) about Osensei’s Path. The notion that “I am the universe” is a far cry from our everyday level of existence. Too often I find myself thinking that I am some separate individual looking after himself in this world – the reality is quite different! It is only through sincere and fearless practice (as mentioned by Takeda Shihan) that our conciousness will broaden not only to encompass our partner or foe, but the entire universe. The harmony of the universe can only be appreciated when one is aware of that universe in its entirity, without being attached to any one particular part of it.
Further to winners and loosers and inrelation to childs mind.
As a beginner we need to know what to do and how to do it as we get more experienced we are just researching what to do and how to do it. – however,
Like children, depending on how we begin to be taught will set generally up the patterns for how we continue to learn and teach – unless we become are aware of other ways.
In the spirit of Sensei’s “AIKI – Find your own way”. It may be wise to question and eveluate this aspect of our training.
When we talk about AIKI- being harmony with energy. It is our energy nature that is linked to everything even though our physical nature appears seperate, at it’s essence it is just vibrating energy.
The heart is our sensing and feeling centre and our mind assists in the awareness around these heart felt aspects.
When we train do we keep this in mind.
Do we hold to the physical or hold to the KI? or
Do we yet appreciate the difference?
When we teach do we teach from the technique perspective or teach from the KI perspective?
Like wise do we learn about the ki or do we learn the technique?
Do we talk, explore or question the difference as to what that may mean?
Do we emphaise the functions, values and differences of the hara and the heart?
As we become more experienced are we predominantly concerned about our personal developments (being Nage) or are we looking for the development in others (being uke)?
If we hold to the principle of being one or one with everything then when we see the development in others we feel the development in ourselves – and if we don’t do we dismiss this or pursue this?
One can write a book on this topic – but I don;t have more time right now.
Please consider attending our Awareness in Action programs to better understand some of the above and more.
best regards
Michael Dunne
RE: Holding to the physical or KI;
The spirit of Aikido is the KI that enlivens all our actions, whether they are related to our techniques in Aikido or not. The special thing about Aikido is that it is a way of extending KI to embrace not only our bodies, but the bodies of our attackers/partners. In a way, it can be said that the spirit of Aikido is non-holding, or non-attachment. If we hold to the techniques, the result is obvious, and if we hold to the KI, it doesn’t have the space to extend to our partner – as we are holding onto it with our mind.
In a practical way, “doing” the technique is of no use unless we have a conscious awareness of KI. However, growing too attached to KI is also ill-advised, as it is that very attachment that is limiting its projection!
Ultimately, just like any other aspect of our lives, Aikido is useless unless we can appreciate it in the physical, mental, and spiritual worlds. After all, does Aikido exist simply to make us good fighters and ‘reactors’? The deeper we go, however, the mirkier the waters get, as our mental image of KI will always be a pale reflection of its far greater reality.
Takeda Sensei’s message was due to a dan grading test where some applicants failed. When we asked what was lacking, he said that “most important thing is polishing up”. We asked what “polishing up” means. Then the answer above is the response.
Sensei doesn’t teach aikido techniques in his training because as we all know we will get caught up with the names and technical aspect then upper-body oriented, step by step movement takes over. But what is really going on when we work with techniques is just an idea or many ideas going through our mind and they disturb “KI” flow. Nothing is wrong with the syllabus, it is not something disturbing us, but it is a lack of concentration caused by working these unfamiliar techniques out.
Sensei is simply saying “Do not forget the spirit in aikido even when we use techniques”. We understand mentally what aikido concept is but it is difficult manifesting it physically. Sensei says “practice thousand times million times” until we forget what the word means in the technique and find out the spirit within aikido.
We need to realize that all the techniques are the manifestation of aikido spirit as Izanagi and Izanami, created gods and these gods created eight hundred and eight gods all together in kojiki. These thousands of different names of techniques comes from one place, so we must start practicing sincerely without complaining about comprehension of the technique.
