Aikido - nothing to brag about

My son and I were early for the briefing on Aikido. Sitting by the side of the dojo (training hall), we noticed that the black belters at training were bowing all the time.

They bowed when getting on or off the tatami mat, bowed to the instructor after every little instruction, bowed to each other before and after every sparring, and even bowed to a photograph of the grand master (I think) hanging on the other end of the dojo.

I had never seen such reverence. It occurred to me that we must be in some kind of scared place.

The art was beginning to attract me. The movements that these senior students were executing were also very peculiar. They all had a smile on their face, even though people were being thrown all over the mat.

In fact, it was more like a dance than a martial art. When that class ended, the sensei (teacher) invited us to sit on the tatami mat. But first, we had to remove our footwear and place them neatly by the side of the mat, pointing outwards.

“I am very particular about little things like this,” said the sensei. “It trains you to be prepared all the time, to be aware all the time.”

He added that the principles of aikido are also applicable in daily life when resolving conflict situations at home and at work. The rest of the briefing sounded more like a discourse on the philosophy of life. My son and I signed up.

Aikido is a martial art devoted to peace, a way to resolve conflicts. It was developed by Morihei Ueshiba who saw his father brutally assaulted by a gang of thugs. He wished he could have helped and resolved thereon to learn all he could about martial arts.

In a short time, Morihei Ueshiba had outstripped several of his masters and was acknowledged as an expert in the way of the warrior. As he grew older, Morihei Ueshiba began to realize that all his training and knowledge were based upon physical strength. He could beat his opponents as long as he could hit harder, move faster and dodge better.

But how long could he keep this up? He would soon have to give up his title to the younger people who were stronger than him. One day, while dumping a bucket of cold water on himself after a long and hot journey, Morihei Ueshiba came to a realization.

Like everybody else, he had thought that strength was physical. It is not. It has more to do with the proper direction of mind and spirit. This, together with the principle of protection of one’s adversary, is the foundation of Aikido.

The word Aikido can be translated as “the way of harmonizing spirit of the body”. When applied, it means to give in to get your way.

We are reminded time and again in our training to be centered, to anchor ourselves to that one point in our hara, the energy centre about 2 inches below the navel. It is this one point that we are connected to the infinite universe.

When we are centered, we are in control of the situation; we are in a position to decide which the best way to resolve the conflict is.

For example, when attacked from the front, we are taught to pivot around our point and end up next to our attacker and facing the same direction. This is a position of harmony. From here, we are in the position to lead the mind of our attacker and neutralize the attack.

In order to refine such movements to a dance-like art, we have to develop our ki power. Since the art does not rely on brute strength, it does not matter if the attacker is a six footer and the defender is much smaller. An unified mind and body can accept and redirect the most awesome brute force.

Various exercises are designed to develop confidence in the use of ki. Unlike other martial arts where one had to undergo many years of vigorous training to develop ‘internal strength’, Aikido training methods assume that such power is already there in each person but remains untapped.

In this sense, it is easier to train a child than an adult because adults tend to have preconceived limitations.

A key point in applying ki power is that one must always be in a state of relaxed alertness. From this state, we are taught to extend ki.

We are to imagine a centrifugal force radiating outwards from the hara towards the hands, legs and head. The minute any part of the part of the body is tensed, ki will stop flowing through and the state of relaxed alertness is lost.

It is from this principle that Aikido is also used to maintain health. If one is always extending ki outwards, then nothing negative can get in. It’s that simple.

In one class, we witnessed a senior student lie straight on his back in mid-air supported only at the shoulders and the legs. He could support the weight of an adult sitting on his abdomen. We clapped our hands in amazement.

“That is called the “human bridge”. You too can achieve this level of confidence,” said sensei. He was right. Last week, two months into out training, all of us managed the feat.

While closing that lesson, sensei reminded us that what we had just achieved was meant only to develop our self confidence. We are not talk or boast about it. Well, I better say no more.