An Aikdo School Droput Says More Than He Should...

1. There is this...

The koppo side of Aikido studies destruction, and knowledge of how to destroy an attacker in order to save your life and the lives of others.  

My purpose is to guide Aikido students away from the “dancing mindset’, from training in a comfortable way mentally and physically.  I want to make them think about the real meaning, the real application of “harmony” – it comes from the moment of being in front of an enemy who can destroy you, who is not going to participate in your harmony. This is the essence of O Sensei’s Aikido meaning, and without this understanding Aikido is missing something important.  I often ask my students, “can you defend your life?” Because if your answer is “no”, then your Aikido has no real meaning and you have no real understanding of Aikido principle.  If Aikido is just dancing for you, then your Aikido is shallow, and it has no ability to either defend or heal.


Yeah, I get it...if you don‘t want to kill someone you are a woosey, a pansy, a wimp… a LOSER! If you come away from the practice with a sense of harmony and that the uke is not really the enemy and that Aikdio is the art of peace, then you are an idiot.Plus he was the coolest uchideshi of all and the others were pretty lame.

Ultimately that is what it means. Nothing matters unless you can kill somebody. THAT is what koppo really means. 

 Of course since I never advanced to level of being able to survive a cage match I never really had an understanding of Aikdo, so you can safely ignore me. Of course a boat load of other practitioners are no better off, so why even try? Just give it up and buy a gun, THEN you can defend your self and it take no practice at all.

How can I say this since I am not an Aikido master? Screw that, I am an Aikido school drop out, an Aikido loser. BUT I am also a human, and I realize that for a lot of people martial arts is about being a badass. And I know people and what they want, and they want to WIN and even more so make the other guy LOSE. And what could prove it more than if you can destroy the other guy.

If you check out Aikdo on the Internet there are tons of Aikido guys who have chip on their shoulder when Karate or MMA people say Aikido is crap. Basically they want to prove their “kung fu” is way better than the other guy’s. Some macho Aikido people want to be considered bad ass, And by bad ass I meant destructive, hurtful and able to kill.

And the real take away from the article is unless you want to destroy (kill) the other guy you are not practicing real Aikido. Plus I am sure the the thing about it NOT BEING DANCING is a denigration for another O’ Sensei uchideshi (Just like Saotome) Terry Dobson who wrote a book about Aikido called It’s A Lot Like Dancing  

Dobson was a fascinating guy, we was a typical aggressive American who ended up in post war Japan and studied closely with O’ Sensei. His most famous Aikido Story is here 

And the point being, the art of harmony starts with seeing that your attacker is not your enemy. And using Aikido to deal with conflict comes NOT from a desire to destroy but from a desire to love.

Consider O’ Sensei’s enlightment story…

O-Sensei’s Enlightenment
(The following is taken from John Steven’s Abundant Peace and Kisshomaru Ueshiba’s Aikido):

In the spring of 1925, 42-year old Morihei was transformed by a divine vision. One day, a naval officer visiting Ayabe decided to challenge Morihei to a kendo match.  Morihei consented but remained unarmed.  The officer, a high-ranking swordsman, was naturally offended at this affront to his ability and lashed out at Morihei furiously. Morihei easily escaped the officer’s repeated blows and thrusts.  When the exhausted officer finally conceded defeat, he asked Morihei his secret.

“Just prior to your attacks, a beam of light flashed before my eyes, revealing the intended direction.” 
 

Following the contest, Morihei went out to his garden to draw water from the well and to wash the sweat from his face and hands.  This is what he later said about what happened:

“I set my mind on budo when I was about 15 and visited teachers of swordsmanship and jujutsu in various provinces.  I mastered the secrets of the old traditions, each within a few months.  But there was no one to instruct me in the essence of budo: the only that that could satisfy my mind.  So I knocked on the gates of various religions but I couldn’t get any concrete answers. 
 