Sensei mentions unity. How do we bring this about? At the most superficial level we physically come in contact with our partner or attacker and join his force or redirect it for a resolution. At the next level we have to have the awareness of the attack and sensitivity to deal with it. This is spoken of by Lukas as the extension of Ki into the partner. At this point it is useless to use terms “uke or nage”. as both are extending ki and continue to do so. That is they use consciousness to both attack and defend and in fact exist. This consciousness when intentionally directed through focus is Ki. This is what Takeda Sensei is talking about in practise. Here is a quote from Koichi Tohei Sensei from an interview in Aikido Journal from 1998.This will elaborate both Takeda sensei’s words and Lucas comment.
” People think, that I can throw people without touching them ! But that is not correct. I may not have been touching with my hands, but I was touching with my Ki. A person that comes rushing forward to attack is preceded by his Ki, and wherever that Ki goes, his body is obliged to follow. This is why it is impossible to throw people who are not really intending to attack you. Ki is something that is conveyed from one person to another. The only reason it is possible for me to throw a very large individual who is moving in with a strike or other attack is that I am able to grasp his mind, his intention, the instant it manifests itself. This is one of the things that Ueshiba Sensei truly wanted to teach. Much of the aikido we see today has degenerated into mere fighting.” End of quote !!!
I put this to you….isn’t this what Takeda Sensei is speaking of ? We must focus and turn our attention to our partner and stop indulging in our mind. Learn to concentrate, rather than imagine. Begin with our physical senses and by doing so our mind will quiesce. Actually connect with your partner. Extend your Ki both as an attacker and defender otherwise there is no attack and nothing to be aware of. The subtle senses cannot operate when the mind is interferring or too active, hence Ki will not flow sufficiently and our awareness is dull. Sensei’s direction “polish up your awareness”, infers that awareness is underneath or inherent in all of us and just needs to have the dust or dirt removed. This polishing process is the misogi he mentions and through aikido practise we clean the dross from the mind allowing awareness to operate.
Sensei also mentions “childlike mind”. By this he means “innocence”.i.e. no expectations. We must practise with a completely open mind and allow spontaneous waza to arise according to the needs of the attack, rather than forcing a particular technique onto an attack. Hence sensei’s admonition ” practise thousand times, million times” so that our sensitivity is enhanced. We must practise sincerely and seriously for any change to take place. This is the interpretation of sensei’s instruction.
Should one try to extend her Ki when in the role of uke?
Uke’s role is initiating an attack. Uke (taking/rolling) part comes as a result of attacker’s first attack, which is like an arrow shot; it goes through one whole waza. If the shot is weak, you have to create another little shot then another one till Nage finishes his role… that is how we get lost in the step-by-step action as separate Uke & Nage. Without attack, event doesn’t occur. Without extension, attack is just a ceremony without Spirituality. When the attack is initiated well, we don’t have to worry how we should roll afterwards because it will happen naturally as “snow falling off the bamboo leaf”. When one technique ends, there should be only one, not uke and nage anymore.
I cannot claim to know what Sensei means, so what follows are merely a few thoughts inspired by his words.
When I was in Japan, it seemed Takeda Sensei never really taught technique, yet it also seemed we would do the same thing week in week out. It was only after leaving and coming back some time later, that I got a sense of how his aikido continues to evolve, while remaining true to those core principles.
If we practiced the same thing over and over (a million times), without sensitivity, we would no doubt still become better or at least stronger in a physical sense, but this is the very thing Sensei is so opposed to, as we see by his referral to the ugly side of judo. With sensitivity, sticking to your partner and feeling his/her centre, even though we may practice the same thing a thousand or even a million times, it will always be subtly different. If our awareness slips, we will lose connection, and even if we execute the “technique”, we will have failed in our training.
I don’t pretend to be anywhere near being “one with the universe”, in fact it seems like an impossible dream, but I certainly wish to keep improving in aikido. This cannot be in the physical realm alone.
