Reciprocity

AikiWeb 02-2011: Reciprocity

Breathe in, react and repeat
Breathe out, respond and resolve
Reciprocity

There was a time when I believed in the normal and natural, constant and continual, momentum and inertia of simple reciprocity. I was able to blame my reactions on other people’s reactions to me. I reflected back to them the same amount of distrust and hostility the dumped on me. I was only polite to give them back what they gave me, wasn’t it? I had heard that we treat others the way we want them to treat us. So if someone treated me, or themselves, or others poorly than it was permission to treat them poorly back, right?

I have always been a bit of the enforcer. If someone came into the Dojo and was playing a bit too rough, I somehow heard about it and found myself in their line thinking that a taste of their own medicine would be just what they needed to mellow out. I could justify it and rationalize it because what I was doing was in the protective interest of those being treated roughly and in their best interest as a learning opportunity. And that philosophy worked until I got into Aikido.

Okay, it worked at first in Aikido too. At least I thought it did. One of my favorite statements from Einstein was that the type of thinking that creates a problem is not the type of thinking that solves it. If given violence and hostility, then more violence and hostility was not going to solve it. It may temporarily postpone further aggression, but it does not solve the problem. In fact, more of the same actually mimics and perpetuates what I am saying I am against. My reactionary reciprocity is not the solution, it is the problem. Many times, they were just reacting to me.

reaction: resistance or opposition to a force, influence, or movement

I hear this all the time from couples in counseling who are in such a reactionary defensive pattern of communication that they do not realize they are perpetuating the aggression and bringing about the demise of a relationship they should be cherishing and embracing. I see it in individuals who justify and rationalize their aggression by saying they learned it from their parents and the society they were raised in. And this is true, we learn much from the models we attach and identify with, even if we don’t do it wisely. Yet, our children then learn it from us and continue our patterns in their own lives and pass it on to our grandchildren. It would appear that reciprocity only repeats and reinforces patterns, it simply does not resolve them.

response: a reply or output resulting from stimulation
responsible: to be called to answer, to explain (not excuse), accountable

Luckily the process of reciprocity is content free, meaning that whatever we put into it we should be able to get out of it. If we put in hostility we will probably get back hostility. If we put in love, we should get back love. What goes around comes around, right? Yet, it doesn’t always work that way either. Many people cannot be provoked to violence because it is not who they are. Many people cannot give you love no matter how much you give them because it is not who they are.

reciprocity: mutual dependence, action, and influence, to return, shared by both sides

Perhaps other people are not creating the hostility of love in us and perhaps we are not creating it in them. Perhaps it is already there and we are just tapping into it. Perhaps we are just picking people who somehow agree with our self and world perception. When I am feeling hostile, all I see and attract is more hostility. When I feel loving, I tend to see people holding hands and being kind to others. But the hostility or love isn’t always reciprocated from the person I thought it would be. Sometimes I got hostility from people I want to love and love from people I was hostile to.

In this reactionary reciprocal pattern, no one is in charge. We are all just on some unconscious automatic pilot repeating past patterns, constructive or destructive. We reciprocate and react in the same vein. Yet, another old saying is that if you always do what you have always done, we will always get what you have always gotten. Violence can only bring about more violence.

The bashing arts were easy because it was more of the same. The same I had grown up in and the same that I was trained in. When I started Aikido it was hard not to react with my usually striking. Even the drills were more competitive than cooperative. Aikido had a congruent philosophy and training methodology of non-resistance and non-violence. It meant I could not react by reciprocating more or the same. It meant that I had to stay mindful to respond with assertion (not aggression) and love (not fear). I had to make a choice in how I was to reciprocate.

As a sempai (and still somewhat of an enforcer) I have an obligation and responsibility to create a safe training environment. That means safe from my aggressive reactions no matter how protective I try to rationalize them. I must model the response I want in others rather than have them dictate to me how I will reciprocate. I must not let my past or other people decide who I am, on or off the mat. That is my decision.