Then in the spring of 1925, when I was taking a walk in the garden by myself, I felt that the universe suddenly quaked, and that a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body and changed my body into a golden one.  At the same time my mind and body became light.  I was able to understand the whispering of the birds and was clearly aware of the mind of God, the Creator of this universe. At that moment I was enlightened: the source of budo is God’s love – the spirit of loving protection for all beings.  

Endless tears of joy streamed down my cheeks.  …  I understood, ‘Budo is not felling the opponent by our force; nor is it a tool to lead the world into destructions with arms.  True budo is to accept the spirit of the universe, keep the peace of the world, correctly produce, protect and cultivate all beings in Nature.  The training of budo is to take God’s love, which correctly produces, protects and cultivates all things in Nature, and assimilate and utilize it in our own mind and body.’” 

So is Aikdio like this... “True budo is to accept the spirit of the universe, keep the peace of the world, correctly produce, protect and cultivate all beings in Nature.” or is it to destroy the opponent? Like I said, I am an Aikdo School dropout, and absolutely no authority in the matter, except maybe the authority of reading about O’ Sensei. And it is painful to admit, but when I was practicing I was never very good at it, but I still think about it every day. While I am sure O’ Sensei was a crazy,, complicated, confusing old school master...I see the wisdom of dealing with conflict, not by “destroying” but by seeking redirection and harmony.

Effort, More or Less

I know it happens to everybody, it is inevitable, obvious...but getting old(er) is kind of strange. You spend 55+ years of your life pretty much with out thinking about it and then, BLAMO..you have to worry about being in shape, or high Blood pressure or digestion or whatever. THEN you find you really do have to worry about such things.

I first started Aikido just before I turned 50, and while I was obviously not as robust as some younger people, there were actually a few times when I wore them out before myself. BUT, just before I quit a few years ago, I noticed my stamina was not what it once was and it seemed to take more to keep the weight off. And then I quit for almost 2 years.

Even after a few week of returning to Aikido I felt an improvement. But this Sunday I felt a cold coming on and by Monday after work it was bad enough that all I wanted to do was go home to sleep. Tuesday, the same. It just seemed my body was really old and tired. What a drag.

By today I felt a bit better but I was a little scared I would poop out mid class. But I felt I needed to clear out my lungs, so I rode around White Rock Lake. Not as strenuous as Aikido but enough to reassure me I was on the mend.

So why do I bother to even mention it? I guess I am trying to reassure myself that I am making an effort.

RELAX...Don't Do It

3rd class of Aikido since my break. On the first night I think I hurt, if not tore, some abdominal muscle. On Monday I discovered that when I did a forward roll it hurt like heck across a line in the area a few inches below my navel. BUT if I really relaxed my abdomen it was totally OK. I had the same problem tonight. So when like a novice I tensed up on a back roll, I felt the pain. And it was only when I paradoxically forced myself to relax when I was tense...I really did relax. And it mostly worked.

Yet another new beginning

Another birthday. That makes it seven years of blogging. And I saw on the internet that blogging is dead now, so I hope it doesn’t apply to me.

So what does it mean? You know I may be old enough that I will chuck the whole “meaning” thing anyway. For some reason now the meaning of "meaning" just doesn't seem as important as it once did.

I guess I decided to go back to my roots, so tonight I went back to Aikido after being away for more than a year and a half. Sort of a birthday gift to myself.

It physically took a lot out of me, since I am older, fatter and lazier than ever. But if you excuse a short break I took, I made it through the class. As of now I am planning to return.

Find Aikdio In a Rock and a Hard Place

After class tonight Sensei made the analogy that aikido was like the thought of Michelangelo that it was not the sculptor forcing the art on the stone but every stone had a sculpture that was up to the artist to let out. I think he was alluding to those moments when you are working on a technique and suddenly, magically, the aikido thing just presents itself without you forcing it. Basically the technique presents itself.