“A childlike mind”: Stephen mentioned that Sensei means innocence and no expectations, but perhaps more can be read into this. Children also are persistent, often going on long after us adults are bored. They are playful in the way they explore the world and their relationships with others, often setting up games to which they throw themselves in wholeheartedly. Their games may or may not have rules, but they have an intrinsic sense of fair play, knowing immediately someone has breached the spirit of the game.
We too, know immediately when someone is just being difficult, or forcing a technique on, but unfortunately this can become a trap for our mind, causing us to either be competitive or just give up. At this point we may need to become softer and go back to a state of “no mind”, letting whatever happens happen, treating each experience as something new without placing a value judgement on it.
With a childlike mind, we can practice wholeheartedly and sincerely, while retaining a playfulness which makes the whole process fun and enjoyable. Every time we practice a technique it will be new, unburdened by past experiences, and never boring.
When we practice with a “childlike mind” we become free of all the disturbances that clutter our mind. In these instances we truly experience the liberation of being unshackled by our normal daily limitations. These limitations are created by ourselves and the environment around us. In such a freed up state, awareness is heightened and one’s own learning and self improvement can take place.
RE: The above comments
Simon – I should be calling you sensei, your way of writing embodies a deep sense of understanding of the Aikido spirit.
It’s non judgemental, does not criticise, and does not make claims, but rather adds an openness to spirit.
Looking back over the responses, it appeared to me that my previous questions were seen as attacking – I apologise for any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. They did though, elicit peoples valid comments from a veiw in which they see the situation – just like Ayano writes about the many gods there are many views on these topics.
Perhaps a good metaphor for increasing our awareness in our training (polishing up) is that of Yin and Yang to which such arts are likened to.
Likewise, One may call one Uke and the other nage – but which is really the attacker? perhaps both or perhaps neiter!. While one stays in either role, one can feel disassociated from the other – but are they really?
One may think Ki is more important than physical movement but is it? Perhaps and perhaps not.
What the metaphor may also impart the principle ‘From one became two and from two things multiplied and became many’.
Where the movement is from one to two within a system, however there is a reverse balancing principal happening where from two there is a movement towards one. The play with this understanding has been associated with Martial arts for hundreds of years.
Also, perhaps a view to Takeda sensei’s ‘polising up’ could be not so linearly focused as to what we do but rather a change of focus to the ‘higher levels of consciousness’ that he mentions in his writing. (I also Note, a dictionary meaning for aware is conscious?
While we stay in the concepts of ki versus physical or similar stances, we neglect the process of integration of the two, to which higher consciousness or awareness of it is perhaps sought, and integration can be difficult to explore.
Likewise, it’s perhaps through the exploration of both KI and Physical movement seperately and integrating them together an emergence of higher consciousness may evolve.
Perhaps through stretching the polarity of the two seperate complementary parts, and by working on them seperately in unison, one may find great potential for understanding.
Other systems of training may call combinning these or similar complementary elements ‘functional integration’
Also when I read above Takeda Sensei’s ‘We must practise thousand times, million times to wake our half asleep consciousness and become aware of (go back to) the universal power within ourselves’ – I also hear his words over the years at training – slow down, take your time, don’t rush, soflty, no force etc.
It would appear he also understands, One cannot functionally integrate subtleties especially when there is discomfort, fear, competition, in appropriate speed/rushed, bad posture, unclear movement,inablity to embody/employ a range of movment options, disassociation with the spirit of the movement, etc.
It wolud appear natural to assume, the more we are able to remove the restrictions, the more we are able to relentlessly train and gain most benifit.
The issue though would appear equally around both the method of removal of restricitons as opposed to that of the repetative nature. The emphasis on the method of removal of the issues would appear to strenghten the quality and experience gained through the repeatative nature, however I’m yet to be convince of it being the other way round.
I don;t want to pass a judgement on any one here. I just want to make a point of where I see there is room for discussion and exchange of ideas and I see this area as a general developmental stumbling block that needs to be addressed.
I have put together with other practitioners The Awareness In Action events. These events address and strenghen the methods of breaking down fixed habits and beliefs to enable a more integrated movement and understanding. – Please take advantage of these events and develop your exploration into this topic of increasing awareness. – see you at summer camp.