The choice is, do I want to reciprocate from my reactions and repeat the pattern or do I want to respond effectively and efficiently to resolve the matter with the least amount of effort and damage/ The choice is the intent behind my training and my life. It’s a choice we all have.

Breathe in, react and repeat
Breathe out, respond and resolve
Reciprocity

Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!

Yondan: 4th Degree Black Belt

Yondon (4th degree Black Belt)

Everyday a New Day

AikiWeb 01-2011: Everyday: A New Day

Breathe in: the day begins
Breathe out: the day ends
Everyday: a new day

What could be more appropriate for starting a New Year than talking about a new day everyday? After all, it’s a new year. As tradition would have it, on the first day of the New Year we reaffirm our training commitment to Aikido with a 1000 boken cuts and two-hours of practice.

This is the time of year that we may have already made and broken our New Year’s resolutions. Those are the things that we know we should do, are not really committed to do, and so usually don’t do. And when we don’t do them, we feel bad about ourselves. A friend once told me that he had a problem with commitment. Having known him for a long time I really thought about it and had to disagree because when he decided he wanted something or was going to do something, he got it or did it (even if they weren’t really in his best interest). The problem seemed to be he was committing to things and people he really wasn’t committed to.

I often tell people that in a three step process to get what you want in life you only have to know two things. First, you have to know what you really want. Secondly, we have to know what we need to do to get it. The third thing is we have to do whatever it takes to get whatever we want. Many of us lose what we want because we don’t really do what it takes to get it. We may be committed to wanting but not committed to doing the work to get it.

In the academic and professional world I have colleagues who seem intrigued by some sense of martial accomplishment. Having spent a lot of time in their heads they really haven’t spent a lot of time on the dojo mats. When they approach me about my hobby I ask if they would like these skills. Most say yes. Then I ask if they know what they have to do to get them. They usually say yes they know they have to train. I smile and say, okay then do that. Everyday they put it off until another day (which of course never comes).

In the martial world I also have kindred spirits who seem intrigued by some sense of academic and professional accomplishment. Many don’t believe in book learning or mental training and prefer spending their time in physical repetition hoping someday it will translate to some sense of physical, mental, and even possibly spiritual proficiency. When approached about my profession, they all say they would like to have a degree and they all already know all they have to do is go back to school, but just never get around to doing it. Everyday they put it off until another day (which of course never comes).

I eventually learned about living in the present, mushin (empty mind), and shoshin (beginners mind?. I went around living (as program suggests) one-day-at-a-time with no connection to the past and no future plans. That didn’t work too well for me. In those days mushin (empty mind) was more like being an air-head and shoshin (beginner’s mind) was simply saying I didn’t know anything because I really didn’t. With no past I tried to deny where I was coming from and with no future plans I had no direction.

In the movie Groundhog Day the main character Bill Murray keeps living the same day over and over again. At first it was just weird. Then it got depressing. And then he began to take advantage of the opportunity to learn new skills every day (or continue his practice of an old skill) and become a nicer person. He had no idea how long this same-day-every day would last. He began to just enjoy and embrace the process and the opportunity. The thing about practicing the same thing every day is that it has an accumulative effect. You might just learn something valuable.

In the movie Bucket List Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman decide that they will make a list of everything they want to do before they kick-the-bucket (die) and begin to seek out those opportunities. While they are on this adventure Morgan Freeman realizes that everything that was really important for him to accomplish was already there in his everyday life with his family. Nicholson? Well, watch the movie, it’s excellent.

In many movies about warriors (with an underlying Budo theme) they state that everyday is a good day to die. The commitment is to not necessarily want to die but to not being afraid of it. So they train with that commitment and with that intent. What they often miss until the end of the movie is that every day is also a good day to live. Every day is a new day to reaffirming our commitment and move towards what we truly want in our lives and how to do the work to get it.