I also think it relates to another story he likes to tell where a reporter saw the Aikido Founder, O'Sensei, do irminage and the reporter was so amazed and asked to see it again. But even thought uke kept attacking, O'Sensei kept doing different techniques and finally the report asked why he wasn't doing iriminage. But the thing was, even a seasoned attacker can't always control all variables of and attack and since the founder would not force a technique where it didn't apply so he kept doing different techniques.

So much like Michelangelo seeing a different sculpture in each individual stone, given the differences of stone grain, density or what every, so O'Sensei would see the difference in each attack and do the aikido that was just waiting to be released.

The photo above is an unfinished Michelangelo sculpture where the subject looks like he is struggling to step right out of the stone,

Below is O'Sensei just doing his thing

What if Algernon Practiced Aikido?

In 8th Grade everybody had to read the novel Flowers for Algernon where a new medical procedure dramatically increases the intelligence of a lab rat as it does Charlie, the slow witted Human subject. The now clever Charlie starts monitoring Algernon recording his development.

But the crux of the story is when Charlie realizes that Algernon is slowly losing his intelligence and also realizes his own abilities are fading also. I still remember being quite moved as Charlie identifies his failings with Algernon's.

So what does this have to do with Aikido?

Well tonight I felt like I was a mix of Charlie and Algernon in my Aikido practice.

I've missed a fair number classes the past few months so I probably shouldn't be surprised, but tonight I was trying to do shiho nage and I kept saying to myself

“You are doing this worse than you ever have” and “You are even more tense and stiff than your first day”. All in all I felt like everything I had learned over the years was slipping away

So my intellectual analysis was Charlie and my diminishing Aikido skills was Algernon. Hmmm, that doesn't fit perfectly but make it work somehow. I guess it is not just Aikido that is slipping away. Anyway, I found my own story quite as moving as when I read Flowers for Algernon.

manifest one true nature when you see a stone; or 無

On my way to Aikido class last night I happened to be listening to a podcast from Living Zen where the teacher was talking about Case 1 form the Mumonkon. The Koan MU.

Here are a few excerpts from Living Zen-podcast Zen talks but Eshu Martin, abbot of the Victoria Zen Center in Victoria, BC Canada

Whenever we throw up a barrier that makes it "me" and "that", "inside" and "outside", "me" and "them", whenever we have solidified something and said this is what I like, what I am, the practice of mu is to burn it. Open your hand and just let that solid object flow.

Maintaining the presence of this case (mu) is a really difficult thing. But it requires we take this practice out of the Zendo into our day to day lives. Into the way we are eating breakfast the way we are doing our work. Really developing the awareness of when we grab on , when we throw up the barrier whenever we polarize, objectify, make solid anything. This is where we have to do this practice of “mu”, where we pull down the wall, open our hand, allow that solid object to flow. We step forward into the difficult situation we want to be a part of

What struck me was the part where we “step forward into the difficult situation we want to be part of” which so reminded me of Irimi Nage or Entering Throw. All the Aikido techniques are hard for me but Irimi seems particularly elusive. I heard one explanation that said something like you enter uke's attack and turn an blend into it, almost in a loving embrace



The podcast also re framed the famous koan MU to say

how do you manifest one true nature when you see a stone?

How do we acknowledge on an experiential level how do we affirm oneness?

We are (incorrectly) making mu into an object. It is a simple practice and it actually helps to be soft as we practice it. The practice of dissolution it is not a practice of punching It is not a plus activity it is actually a minus activity. We do the plus activity with ourselves, we fixate and oppose what we come up against. The practice of Mu is to catch it when we put something into a box and let it go. This is a practice of Melting

It reminded of Sensei talking about how Aikido is a reactive art, we shouldn't meet force with force, although ironically last night he told us to be the dominant part of the technique, not forceful but somehow dominant. Oh well, go figure.

