The Art of Aiki

Rescatando un viejo tema de aikidojournal.com a colación de qué es Aikido y qué no lo es. Se trata de una anécdota ocurrida al Maestro Minoru Mochizuki concerniente al escepticismo de un joven Tadashi Abe. Enjoy:

Minoru Mochizuki, 10º Dan

Había un hombre llamado Tadashi Abe, recientemente fallecido. En cierta ocasión en que visité a O Sensei en al dojo de Iwama para saludarle tras mi regreso a Japón al finalizar la guerra [WWII], tuve el siguiente encuentro con él. O Sensei se encontraba feliz al saber que yo había regresado sano y salvo y me dio una calurosa bienvenida. Me quedé a dormir esa noche en el dojo. Esa noche vino a mi habitación un hombre de aspecto malvado con un corte de pelo a lo monje y me pidió permiso para entrar. Cuando le di el permiso él entró.

—“Me llamo Tadashi Abe. Sensei, ¿puedo hacerle una pregunta directa?”

Le dije que me preguntara lo que quisiera. Me preguntó si realmente estudiaba Aikijujutsu de manera seria. En aquellos tiempos el arte aun no tenía el nombre de Aikido. Cuando le respondí afirmativamente, me dijo lo siguiente:

Tadashi Abe, 6º Dan

—“¿En serio? Llevo mucho tiempo oyendo cosas sobre Vd., Sensei. He oído que ha tenido experiencia real en combate. Me parece extraño que alguien como Vd. Se encuentre satisfecho con un arte como el Aikijujutsu”.

Cuando le pregunté por qué pensaba así me contestó que ni Ueshiba Sensei ni el Sr. Morihiro Saito serían capaces de resistir un combate contra él ni siquiera tres minutos. Que él les derrotaría de un solo golpe.

—“Estás muy seguro de ti mismo, ¿no?”, contesté. “¿De verdad crees que puedes derrotar a Ueshiba Sensei?”, añadí.

Contestó que creía que sería fácil para él derrotar a Sensei y aun añadió:

—“He estado observando a Ueshiba Sensei durante mucho tiempo y no me convence practicar un arte como el Aikijujutsu. Estoy seguro de que le puedo derrotar con solo un golpe de boxeo. He oído que Vd. pone énfasis en el combate, ¿es cierto?”

Le contesté como sigue:

—“He estado en muchas peleas callejeras, pero no incluiría eso en la categoría de ‘combate’. Y también he asaltado campamentos enemigos sable en mano”.

Entonces me preguntó si realmente el Aikido era útil o no para pelear. Cuando yo le respondí que el Aikido no sólo era útil en peleas sino también en tiempos de guerra me dijo que mi respuesta no le convencía. Entonces le sugerí que me atacara y me quedé allí, indicándole que me atacara como mejor supiera. Me pidió que me pusiera en guardia. Le contesté:

—“No pidas cosas innecesarias. No hay manera de derrotar al enemigo si él le dice lo qué hacer. ¡Atácame como quieras!”

Abe murmuró: “Sensei, ¿realmente puedo golpearle? Es extraño… tiene aperturas por todas partes…” Entonces se puso en guardia y me atacó de repente. Esquivé el golpe [taisabaki] y le di una patada. Gruñó y cayó al suelo. Inmediatamente apliqué una técnica de resucitación [katsu] y le di un masaje.

—“¿Cómo puede alguien como tú, que se desmorona y pierde el conocimiento cuando recibe una pequeña patada, durar algo en una pelea?”

—“Sensei, ¿es que el Aikido incluye técnicas de pateo?”

—“¡Estúpido! ¿Qué quieres decir con esa pregunta? Empleamos técnicas de pateo o lo que haga falta. Incluso he empleado artillería. Las artes marciales, las armas y la artillería, todas son Aikido. ¿Qué es lo que crees que es el Aikido? ¿Crees que se trata de retorcer muñecas? Es un medio de Guerra… ¡una acción de Guerra! El Aikido es una lucha con sables de verdad. Empleamos la palabra ‘Aiki’ porque con él podemos sentir la mente del enemigo que viene a atacar, de manera que podemos responder de manera inmediata. Mira el Sumo. Cuando dan la voz [Miatte! Miatte!] se levantan y se lanzan el uno contra el otro en un flash. Eso mismo es ‘Aiki’. Cuando una persona se enfrenta a un enemigo estando en un estado mental libre de toda idea o pensamiento y es instantáneamente capaz de lidiar con él, a eso lo llamamos ‘Aiki’. En los tiempos antiguos se llamaba ‘Aiki no jutsu’. Así, la artillería o cualquier cosa de convierte en ‘Aiki’”.