I have never been very goal oriented in my life. Early in my life I was not very decisive or disciplined either. So it’s obvious why a good portion of my life just didn’t work too well. I finally found my three-Ds: decision, direction, and daily discipline. When we allow ourselves to be mentally quiet, we all already know what is important and what is right. When we decide to walk in that direction every day (no matter what) we tend to begin making distance.

They say you never step in the same stream twice. So it’s never the same day every day but a new day every day.

Breathe in: the day begins
Breathe out: the day ends
Everyday: a new day

Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!

Gifts

AikiWeb 12-2010: Receiving and Giving Gifts

Breathe in, receive
Breathe out, give
Gifts

‘Tis the season of gifts. It is time to figure out what people want or need, where you can find it, can you afford it, and how to avoid the most crowds. Like so many things in life, it’s a lot more complicated than it looks.

When I first saw Aikido, it looked easy. Everyone moved with grace and coordination. I was sure I could see exactly what was going on. I now know that I was interpreting my perception of something I knew nothing about.

I found in gift buying that I was doing the same thing. I really wanted to buy gifts for people that they would appreciate. I haven’t always been good at it. In fact, I think I come from a very long line of very bad gift buyers. I finally figured it out that I was buying gifts for people based on what I wanted to receive. I gave what I wanted to receive even if it was rather inappropriate, unacceptable, and unappreciated by the person I was giving it to. This certainly created some rather awkward moments and some rather funny looks. BTW, I finally figured out that if I paid attention to them I just might find out what they like and want.

I see this in couples counseling all the time. One person is being very giving, but they are not giving what the other person wants. They might not even have a clue what the other person really wants. In communication I call this the input and output channels. If the output channel of one person matches the input channel of the other, the communication is clear and complete. So is the gift giving and receiving. If the output channel of one person does not match the input channel of the other, the communication can be confusing at best or totally lost. Ditto with the gift idea. I have seen a person express their love to someone who truly doesn’t believe they do love them. The gift of love was given but never received.

The most important gift we can give is of ourselves. The most important gift we can receive is of another person. The most important process is to drop our individual duality and distinction and become one with each other. In couples counseling I listen for the “we” more than the “I” and “you”.

So why do I mention this in an Aikido column? In Aikido practice we give ourselves over to the loving protection of all we train with. It is our training partner’s (as well as ours) responsibility to take care of us. They, in turn, give themselves over to our loving protection. To be able to practice another day, “we” must take care of each other. To take good care of each other, we must communicate.

This is where we must pay close mindful attention. On the one hand to really help my training partner’s practice with some sense of reality, I must attack them with honest intent and energy. Otherwise, they will develop a false sense of mastery. We have not helped them, but have hurt them. On the other hand, if I give too honestly of my intent and energy, I may hurt them in practice. While it is certainly not uncommon for the right hand not to know what the left hand is doing, perhaps we can open some lines of communication and give the gift that our training partner needs. Perhaps we can ask them (and then listen for the answer) to help us find just the right amount of intent and energy to give. Besides the gift of ourselves, we give the gift of actually paying attention and responding appropriately to another human being. This is truly a gift worth giving.

In practicing I must be open to the honest intent and energy of another human being is giving me. I must receive and accept (possibly even appreciate) what they offer me. I have seen high level yudansha complain because the beginner did not attack correctly. Yet the beginner is giving the best they can, but did the receiver receive what was offered? A beginner cannot give more than their level of ability, but a higher belt should certainly be able to accept and work with whatever is offered. We must find just the right amount of our own intent and energy to blend with theirs and complete our technique without harming them. They give us the gift of trust and we give them the gift of protection.

The gift of good communication is a two-way street, a conversation, and a dialogue. We give in loving kindness and protection and we receive in loving kindness and protection on and off the mat.