The character 無 in seal script

Finding A New Path

Last night Sensei wanted us to realize that Aikido should be approached from different angles. Meaning we shouldn't try to force our idea of a technique on an attack, rather when we sense resistance the idea is to change your approach. So much of the night we worked on feeling the force of the attack. Then he went on about changing out responses to attacks and how it was like Neuroplasticity. Or something like that.

The start of the process is to recognize what is happening in the attack and NOT respond in kind but find a different path (like the brain making new response paths in the brain). Here he used the example of how people shake your hand when meeting you. You can learn a lot from the energy in the handshake about how you will need to interact with them. Will they be aggressive or overly sensitive, and stuff like that.

The thing is we are wired to fight force with force, it is the most obvious way to respond. If somebody pushes you we thing the most logical thing is to push back. He wanted us to realize that part of the essence of Aikdo is that like Neuroplasticity, it means changing ways of thinking and doing (my paraphrase).

Along those lines in Sensei's closing remarks, the gem he gave us was that the very notion of an attack should be dealt with by changing your perspective.(letting your brain find a new path), meaning if you accept an attack as an “attack” we are wired to respond in kind. But if you accept the attack as a gift. The more force it has, the more you are given to work with, and in a kinder world you lovingly redirect him to neutrality. Then went on to say this is a way to view social conflict away from the dojo.

I really like the notion, but of course I think there some Aikido-ists that accept the “gift” but then use their new found weakness and apply their own violent attack.

I Jump Into 2nd Kyu

I took the 2nd Kyu test today, and I have the video from my trusty “bloggie” to prove it. Sensei said I and the 3rd Kyu first act passed. I think Sensei didn't drag the test out too long since he has seen me practicing before class for the past few weeks and I was doing all the techniques listed. So he must have cut me some slack.

But, when you do something like this you want to have it all down rock solid. If I really wanted that, I suppose I could have waited until some later date. But I kind of like the feeling of diving in whether you are ready or not and hope you rise to the occasion. Using an old photo developing analogy...After watching as much of my test as I could (who was the fat old guy wearing my gi?) I can say although I didn't shine, I managed a fine no gloss finish with only a few scratches on the final product. Then again I have never been a perfectionist and others were quite harsh on the quality of those old one hour photo developing places. But enough about developing film, that is so 20th century.

One aspect of the practice that I find fascinating is just the psychology of taking a test. Yes, I want to be good at Aikido and do well on these tests, but actually I think I savor this feeling of being in over my head. Where is the glory in taking a test if you are kick-ass already? And I am almost always in over my head. It is not self modesty when I say I am really not very good at Aikido. I see and feel my clunky clumsiness and after 5 years I kind of doubt I will smooth out a many of these rough edges. But it kind of doesn't matter.

For me the Aikido practice is about something other than being a Aikdo master. I will genuinely try to always improve but I am not in it to show all the cool stuff I can do. I am there to participate. Participate in the experience, in the techniques as Uke and Nage and feeling the “magic” of those times you say “What the hell just happened? That was cool!”. And test taking is just another experience you get to take part in.
The sensation of sitting there just before the test starts...it is like jumping out of an airplane, which I have only done once but I think it is somewhat appropriate to compare these things. BUT the dojo is a pretty safe environment where the worst that can happen is you fail the test and try again some other time.

That said, I have to admit that if I want to take the next test and certainly the shodan test (black belt), I really do need to nail down the specifics on all these techniques. To the point it won't matter if my mind goes blank when Sensei calls the technique, like what happened this morning. And I automatically remember those basic details like going lower for koshi nage on somebody my height or shorter. Sooooo....there is tons more work to do and I'll keep at it, but if it takes me another 5 years to feel ready for shodan test I'll almost be 60 years old. And even if 60 is the new 50, it sounds old to me.

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The video is somewhat similar to my one skydive jump way back in 1980, except I had a static line and no jump-suit and helmet. I wore my standard gear of the time, jeans, red wing boots, t-shirt and a jeans jacket.