—“¿Así es…? Creo que ya entiendo”.

—“Si aun no lo entiendes, ven a verme cuando quieras”.

Después de este episodio Abe me tomó miedo y me saludaba desde lejos. Pero cuando fui enviado [por Ueshiba O Sensei] a Europa me pidió que le llevara como asistente.

Durante mi tiempo en Europa también tuve experiencias interesantes. Como practicábamos cosas como luxaciones de muñeca algunas personas se preguntaban si este tipo de entrenamiento realmente sería útil en una lucha real y me hacían muchas preguntas, así que les di la siguiente explicación:

—“Cuando practicamos, aprendemos la manera correcta de mover el cuerpo y cómo emplear la fuerza [kokyu ryoku] de manera racional. Mediante el uso del ‘Aiki’ puedes ser capaz de responder inmediatamente en cuando un enemigo se acerca acechando para atacar. De esta manera puedes sacudirte de encima a cualquiera”.

Así que un estudiante me preguntó: “¿Entonces puedo traer una pistola? Si empleo una pistola, Sensei, ¿qué haría Vd.?”

Mi respuesta fue que entonces yo traería un rifle.

George S. Ledyard writes in Aikiweb the following while discussing whether there is any offensive move in Aikido or not. I'm absolutely with him on this one.

Every response you execute when grabbed can be done when grabbing. Every atemi you execute when attacked can be used when attacking. We need to lose this whole uke / nage dichotomy. We also need to stop attaching pseudo moralistic value judgments to things like who initiates.

Peace is something you carry inside you. It's not something that has to do with who moves first. It is an attitude.

The misunderstanding of what the attacks really are that we routinely do in our daily training causes us to attach all sorts of baggage to the whole uke / nage relationship which shouldn't be there. This is caused by allowing two different mindsets and two different physical skill sets on the part of uke and nage. Nage is supposed to be relaxed and "defensive" in attitude, executing techniques of great technical sophistication while Uke attacks like an idiot, typically either is too tense or fails to really connect effectively. What would an attack look like if the uke knew what the nage knew?

If Aikido training was about BOTH partners having the same access to "aiki" skill sets we wouldn't have the need for discussions like this because people would understand what they are really doing, or choosing not to do, depending on the level of practice. A katatetori would break nage's balance instantly on contact and set up the atemi with the off hand. No one would be under the misconception that an attack has anything to do with not allowing the nage to move but rather to compromise his structure and make it impossible for nage to defend against the atemi.

We need to get way past trying to impute some sort of moral, right and wrong value judgment to the term "aiki". "Aiki" can be used for good or evil. That's why O-Sensei felt it was important not to teach technique to people not of good character.

I spent a number of years teaching law enforcement and security personnel. LE officers are required to initiate technique on subjects who are e-gressive, not just a-ggressive. I can assure you that "aiki" works just as well when the person initiates as when he is being attacked. Virtually every technique in the Aikido repertoire can be used as an attack, not just a defense. The circumstance and ones personal mindset determine whether this is "violent" in an immoral way or not.

Found this today in the aikiweb and thought it was so irreverent and hilarious I would rather share it here for you. Enjoy!

April 1

4.30

Got up and went up to the roof to greet the Sun Goddess. Of course, our conversation took place by means of the jo. I fail to understand why Kisshomaru does not make more use of this wonderful instrument. After all, I used it often enough.

Had a lengthy discussion with Amaterasu about her grandson Masakatsu Agatsu. I told her that he was my favourite deity, along with her brother Susano O, but this did NOT go down very well AT ALL. She told me that she is still having severe problems with Susano O and these problems were affecting the entire universe. They are also interfering with my own work as the main Avatar between the Three Realms. Here am I, standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and constantly training to ensure that Aiki is Aiki (I am glad the Japanese language is so rich in resources; it is completely different from dull, boring English), but the continuing problems with Amaterasu and her brother are making things very, very difficult.

So I reassured her with the remark that the whole problem lay in the English translation. English simply does not have the resources to capture the full range of meaning encapsulated (spelling correct?) in the phrase Aiki is Aiki. I gather that all my discourses are being translated into English by some Buddhist professor who lives in the north of Japan. (I know about him because he sometimes wears flowery hakama and does kotodama chants in English churches: at least this is a welcome change from the deadly boring chants I hear in Japan.) I explained that the professor had translated the name Masakatsu Agatsu as Victory OVER Oneself, not Victory BY Oneself, which is MUCH more meaningful than anything about winning and losing, especially to our dear American students.