In meta-physics (only meaning beyond the physical) they suggest that whatever you want to receive you first must be willing to give away freely with no strings attached. You give not because you will receive, you simply give because it’s the right thing to do.

While this is the season of giving and receiving gifts, most importantly it is the season (as everyday is) of giving and receiving the gift of love. Give freely.

Breathe in, receive
Breathe out, give
Gifts

From me and mine, to you and yours, have a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season.

I hope we find ourselves sharing the gift of space and time on the mat in the New Year.

Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!

Mindful Model and Mentors

Aiki-Web: 11-2010 Mindful Modeling and Mentoring

Breathe in, model
Breath out, mentor
Mindfully

I must admit that I tend to agree with Charles Barkley when he says that he is a basketball player and not a role model. I would hate to think that someone would end up like me. When I became a father I realized I needed to clean up my act and must admit that it helped me a lot. Unfortunately, my sons still ended up a lot like me. I have already apologized to them several times.

Vicarious observational learning takes place often unconsciously through imitation and identification. It is very powerful. Advertising media uses it all the time. They have associated the unrelated facts that if we use their product we will be thin, attractive, smart, cool, and drive the right car while being very well dressed. All this just for purchasing and consuming their product.

This is a lot like a hologram, we don’t just get a part of the message, we get all of it. There is some new research that proposes that the brain contains internal mirror-neurons that fire in association to external stimulation. If we watch an elite athlete learning a new skill or warming-up we will see their associated mental rehearsal with the event. Neurologically the brain does not know the difference between actual events and those of fantasy. Repeated fantasizing of mental rehearsal can imbed a new belief or behavior.

It happens in families all the time. As a counselor I am often asked to work with adolescents who have an attitude problem. When I meet their parents I see exactly where they learned their behavior. Membership has the entry criterion. The learned ego is based on imitation and identification. We have to be careful who we follow and mindful of those following us.

When my wife first saw a video tape of my old FMA/JKD instructor (Ted Lucauylucauy) she said that he moved just like I do. I corrected her by admitting I moved like him. This was a compliment to me (sorry Ted). When you see my Aikido, you see some of who taught me (Sensei Dang Thong Phong). Only he is so much better at it then I am. We behave, feel, and think a lot like those who taught us how to behave, feel, and think.

Modeling: to plan or form after a pattern/shape, to produce a representation to simulation, to construct in imitation

We don’t have to say anything to been seen and accepted as a role model. It’s often not our choice, but the choice of those looking for something and we just happen to be in their line of vision. The same goes for those we modeled after. We choose them. Perhaps that choice reflects some inner need in us. We model after those who match our needs, wants, and desires. Perhaps we project what we want our models to be and never see who they really are, This projection often leads to some real disappointments and disillusionments when we realize that our role models are not who we idealize they are but are just humans with all their human faults and frailties.

Mentoring: entrusted with the education, a trusted counselor or guide, a tutor or coach

In program we often use the cliché of walking the talk. Walking is our modeling. Talking is our mentoring. Just as people tried to save us some misery of self-learning, we too will share our experience and perspective in the hopes of helping others. Perhaps some just do it to sound intelligent and wise and gain respect. You can tell a great mentor because it is more important to them that you be impressed with who you are and what you can do than who they are and what they can do. A mentor wants the student to surpass the teacher. A mentor is like a catalyst to a chemical reaction that facilitates the change but does not really remain a part of it.

Mindfulness: bearing in mind, inclined to be aware, the art of staying conscious and aware of the present

Perhaps I don’t have a very positive view of us as a human species because I think most of us are simply creatures of habit on automatic pilot. Whatever we were taught (through unconscious modeling and mentoring) we repeat without questioning for the next generation who model after us. This is how information can be transmitted and replicated without alteration. However, I am also aware of the old children’s game of gossip by passing a message around a circle only to find out in the end that it is entirely different than it began. Perhaps this is why things get lost in translation and transmission.