As I remember it, all the thrill was the anticipation and stepping out and holding onto the wing strut. The descent itself was a little anti-climatic, well except for the last 5 seconds before I hit the ground.

What Was My Point??

I ran through most of the standing techniques for the 2nd kyu test this morning before class. I most had the mechanics of down but getting them to actually work work is still out of reach, At this point I kinda want to take the test as an example that you don't always pass the test. Or if I pass I will be an inspiration to chubby middle aged men.

Perhaps intending to help me out Sensei had us work on on t of the techniques for my test , shomenuchi shiho-nage and later shomenuchi nikkyo.

Ok, I can't seem to find the point of this post,,,so the above is just another Christian Tissier video,

With Aikido you get more Bubbles!

One thing we worked on tonight was two responses to shomen-uchi (overhead strike to the head). The first was just getting off line and the obvious next step is kote gaishi which is what we went on to do. BUT after that Sensei had us work on if uke had some more force and you couldn't apply the technique. Then Nage was supposed to go with it and turn it into Kaiten Nage.

In the “teisho” after class he used the example of an apple to say that the same thing means something different depending on your view. To a hungry man the apple is food but to an artist (I guess the artist had already eaten) it was shape, shades and colors. And Aikido really means you look at any situation as something with many different alternatives so you are not locked into any technique. Aikido is about "Options"

He went on to say something like with aikido two different people can look at the same thing and think completely different things and what he saw might not be what you saw. And at some point he declared something like “Aikido gives you more bubbles”.

He talked about a cartoon where two people are seeing the same thing but you can tell visually that they are thinking in completely different ways. In the business they call them thought balloons, but there is something so charming about calling them Bubbles. Like a refreshing sparking glass of champagne

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A teisho is a formal presentation of dharma by a Zen master, usually during a sesshin. A teisho may appear to be a lecture, but the master is not trying to convey concepts or knowledge. Instead, through the teisho the master presents his or her realization.

Koshi Nage Tech

I missed almost a week of practice for various reasons so I had some trepidation about today's class. But all was well. A small but good class and Sensei was teaching. He asked again about me taking my 2nd kyu test and while I confessed that I had missed some classes lately he didn't seem too concerned. I told him I was struggling with Koshi nage from Kubishime and he offered some suggestions.

Interestingly what he suggested, while not contradictory, to what Shawn showed me, was still completely different. Shawn was full of details about hand movement and foot and hip placement. But Sensei focused on general approach and feeling the point of contact. Later he had some more specific points but overall he emphasized “feeling” that point where uke rests on the right part of your hip.

After class Pawel help me practice and and at some point I seemed ot combine Shawn's obvious point of lowering my body to get under uke's center with Sensei's adjuration to “feel” where uke should be. Strangely as soon as I felt I was getting it right, Sensei saw me and said I should not worry about being low. I think he meant that after I “loaded up” uke I need to straighten one leg to prepare for the throw. I think.

But it is things like that, that make Aikido interesting. There are a thousand variables in most any technique and you have to take the wisdom from whatever source you find and try to fit it to your abilities, body type and personality. You have to find the correct form for you, that somehow stays true to the essence. I think for some gifted individuals it is not that big of a deal. They see what the teacher is saying. Do it, feel it and work on it. But for klutzes like me you have to work against yourself. Undo decades of non aikido movements and relax the mind so you can then “get it”. But “getting it” for me is really hard.

Thinking about it after class, I was again reminded about this video I saw when I prepared to change the tires on my motorcycle. If you search the forums you will find many seasoned cyclists complaining about how hard it is to change the tire of an off road or dual sport motorcycle.

The video was from a professional support person that had to regularly change tires. In his video he said...

If it's difficult you are doing something wrong....If you're struggling with it , it's all technique...there's no trick to it. ….If you are struggling, possibly you need to find a different technique.