Best Regards – Michael Dunne
Just wanted to whish everybody a happy new year. Practising aikido with the Australian and Japenese crews have a major element of stability for me who have moved to Sydney two years ago. Thank you all.
The Spirit of Aikido can be expressed as harmony – bringing unity from chaos, stillness from activity. Ayano’s comment (no. 7) is very pertinent in this respect, as awareness as is commonly appreciated is simply a perriferal knowledge of what is going on around you as you address a particular situation. Aikido requires a much finer form of awareness in which the roles of uke, nage, and the technique are brought to one point by the two partners. Really, one’s physical movement will be a manifestation of the extent to which one is aware of Ki at the time. This can be seen in our own experience in training – when one is not aware of Ki and its extention, one’s physical movements are very awkward – however, when one is consciously aware of the presence of the unifying force of Ki – bringing all three parts of the action together – one’s physical movement is natural and uninhibited.
“Discomfort, fear, competition, inappropriate speed/rushed, bad posture, unclear movement,inablity to embody/employ a range of movment options, disassociation with the spirit of the movement, etc.” [Mike Dunne - no. 11] all arise as a result of a lack of awareness of Ki. It is not a matter of addressing each problem one by one – all of them disappear when there is true awareness. Often our ego will claim this and say “I am aware” – but this stage (although being finer than the one where awareness is lacking altogether) is not final! Only by giving up this fundamental claim on all our actions by our ego can we reach the “childlike mind” spoken of by Takeda sensei. This is not possible if we have an idea in our heads saying that we are childlike!
Another point to be made is this – the sincerity of uke’s attack is vital – in fact it is essential for this “harmony” to exist between uke and nage. It is impossible to “move his/her centre” or “draw them up” if their is no force applied by uke to be moved or drawn! Simply putting one’s hand in front of nage and expecting them to execute the technique in a way that brings harmony is ludicrous, as their was never any disharmony in the first place! In this scenario, nage becomes uke, and the roles are reversed in a way that is not beneficial to either party. Uke must be sincere – in the same way that a child’s anger is sincere – without being violent.
Practise is ultimately the only way to see this in our own experience – as it is said “there is no free lunch”, and we must all practise rejecting the claims we make on our actions, whether they be full of awareness or not, for even the idea that we are not aware enough must eventually be discarded – we use one thorn to pluck out another one, and then throw them both away – how could we talk of (and observe) our current condition if not from some deeper point of observation? Our lack of awareness is what makes practice seem “repetive”. In pure awareness, there is no judgement on the repetetiveness or non-repetetiveness of our training, there is simply a situation in which we happen to be a player, and our response to that situation will be beautifully simple and natural. Ki will flow with the power of a waterfall and the gentleness of a stream.
The comments above make many good points, which further our understanding, but there does seem to be a danger of over-intellectualising our practice or our idea of practice. When asked how to improve in aikido, Yass-san usually says “just take ukemi”. At the summer gasshuku he also mentioned that the connection between uke and nage is also important. It is this connection which allows both uke and nage to progress together in their practice of aikido. Without it, we are left with nage doing techniques to uke. No harmony or unity is achievable this way.
Takeda Sensei’s words “drop your doubt and have a childlike mind and just practise” mean the same thing to me. Doubts can be about the effectiveness of aikido (what if the attacker does this instead of that), or about our own ability (to perform the technique, or to receive it without getting hurt). If we let go of these doubts and other products of our perceived separateness and truly try to connect (become one with), we can then practise aikido.
The following quote comes from a biography of O Sensei written by John Stevens: “art is the mother of spirituality”. Our discipline being an art, it seems interesting to understand the meaning of this quote. Anybody could elaborate on it?