Perhaps if we all became more mindful of our models and mentors and more mindful of those who choose us as their models and mentors, we could communicate with more clarity, conviction, and compassion.

Breathe in, model
Breath out, mentor
Mindfully

Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training/ KWATZ!

Circles, Spirals, and Spheres

Aiki-Web 10-2010: Circles, Spirals, and Spheres

Breathe in, circles
Breathe out, spirals
Spheres of awareness and action

I remember when I first started in Aikido I kept hearing things like “get off the line” (of attack) and “keep your hands on your center line”. This was somewhat easy to understand because I tend to think in straight lines (despite the twists and turns my life has often taken). Then I was told there were no straight lines in Aikido.

Think circles.

circle: a closed two-dimensional plane curve at which every point
is equal distance from the center

There are several important and useful aspects about the circle; the center, the radius, and the circumference.

One of the rules of Aikido is to maintain your one point. This often implies that all movement is initiated from our hips and pelvis region. This is the technical center of our physical body. It is important that we maintain this center and move with our entire unified body behind every motion. We become the center of the circle, the center of all movement. That center must be completely relaxed.

Another rule of Aikido is to extend Ki. As we have been told many times, Ki, or energy, follows the path of focus or intention. Therefore, we need to extend the mind past the radius of the extended arm. The arm must be relaxed with the weight on the underside.

The extension continues along and through the circumference of the physical body while the Ki continues and extends along and through the circumference of the mental focus and intention. Our reach will always be somewhat longer than our grasp.

Think of a horizontal circle as you enter and blend. Think of a vertical circle as you throw.

Think spirals.

spiral: a three-dimensional path moving around a central point
continuously receding or approaching a central point, a coil

Once we have the circle we develop the spiral. We can spiral up or we can spiral down.
We can spiral out or we can spiral in.

In the third control technique, Sankyo, we can apply a horizontal circle and gain some success. If we apply the same technique but spiral upward with it we unbalance the center of our training partner making them easier to move.

In the first control technique, Ikkyo, we can apply a vertical circle forward (Omote) and take our training partner to the ground. I used to apply a horizontal circle to the rear (Ura) only to find my partner and I were going in circles. Apply a downward spiral to Ikkyo Ura and our training partners are quickly on the ground.

As we watch a figure skater, we see the spinning spiral. If they extend their arms outward, they spin slower. If they pull their arms inward, they spin faster. Likewise, the bringing of our spiral into our center, the pin becomes faster and directly at our feet. Allow the spiral to extend outward and our technique becomes a roll that our training partner can safely roll out of.

Spiral up and out to unbalance and throw. Spiral down and in to pin.

Think spheres.

sphere: a globe, a ball, a closed three dimensional plane curve
at which every point is an equal distance from the center

Another three-dimensional shape is the sphere, the ball. The sphere contains the circle and the spiral.

Initially, we may learn, or teach, the forward roll by talking about the horizontal circle. It is like being a relaxed wheel that rolls forward holding it’s shape. Later we may just roll like a ball, a sphere.

Because a sphere is three-dimensional it offers many options and opportunities. If you roll a ball (a sphere) at an object coming at it, it will simply roll off to one side. This is a good example of getting off the line and blending. If you push on a ball (a sphere) it will simply accept the pressure by giving into it, transfer that pressure to the other side of the ball, and then return the energy as a bounce. A sphere moves in any direction and maintains its shape and structure.

We can also talk about our sphere of awareness and influence or action. By maintaining a sphere of awareness around us we keep our attention externally focused for any threat or opportunity. By maintaining a sphere of influence, or action, we can extend in all directions our intention, ability, and willingness to act, react, and respond appropriately and effectively.

Breathe in, circles
Breathe out, spirals
Spheres of awareness and action

Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!