An that was today. I felt it when I manged to recognize my technique was off. Changed something and it was better..for me it is always the small victories I savor, as those are the only I can find.

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And just to remind myself, here are some links to 2nd Kyu tests on You Tube

http://youtu.be/gGK7AjJSyVk

http://youtu.be/m_xP0-uvziA

http://youtu.be/WVDMCQ-yUtQ

http://youtu.be/V7y1f4iW9I4

How Low Can I Go?

Today was a small class (too many people away for the July 4th holiday I guess) and fortunately for me there was nobody else asking Shaun's advice before class so I got detailed instruction on applying Koshi nage. Plus Bibliosk8 brought his camera and tripod and recorded the session. Which I am eagerly waiting to be posted so I can download it and really see what I need to work on.

I remember blogging about koshi nage 4 or 5 years ago and I still don't have it figured out. I seem to manage one type but any variation and it is hit or miss whether I am really doing it right. I THINK I made real progress today when I finally felt how low I needed to go but still for one technique there are a million things that can go wrong.

I bet for somebody who “feels it”, they wouldn't understand what the problem is. But that is one of the things about Aikido. When you feel a technique it is obvious, and why would anybody do it differently since it wouldn't work? BUT, until you internalize it all those instructions are just a thousand little details you try to juggle in your head while you move your body. The thing is, usually you can fake it, especially with an agreeable uke that knows what the outcome is supposed to be. But with Koshi nage you can seriously hurt your back if you try to force it when you really aren't in quite the right position.

Anyway. There are a few koshi nage techniques on the 2nd kyu test so it was great to get some specialize attention. And Shaun is great at trying to figure out what you are don't wrong rather than just saying how to do it right.

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Also, props to Biblisosk8 (Bob) for stepping up to the plate and teaching the kid's class. Once I knew Mark was there for support I bolted.

Aikido: The Art of Deception

After almost 2 months away I made it back to Aikido tonight, and boy am I tired. There are other dojos that keep a more vigorous pace during practice, but in any case for a plump middle aged man like me tonight was a whipping. A good time but still I am pooped.

Anyway I don't know if it was because I was away for 2 months or one of my recurring confusions. We were working on shiho nage from yokomenuchi (strike to the head from the side) and it was like I had never done it before.

But in an effort to explain things Sensei tried to explain how you can use a little trick to get the attacker (uke) off balance. As soon as Uke starts to raise his arm to strike, you extend your leading arm toward him. But not to block or atemi, rather as distraction that tuns into a “hook”. Just by dangling your hand in front of the attack you throw off the attack calculation of the attacker. Then you use you arm as a buffer to the coming force to retract a bit as your body moves back a bit to absorb the attack.

Then once you have his balance you apply shihonage (see above), BUT you do the technique with little to no force as you move uke's arm up high enough to step through. So that he doesn't know what you are doing until you are on the other side of his arm and can finish with some extension and bingo he is on the ground.

These two component demand that you feel what you are doing and what uke is doing, so that there is no resistance at any point.

In sensei's closing remarks he opened with something like “Aikido is the art of deception!”

He speculated that it is natural in any conflict for a forceful attack to expect forceful resistance. You as nage must present the target but at the right moment you move the target and actually Uke is deceived because all the stuff he was expecting was not there. And when he demonstrated it on us it was like magic. One of those times you say “What just happened” as you are laying on the floor.

Coffee Shop People Sketch

I tried to secretly sketch a few people at the coffee shop. It is dang hard when you are just a few feet from them. The big guy was buying coffee and was wearing green / gray camouflage and so I just put down a bunch of squiggly lines to indicate that.

I could have got to Aikido but I think I was actually a bit scared since it has been almost 2 months since I was last there.

It's Always Something!

A few weeks ago I had a problem with an inflammation on my heel which at one point was bad enough I was limping about my business at work. But a week or so later with the help of some pills I was back to normal.