I practiced atigeiko with 5yr-old Satya! She doesn’t know who was uke or nage. She was just with me for whole time, and stayed connected in the way that her eyes sparkled with such intension and was non-physical but powerfully connected with me even I took ukemi away from her. Does she have fear of being attacked again? Does she know what Zanshin is? Like Simon says, no need to intellectualise her behaiviour to learn how we should be. Child-like mind is in all of us, “just take ukemi” is the key to your door. Only the start of understanding Aikido.
I guess we are seeking wisdom and liberation out of Aikido practice(*art)[could be this is "*art give birth to spirituality" > Bartrand 15]. We have Aikido to put us in an urgent situation that requires awarness to deal with reality(attack) in the most natural and appropriate manner. Human fight or compete each other is our tendency, so isn’t it why we practice martial art and Aikido was created so we learn from fight(conflict) to convert it into harmony? “Art is the mother of harmony” in this case;)
Taking the idea of “child like state” in another direction, I am always amazed how others see the world in relation to themselves. I trained in New Zealand with a person named Conrad Edwards, both an aikidoka and kayak enthusiast extraordinaire. The more he trained in aikido the more he saw parallels in his love of kayaking.
I have taken the liberty of providing an extract from his Roban when he graded to Shodan:
“O Sensei once said “In out techniques we enter completely into, blend totally with, and control firmly an attack. Strength resides where one’s ki is concentrated and stable: confusion and maliciousness arise when ki stagnates. Aikido is the art of learning deeply, the art of knowing oneself.” Quoting this, Alex Clover pointed out in Hakama that if one changed the word Aikido to kayaking, and the “attack” to the elements, the message fitted his experience of kayaking into strong winds perfectly. I am sure that it did, as it does for me, but to me the similarity runs deeper still.
Kayaking into strong winds is the equivalent of being nage, in balance and control, and retaining that control through techniques akin to those of Aikido. Greater synergies between kayaking and Aikido apply when considering the interplay with others, with one’s partner in kayaking not being another person but the elemental sea itself. Even if a kayaker does not deliberately seek out rough water, conditions can change alarmingly quickly, and one day rough water will find the kayaker. A rogue wave, a boat wash, a tidal race, a storm, a surf landing: all these can transform in a moment placid water to a threat to survival. The skilled can apply more refined techniques and survive bigger waves, but eventually any kayaker however skilled will meet their match: the sea can summon up more malevolent power than any uke.
Then the game changes, the cat becomes mouse, the nage becomes uke. Just as in Aikido, the trick is to recognise this moment and flow with it, regaining balance and posture effortlessly for the next onslaught. Most beginners, through simple lack of experience, will tend to react with inappropriate instincts. They will become tense and rely on upper body strength, but it is useless to counter the full force of the sea with mere strength. In a direct parallel to Aikido, their inability to relax into the situation is exacerbated because they do not know how to roll: they have not learned to take ukemi.
Gradually over years of experience, in kayaking as in Aikido, one progressively builds up the ability to relax, anticipate and react smoothly and without losing balance, posture or energy. The beginner, with luck, will survive a rogue wave. The experienced kayaker will avoid it or, failing that, blend with it and use its energy to advantage, perhaps to surf out of trouble, or to roll up effortlessly. This is kayaking in three dimensions, just as in randori a nage might drop or roll to maintain control. To me the closest physical parallel to randori is running a wild sea, and vice versa. Indeed, many writings on Aikido use the analogies of wind and wave to illustrate the philosophy and techniques of Aikido. ”
Happy new year to you all!
With above comments, I have taken the meanings of practice aikido would be practice living our lives.
Awareness that receiving attacking people with respect, forgiveness and compassion, then giving them back with ‘love’… I remember the book O-sensei said ‘aikido is about love’. I guess ‘unity of ki’ would be created by ‘love’ that we are all seeking in our lives??
How wonderful people gathering to learn and seek the same!! I have stopped/quited(?) aikido with some reasons. Aikido is great way to learn ‘things’, but I will keep seeking the art of aikido/living with reading your stories!
Happy new year to you all!!