Oh Yea Uh

AikiWeb 09-2010: Oh Yea Uh

Breathe in, train hard and remember
Breathe out, forget and remember again
“Oh yeah huh”

When my son was a young boy he didn’t always remember everything that he was supposed to. He would forget. He had a lot on his mind. Not everything that was important to me was important enough for him to understand. When I would remind him of the things he forgot, he would tilt his head and say “Oh yeah huh”.

As a teacher I try to remind the students of all the things they need to pay attention to. Because I am a bit of a compulsive perfectionist, the list of things I want them to remember is often far too long for them to actually understand and perform, much less actually remember for next time. There are the physical mechanics of the body and the mental concepts and principles that together give Aikido its body and mind unification. It is the body and mind unification that is the goal of Aikido. “Oh yeah huh”

I too remember learning and feeling overwhelmed and overloaded with too much information too soon. It is hard enough to coordinate my own body and mind, let alone when its connected to someone who is attacking me. But that is the craft of Aikido. We must learn our craft before we can learn our art. “Oh yeah huh”

In the past I have talked about the four levels of competence. The first level is unconscious incompetence where what you are doing doesn’t work, but you don’t know it. The second level is conscious incompetence where what you are doing doesn’t work and you know it doesn’t work. This is where we start training. The third level is conscious competence where we can make it work but only when we pay close attention. This is where we train the skills of our craft. The fourth and final level is unconscious competence where what we are doing has been trained into our bodies and mind so that we do not have to pay attention to it. This is the start of expressing our art. “Oh yeah huh”

Our consciousness is rather limited. An old article suggests that we can only process seven plus/minus two bits of information at any one time. With seven plus two (or nine) bits of information we become overloaded and shut down. With seven minus two (or five) bits of information we become bored and shut down. While I have never been bored in Aikido, I do know the feeling of too much or too little information. The trick is to find the balance between our craft and our art. “Oh yeah huh”

With training, when our teacher/Sensei points something out, we remember and recognize what we already have learned and know. A lot of training is just that. Practicing through repetitive rehearsal both physically and mentally so that we can remember what we have forgotten by having it pointed out to us yet again. In the early years of our training we are overloaded with new information. It’s a very frustrating time. This frustration lets us know we are learning new things and moving outside of our comfort zone to becoming more mentally aware and physically coordinated. As human beings we are physically designed so that we cannot see our own faces. This is why we need others to act as mirrors and reflect back to us what they see. For that reason we have to pick our mirrors/teachers wisely. “Oh yeah huh”

I often tell people that if we quiet the mind, we already know the truth and what the right things are to do. We all know that we need to stop the use of intoxicants and violence in all forms and practice mindful clarity, empathy, and compassion. The Aikido dojo is a sacred place to train a calm, quite mind in a relaxed and peaceful body. Aikido does not deny the loudness and destructiveness of our everyday life, but gives us a new model and means to respond (not react) to it without adding more noise or destruction. Einstein said that the type of thinking that creates a problem is never the type of thinking that will solve it. To solve confusion, conflict, and chaos, we must develop courage, clarity, and compassion. “Oh yeah huh”

Breathe in, train hard and remember
Breathe out, forget and remember again
“Oh yeah huh”

As we train together, we share our bodies, minds, and spirits with each other. It is a very intimate craft and art. Recently we at Roswell Budokan lost a good friend who never forgot her mission to empower women and children through love and martial arts. She was our constant mirror and model. Susanne Serwotka will always be a part of our dojo, our training, our Aikido, and our lives. I dedicate this column and my “Oh yeah huh” moment to her, remembering that if we are born we will someday die (making the only thing that matters is the quality of our brief time together and remembering each other).

Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!

Practical Principles

AikiWeb 08/2010: Principle, Practical, and Practice

Breathe in, integrate the principles
Breathe out, apply the practical
Practice

I come from a long bashing background. I studied most martial arts for their practical application. From a blue-collar background my criteria was relatively simple: is it useful, meaning does in work in real life? Aikido confused me.