THEN...today while working with somebody before class I was an uke who grabs one wrist and then by running behind the person grabs the other wrist. I felt particularly clumsy this morning but I tried to loosen up and not be such a sack of potatoes. Anyway in one instance I stepped with full force and slammed my toes into the guy's heel. At the time it It hurt a little but we move on.

Well, to get to the point....in the next few minutes I notice it is hurting more and more so that by the time class actually starts I realize I can't do a forward roll on my left side because when I go forward on my left foot I have drop to my knee because it is so painful.

Then after 15 or 20 minutes I actually excused myself and left class early.

With each hour it hurt more and more, but only when I tried to walk. So now at the end of the day I have trouble putting any weight on the foot. I guess it will be OK since only one toes is swollen much and it is the only one that is purple.

Lately it feels like there is always something interfering with my practice. Of course sometimes it is my own laziness but when I finally get the gumption up an make some effort...fate steps in.

I am showing my age but it makes me thing of the quote from Roseanne Roseannadanna back from the early days of Saturday Night Live. Have I turned into the person she was making fun of?

Well, Jane. It just goes to show ya! It's always somethin'! If it's not one thing, it's another! Either you smoke or you have a sweat ball hangin' off your nose! ... or you have a hurt heel or maybe a broken toe!

Blind Faith - Can You find Your Way?

Tonight Mark taught and with every technique we closed our eye as we did them, The instructions were for nage (the one being attacked) but I think we automatically closed our eyes when acting as uke (the attacker)

It was really a nice way to learn, in that I think it made us use a different part of our brain. I may be a cliché but I think we become locked into certain ways of looking at the world (a weltanschauung if you will) and we are subject to those looking at problems and situations from only one perspective. But when you close your eyes, suddenly you information input is radically changed. From that point the story of the moment is told not by what you see but by what you feel.

I think the very act of seeing and reading trigger conditioned ways of thinking and while often they are the most effective, sometimes they might miss the point.. It reminded me of a difference in Protestant “Bible” church service and a Catholic Mass. In the first you bring your Bible and read as the preacher also reads the scripture. But in a Catholic Mass you specifically DONT read as the gospel which is proclaimed. And I really buy the argument that by “listening” to the good word it is a more direct route than reading. Reading might get through to your soul, but listening is like “chugging” the word of GOD but reading is digesting. You need both in different situations but sometimes you need the injection to the heart to seal the deal.

And is that context I propose that by closing your eyes while doing an Aikido technique you might actually figure more out than objectively sorting things out.

Last Saturday we had testing and I helped on a 5th kyu test. Last time I worked with somebody on their 4th kyu and now a 5th. The thing is, I think when you help somebody on their test you really understand that you don't don't “understand” anything. But I guess the takeaway is that it is only by trying to teach aikido (in a small way) that you actually learn it.

On a different topic, don't start a diet or abstain from wine when you are on a Sopranos watching kick. They are always eating pasta an drinking wine. I can't resist, so after Aikido there was a big bowl of pasta and store bought, but good marinara sauce and and nice but cheap bottle of Shiraz. FYI, the shraza was paid for by an old Texas lotto ticket I had in my wallet

Congrats to Biliosk8 on passing his 3rd kyu. His test was way better than mine and maybe we can all work with Mike (who took 3rd kyu in the last test) and figure out 2nd kyu.

I am not really a fan of Blind Faith, but it is always nice to open a blog post with music.

Kagami Biraki

Another New Year, Another Aikido Seminar

The Kagami Biraki seminar at Dallas with Yamada Sensei is this weekend and it is a mess-O-people in what is normally a spacious dojo. But especially in the morning it was WAY crowded and there was often not room enough to take a fall and definitely not enough room to roll out of anything.

For me it is sometimes a drag to go to these seminars since they are so crowded and sometimes (rarely really, but still sometimes) the people you work with are super confident and seem to like telling you what you are doing wrong. However even though you work out about 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon it is usually not too taxing (at the time) since you can't go all out because you keep bumping into people.