You can not seek the art of Aikido without practising Aikido. Otherwise you are just dreaming about it. Only through physical daily practise mental and Spiritual art can be achieved. That is why we have been saying that we have to be careful with writing the blog because it is only mental understanding and can bring up false notion of the art. We all fail that and every so often dream about performing perfect Aikido. When we fail all we can do is practise. Reading cookbook doesn’t make you a great chef, Listening to Mozart doesn’t make you a great musician. What we are seeking is not personal ‘love’ between you and me or he and she but Universal love. Keep practising something if you can not continue Aikido.
Ayano-san’s last sentence makes a lot of sense to me. People may have many reasons why they cannot practise Aikido any more, but it is not the only path to enlightenment. Any activity which requires us to continually seek improvement can be used in the same way, so long as success is not measured against other people, but rather against an ideal of perfection (perhaps “the best I can be” and not “the best in the world”).
Budo provides us with an opportunity to train both the body and the mind. The physical techniques and movement help to unite the mind and body, while the threat posed by an attack shows us the degree to which we can remain still and calm in mind, or conversely the degree to which we are disturbed. All martial arts can give us this, but Aikido is unique in that it starts from a higher philosophical ground. Whereas other martial arts may begin from a perspective of defending oneself or beating ones opponent, creating a separation between self and other, aikido begins with the unity of all things, where love (ai) and harmony (ai) are the appropriate responses to the interactions between what we perceive as physical bodies.
I don’t know whether this is of any help to us at all. In the end it all come down to practice, and what we are taught by our Sensei.
I guess we cannot judge other people’s improvement as I believe there are many layers. How much we can allow ourself to change is important before dealing with other people. I agree that sometimes blog can become reading book reference, different understanding/inspiration for different people. We can share each other’s finding in each stage of practice and try to stick to what’s been indicated/directed by our sensei, then I think this forum can be a help in our daily “practice” where our body and mind can be trained to be balanced.May be? My sensei tells us “practice principle”.
The “child like” mind is the beginner’s mind and, ironically, the advanced student’s mind. Everything in aikido is totally new at the beginning and we have a joyous feeling of truly learning as if we were a child again. Then, for many reasons, we leave this state and think if we press ahead and analyse the movements to death, then we advance quickly. This state of mind has the opposite effect and becomes a significant barrier to progress as we think we “know” aikido. At some point, when we allow ourselves to leave our ideas at the door, we return to this “child like” state. The journey again becomes one of fun exploration without all the noise that seems to come with our pre-programmed Western learning.
Jason’s last sentence is very pertinent! I have recently read “Zen in the Art of Archery” by Eugene Herringel, and there is a comment he makes in there about becoming “purposeless on purpose”. This may seem non-sensical too the Western mind, but he makes the point that to the Easterner, it is quite obvious! Our Western learning (and hence our mindset) obliges us to find a specific “purpose” in everything we set out to do – whether it be Aikido or cleaning the dishes – everything has to have some sort of end result that mut be achieved in order for us to satisfied with our effort. The comments of Takeda Shihan refer to a state where we don’t have to have a specific aim in our work – just practice – this practicing is the joy we recieve – it’s not whether we are a beginner or a advanced student that should determine how happy we are about ourselves, it’s the intensity and integrity of our practice that matters. “Leaving our ideas at the door” is exactly what we should endevour to do – not because it will make us necessarily better at Aikido, but simply because it is impossible to practice properly with a whole lot of ideas in our heads!
I remember when Stephen Seymour would demonstrate a particular technique at the Balmain Dojo and I would not be able to follow afterwards – it was simply because I really wasn’t fully concentrated at the time – after I repeated the movements slowly a few times I understood what to do, but this process was not me “learning” or “practicing” the technique, it was just me focussing my attention on the situation! I think all our practice can be boiled down to paying attention to the situation at hand. Everything else follows if one is attentive and aware.