Okay, Aikido still confuses me. (Yet, it also intrigues me and keeps me interesting in its complexities, simplicities, and mysteries.) I have found an acceptance in my confusion. Confusion sometimes just means that things are not well organized. So it hit me while training one day that many of our practice techniques are to teach us the principles of Aikido and are not necessarily meant (in my state of understanding at the time) to be practical in the street. Others have a more direct application and their relevance is more obvious.

Someone told me that “Wisdom is knowing the difference” (Serenity). So how do I know the difference?

In shooting we often suggest that it’s slow and smooth, and then (eventually) smooth and fast. Which by the way has nothing to do with effective or efficient unless you decide that is an outcome you want as an end result. In that case you find the principles that make you effective and efficient and incorporate that into your slow and smooth practice.

Without going into detail, let me suggest some principles that everyone talks about and acknowledges, but seldom do we see them actually incorporated and integrated into the slow and smooth, conscious and mindful, voluntary and deliberate practice of a technique. Please remember that this type of practice has been proven to change both the muscular and brain neuro-pathways (through neuro-plasticity) so that it is eventually just the way you move and think. It gives credibility to the idea that how you train is how you will fight.

Sensei Tohei offered us four important principles. He directed us to let the body completely relax, keep our weight on the underside, move from our center, and extend our Ki. These are easy to repeat and very hard to practice. They are more than an abstract principle, they are a physical directive between your mind and your body.

Get off the line. In Judo is someone pushes then you pull, and if someone pulls you push. But this still keeps you the on the line of attack. Get of the line of attack. Rather than reinforce the attack with an alignment to their supporting structure, maintain your own structural alignment while getting off their line of attack. Move.

Breathe. This is an important survival principle and necessity. Under stress (like training in a new technique while some one is attacking) most people hold their breath. Holding the breath under-oxygenates the blood and makes the body feel like it’s suffocating because it is. Your body panics appropriately. Other people may hyper-ventilate under stress, over oxygenating the blood, causing the body to tingle, and panic. One principle to practice is consciously inhaling while blending with an attack and exhaling as executing a technique.

Distance and timing are principles that lead into very effective and efficient practical applications. It’s what I call a “Goldilocks” thing. Too far or too close and a technique doesn’t work. Too quickly we collide with the attacker and too slowly they collide with us.

Connect and blend. To get someone to move when you move you must be connected. First that connection is visual and mental. Look at your training partner and make eye contact. Align your shoulders, hips, and feet in the same direction and approximately the same distance from your training. You mirror their positioning and movements. Once contact is made, tighten your structural alignment into their structural alignments, center to center. Blend with their movements by moving with them as if in a well choreographed dance.

Balance. I try to extend (not a muscular push) into their center with alignment and intent, towards their balance point to take balance. A slight upward lift places your training partner’s center of gravity moving upwards while yours lowers. Now a slight turn of your hips will take balance. Most people do not know how to attack when they are off balance even slightly.

What is the sign of a good lumberjack? They constantly stay out of the way of the falling trees. Many people connect with their training partner, establish their position so that their training partner’s balance depends on them, and then maintains that support while throwing them. If after the connection and support is established, you simply take it away (move your supporting leg) you don’t actually throw your training partner, but allow them to fall.

So after we practice principles, how do we make them practical?

Practical has to do with the external execution of the attack as well as what you do. The attack becomes faster, more powerful, and in closer quarters. The attack becomes an ambush of surprise including in combinations and groups. Hopefully through mindful practice of the principle you have become more observant of the surroundings, more oriented to threat assessment, and more decisive to act in a direct immediate fashion. Training at this level can actually re-pattern the startle/flinch response from the usual freeze, to fight or flight (or fight then flight) to a more Aiki flowing response.

To be effective and efficient, the principles become practical through mindful practice.

Breathe in, integrate the principles
Breathe out, apply the practical
Practice

Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!