By the way, I gather that a film has come out with the name Avatar. When I first heard about it, I was very happy and hoped that it would take account of my work on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, uniting the Three Worlds, but the movie was a TOTAL disappointment. The love interest was COMPLETELY wrong and involved silly relationships with strange people in blue, with long noses and wearing tails. If people start wearing tails for aikido training, we are going to have to redesign the whole range of keikogi, especially the pants and hakama.

So I told my grandson Moriteru to deal with this, but however, he seemed TOTALLY unconcerned. "Ojii-chan," he said, "if people come to the Hombu Dojo wearing tails, be assured that we will deal with the situation very effectively. We are now a very efficient, smoothly-running organization." I was unconvinced, for I read somewhere that the folds in the hakama represented seven virtues; but we are now going to have to add an eighth virtue, for the correctly folded tail. What IS the world coming to? Anyway, I have not seen anyone wearing tails during training so far, but I must consult with Deguchi Sensei. He might have encountered some Blue Avatars during his later trips through the Spirit World. Deguchi Sensei is a constant source of inspiration, much like Goi Sensei, though the spiritual methods of the two are completely different. Deguchi Sensei is very refreshing, constantly regaling me with reports of visits to the spirit world and his activities with the spirits, though his use of the Male Member makes one blush. Goi Sensei, on the other hand, is rather more pedestrian, though he agrees with me much more often. However, all he seems to do is put up prayer signs everywhere wishing for peace on earth. Of course, this is all very worthy, but I don't like to tell him that my own work on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, working to unite the Three Realms, fully in tune with with Aiki as Aiki, is MUCH more effective than prayer signs. But only time will tell.

6.30

Went downstairs and prepared for practice. Decided to explain in more detail about the kotodama sound SU and how it created the universe. BUT EVERYTHING fell on TOTALLY stony ground (Now where have I heard this phrase before? Note to self: this is a very good phrase, totally appropriate for the current crop of uchi-deshi: I must start using it very often). Everybody just sat there looking stupid. They were probably hoping I'd stop talking and do some techniques. I am sure you can see the picture: people look at you intently and nod vigorously, hoping you will think they understand, as they shift their knees slightly from sitting in seiza for a long time. But when I finally summoned the Big American to take ukemi (I think his name is Dogson, Dodgson, Dobson, Fogson, Edison, or something like that: I prefer to call him Teru), he was far too powerful and got the timing, everything, completely wrong. Heavens, he couldn't even do the boat rowing exercise correctly and he should know by now that this is absolutely crucial for summoning the right kami for the training. When will these uchideshi ever learn?

Was still feeling grumpy after keiko, only to discover that the uchideshi on duty had not filled the morning bath water correctly. He had checked the temperature by putting his hand in the water, causing total contamination. They should know by now that bath water—any kind of water, has to be pristinely pure. Otherwise it is entirely useless for misogi. I keep on talking about this during keiko, but the uchideshi simply do not seem to get it. Only the other day, one of the deshi appeared in his underwear, for Heaven's sake. I think it was Saotome. So I sent him off the mat very promptly and made him sit in seiza and watch.

9.00

Felt much better after breakfast, which was duly prepared by She Who Must Be Obeyed, though she tore a strip off me for having to stitch my hakama, because some silly uke had torn it. She blamed me for not controlling my uke correctly, rather than the uke for not falling properly. (Obviously she knows rather more about aikido than I had realized.) During breakfast my wayward son was muttering something about doing some kind of public demonstration. It is so unfortunate that he failed the medical exams for the military. A spell in the Japanese Army, or even the new Occupation Forces (I think they are called Marines and from the look of some of the soldiers they appear to accept foreigners) would have given him some much-needed backbone.

10.00-12.00

Had another long conversation with Amaterasu and decided to go to Iwama, to talk in more detail with Susano O. Announced this to She Who Must Be Obeyed and there was a major panic. I have no idea why. She muttered something about train times, but I assured her that I ALWAYS arrive at the station at least one hour before the train departs, so there was no need to worry. Was assigned the deshi who killed the dog (I think his name is Chiba), but was told that my son Kisshomaru would also accompany me. I gather he wanted to discuss something very important.