Best wishes to everyone!
from Lukas
It’s intereseting that Lukas mentioned becoming “purposeless on purpose”. Some time ago, I made a conscious decision not to be ruled by reason. At that time, the more I focussed on an end goal and thought about how to get it, the further it seemed to be from my grasp. Yet when I had no goal, no purpose, no reason for doing something, not only was I much happier, but also good things seemed to come to me. In no way am I suggesting that this kind of attitude will work for everyone, but I believe it makes for a much more relaxed lifestyle.
I don’t have a purpose for practising aikido, it is simply part of who I am. Even these ultimate goals of “unification of the universe” and awakening “the universal power within ourselves” don’t provide a reason on which to base our commitment to aikido. With a child-like mind and earnest practice, the subtle guidance of our teachers can lead us in that direction, but if we think we are going to become god-like in our ability to harvest the power of the universe, we are deluding ourselves.
Some philosophers and religions have stated that virtue is it’s own reward, equating goodness with happiness, but for me, I’d like to put to you that a child-like mind is it’s own reward. While a virtuous person might well expect praise for their good deeds, one with a child-like mind expects nothing and accepts that which is.
Hi all,
My name is Robert. I train at Two Cranes Aikido in Seattle, WA. It’s really great to see this forum dedicated to AKI. When I first started aikido, I had the fortune to train with an AKI study group in the San Francisco Bay Area. Perhaps you know Neville Nason, Jane Nason, and Nat McCully? They’re long time students of Takeda Shihan. I remember attending a gasshuku at AKI Santa Barbara with Lia Suzuki Sensei, Jean-Rene Leduc Sensei, and Berin McKenzie Sensei.
Anyways, I just wanted to introduce myself. I started a blog myself: aikiinseattle.wordpress.com. It’s kind of a journal of my training as I prepare for shodan test.
It’s nice meeting you. Talk to you all soon.
I just thought I would add something to keep this dialogue going.
From reading the above there appears 2 aspects of Aikido.
The imortal or ideal view that we and o’sensi referred to and the real Aikido that is where each of us is really at individually in relation to that ideal.
I believe i’m a practitoiner of the real Aikido, that is I feel far from the Ideal of where I would like to be.
Having said that, in having a long term passion and committment to the process and journey of this ever evolving experience of this artform. I have been given and found many distintions in my movement, attitude and delivery, that I believe to be insightful and important to impart. – I also mean this process has not stopped either.
Naturally, imparting such information cannot be done in writing or just verbally – as our heads may like it to happen. Some things need to be explained, demonstrated and experinced to be considered relevent. Ideas taken out of context can always appear or be considered rubbish by some.
Having a love of movement, and a slight and maturing body. I have always had to consider very seriously the manner in which I train and this has and effect on how I expect others to train with me. Well this may make you think – well that means he must hold back or he’s on the way out. However, I do feel I can hold my own with the best of any younger person. However I also see many of my friends loosing their health and wellbeing through what ever reason (for the want of words not to cause an argument) – affecting their aikido. I also see less experience people throwing their bodies senslessly to satisfy somebody’s elses ideal (naturally with good intentions) that only serves to bring longterm, discomfort.
I must also add that the Kenkyukai style is incredibly great, and the people are incredibly great and human. It is led by a person who is a gift from god. I am humbly greatful to those who I’ve had the pleasure of training with and those that have supported me over the years.
Naturally, being human we all have some not so good aspects hidden amongst the many good aspects. Aspects that we can intentionally or unintentionally open or closed on certain matters. The mat is however, the place where these most likely show up. – Not just in the way way we train with each other, but in the physical, emotional and mental condition we turn up in.
It can be difficult to accept our own shortcomings. Often we can be in denial or who we really are or discard the value of others imput – for the Ideal of who we think we are or should be, or of who someone else thinks we should be.
Now as a movement lover, I can only come back to my original point of which aikido to best follow; to be open and understand others perspectives, and to ultimatley find your own.
Intuitive Aikido – Bondi Junction
Hello everyone – I just wanted to say congratulations to all the dan-grades who recieved their 2nd and 3rd dans at the Gasschuku in Canberra. It’s really very inspiring as someone relatively new to aikido to see how it can be done (and so well!)