Sleight of Hand/Mind

AikiWeb 07/2010

Sleight of hand, Sleight of mind

Breath in, sleight of hand
Breath out, sleight of mind
A slight change in one creates a sleight of change in the other

I was asked when in the execution of a technique that I took balance. I smiled and said, before they touch me.

In the study of body language, the hands are the tools by which we reach out to the world and grasp a hold of it. How we hold them communicates our intention. If someone comes towards you with their hands clenched in a fist, we usually think their intention is to attack, and we either defend or launch our own intercepting attack. If someone is backing away from us with their hands held fingers up and palms facing forward towards us, we usually think that their intention is defensive, and we respond by back off or launching into a chase mentality and close to finish the fight. If someone comfortably stands in a neutral stance with their hand held out as if to offer a hand to shake, we usually think that their intention is friendly, and we often reciprocate with our own hand to shake. If someone just stands with their arms and hands relaxed, we usually don’t know what to think because they have communicated no intention positive or negative, there is no “go” signal, and we often just stand there wondering what to do and doing nothing. These are examples of how a slight movement of hand can lead to a sleight of change in the mind.

When someone reached out (or strikes out) at us, there is an anticipated point of contact. There is an anticipated distance that is bridged before the hands touch the body, a concept of both time and space. The mind actually anticipates this and uses it be maintain balance. As long as it meets the intended support or resistance, stability, equilibrium, and balance is maintain in both body and mind. But, what would happen is it wasn’t there? What would happen if when someone reaches out to us we initiated and intercepted the hand slightly before the anticipated point and time of contact? What would happen if just before contact was made, we actually moved our hand further away? Again, a slight movement of the hands can create a sleight of change in the mind.

While we often practice and train the techniques of Aikido initially as a static art, standing the in a prearranged agreement, later we need to become more fluid. We move before physical connection or contact is made. Some more advanced practitioners may suggest that as soon as the eyes make contact there is a psychological connection (some may describe it in kinesthetic or energetic terms) that allows us to lead the mind. A smile or a nod or the head can communicate at a distance just as the hands did in the previous example. If we accept that energy follows the focus and intention of the mind, it is easy to see that a well disciplined mind can actually influence others through subtle body language.

In the prewar days of Aiki-Budo, it is told that the martial applications of Aikido (rich in its roots from Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu) were still present. This presence was both physical and mental. Strikes are referred to as atemi. Atemi is used for a variety of applications. The first of course is striking or attacking the body. This can be the approaching strike of an offensive attack or a defensive counterstrike. Originally, actual contact and damage was encouraged. When you look into someone’s eyes and look at their hands you can sense their intention by simply reading their body language. Most of the time people are very obvious. Other times they are more subtle. The sooner one detects these sleights of hand and mind; the sooner one can react and respond appropriately. Responding subtly to subtle clues in timing and distancing, posture and positioning makes Aikido look like magic or a fake.

Now when we practice Aikido we often forget about the martial application and enter into an artificial choreographed pre-arrangement. For initial training this is a wise decision which allows us to practice safely while slowly and voluntarily re-conditioning our body’s and mind’s neuro-pathways. One of my favorite pictures is of a hand grab in which the Aikido practitioner rotates the arms so the palms are up and the fingers pointed out. You can see the relaxation, the weight on the underside, the extension, and the connection to the center. What isn’t shown is how that slight rotation of the arms in one person changed the structure and alignment of the other person. When there is connectedness, a slight change in one creates a sleight of change in the other.

This concept of sleight/slight of mind and body works outside the Dojo as well as it does in training on the mat. Relax the mind and the body relaxes. Relax the body and the mind relaxes. Practice acceptance and appreciation and it may be reciprocated. What you want to receive give, and give it first. A slight change of mind and body in one creates a sleight of change in all those connected.

Breath in, sleight of hand
Breath out, sleight of mind
A slight change in one creates a sleight of change in the other

Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!