Harvey Konigsberg taught the last session and I actually got a “Good” comment after he watched me try something he taught. Way cool, since I didn't know what I was doing and also because he talked so softly sometimes that I couldn't make out his explanations.

I did hear him refer to Ki or “your energy” a few times and it struck me that while the Aikido books are full of talk about ki. Most of the seminars and dojos I've gone to rarely mention it. I don't know what to make of if , but there you are.

The video above it much like what he taught today. It was really interesting because just watching it on You Tube doesn't convey how powerful the motions felt.

Are You Hitting Or Are You Loving; or is there difference? And what is the way of harmony anyway?

Comment from a previous post about the nature of an atemi (strike to the attacker)

"Yeah, it is hard to reconcile. Do you think that it's a matter of reconciling the young Ueshiba with the old?"

My thinking today is that it is probably more complicated than that.

O'Sensei's “enlightenment” happened in 1925 and early enough to be considered "young Ueshiba". Where he says essentially that there was no enemy and that “budo” was actually Love, which to our sensibility is obviously paradoxical. How can you seek to harm someone and yet love them at the same time.

Part of it may be that he was starting from a “Martial” standpoint and today (at least on an individual level) we start from a a non-combative viewpoint. So an atemi or strike for him did not automatically have the connotation that it does from us. Think about it...there once once a time when arguments, insults and debates were sometimes settled with violence much like a European duel. So merely hitting someone in the face was nothing compared to cutting their neck...well, maybe.

Then again maybe we have traded in the dueling pistol for a legal action, but no matter, we "usually" don't hit, strike or shoot people over some disagreement.

For me the thing is Morihei Ueshiba said many things and we have to consider not only what he said but where WE come from as to what we think is most important. So that what we say O'Sensei says, shows more about where we are coming from than what he was actually trying to teach.

For some the key point is that the Founder ALWAYS thought of Aikido as a MARTIAL Art. For me the Founder saw Aikido as a way of reconciliation and Love.

From my perspective I see O'Sensei as acknowledging we live in a world with pain and anger that erupts in violence and the answer is Aikido. For some it is a hard hitting strike to the face and a firm put down. For me it is an embrace of the attack and a circular, safe but firm landing for the attacker.

Well...that is my goal.


Oh yes. Happy New Year to All!!

What Is Aikido?

O'Sensei and Terry Dobson

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True Budo is a work of love. It is a work of giving life to all beings and not killing or struggling with each other. Love is the guardian deity of everything. Nothing can exist with it. Aikido is the realization of love.
- Morihei Ueshiba O'sensei

Tonight Lawrence taught class. We have not seen much of him lately. He took a year off to study Hapkido and currently teaches the kids class. If you don't know, Hapkido has a lot of Aikido techniques but had a whole bunch of kicks and strikes as part of the repertoire. Lawrence is mild mannered and give off a soft vibe. But he is very keen on the effectiveness of any technique and how it would work in “the street”. For him the purpose of Aikido is how it will protect you and in a real fight and you strike at the attacker, and if the strike can't do it you use it as an atemi to distract the bad guy and then "clean his clock".

That is one aspect. Some people emphasize the martial aspect of Aikido and to that end are fond of point out that somewhere O'sensei said something like 80, 90 or 95% of Aikido is the atemi (strike to the attacker) which in a kinder view is merely used to to distract the attacker.

For all the explanations about how O'sensei and Aikido is really about subduing attackers and breaking some bones if necessary there are many more quotes like this from the founder...”you are responsible for protecting your attacker, for not hurting him”.

So, how does that view Jibe with the quote above?

Is Aikido Love?

or is it putting the bad guys in the hospital?

Or all of thee above

It doesn't Jibe. So another paradox, or contradiction or subtle ruse, or out right deception.

My Terry Dobson books came in so I may be more confused than ever.