16.00

I MISSED THE TRAIN TO IWAMA. This has NEVER happened before. I arrived at the station one hour before the train was due to depart, but discovered that I was five minutes late: the train had already departed. And Kisshomaru and the deshi were nowhere to be found. I was so annoyed. However, Deguchi told me to be patient. He had consulted with some of his own deity friends and assured me that it was my destiny to arrive in Iwama today.

18.00

Finally arrived in Iwama and took a welcome bath. The water was fine. Kisshomaru, who had taken the right train, was there to meet me with Saito Father and Son. Went to the shrine and discussed current issues with Susano O involving the Three Worlds. Explained about Amaterasu's problem, but I was quite astonished when he suggested I see the new Avatar film again—and he seemed quite unfazed about the strange noses and the tails. Told me that aikido had to be fully in tune with ecology, whatever this is.

20.00

Had a painful discussion with Kisshomaru after keiko. Apparently he has decided that aikido has to be popular, now the war has ended, and so wants to hold a public demonstration. When I retorted that one only does demonstrations in the presence of His Majesty, or on anniversaries of His Majesty, he held his ground and told me that he had the idea in August, 1945, when His Majesty announced Japan's surrender. Kisshomaru clearly has more backbone then I previously thought; obviously, he has been talking to his mother. I was rather shocked when he told me that the venue would be the ROOF of a department store, but he backed this up with an argument that many people would attend if it was held there and, anyway, aikido had to become relevant to the lives of common people, not aristocrats. Of course, he said he understood the sterling work I had been doing keeping the Three Worlds together, but stressed that his own work was firmly down here. He was quite firm about this and his second argument was that the Tokyo dojo had to be torn down and replaced with something much bigger and more fitting for aikido as a worldwide budo. Can't argue with that, though I shall miss the old wooden dojo. I told him to leave Iwama as it is, though. In any case Saito is still here and he is quite capable of standing up to Kisshomaru.

Anyway, it was morning when I woke up. Must have nodded off as Chiba was reading Reikai Monogatari last night. Got up and went outside to greet the Sun Goddess and hear the latest about Susano O…

Poema de los principios secretos. Encontrado en los pergaminos de Kukishin Ryû.

“No existe un pueblo en que la luz de la luna no brille,
pero en la mente del que mira parece que existe.
Los ligeros brillos de la luna caen sobre cada cosa.
Si sientes que no está brillando donde tu te encuentras,
es porque la mente del que está mirando está nublada.

Incluso la tierra lavada durante un diluvio,
dejándose llevar,
flotará en cualquier torrente.
Incluso la suciedad lavada llevada por un diluvio
flotará naturalmente en la superficie del agua.

Esto significa que aún cuando estás en una situación de desesperación,
si tu estado de ánimo es como el Sutemi,
proyectándote a lo lejos,
podrás encontrar una manera de vencer.

En todas las defensas que el cuerpo usa para mostrar valor,
el verdadero secreto es la mente.
Las posiciones del cuerpo parecen expresar la fuerza de cada uno
pero la verdadera fuerza está en el corazón.

¿No es el secreto o el poder hacer uso de la fuerza del enemigo, el corazón de un sauce en el viento?

Lo que es importante del camino marcial
es omitir el exceso de poder y usar la fuerza del oponente,
haciendo exactamente como las ramas del sauce
cuando son sopladas por el viento y oscilan sin tensión”

The always recurring theme of Aikiken has given one of the most complete advice in an internet forum in AikiWeb.

Quoted here:

I tried very hard to avoid any implication of superiority of anything. I practice Aikiken myself, usually daily as a break from my work. I do, however, also believe that some questions give the appearance of being easily answerable while hiding a myriad of vastly more complex questions that are not being asked. This is was one of those for me. In my training there have been many times when I've asked the same question only to be told to keep practicing. Over time you begin to realize that the question asked was not really answerable as there were 1000 things unasked, each arguably more important than the one asked. Or maybe a better analogy for me is the solving of a rubic's cube. People will get one surface correct and then ask what to do next. They don't want to hear that they have to destroy everything they've accomplished to "fix" the whole thing.

The cut doesn't exist in isolation.

A person with an incorrect grip will pull their elbows out to the side causing them to not get correctly "behind" the tsuka. This makes it very difficult to get a straight cut. Fix the grip.

A person with a correct grip can still push out their elbows. With the elbows out the person cannot get behind the tsuka correctly during the cut. Keep the elbows in correctly.

A person with a correct grip and elbows in will often push the sword too far forward, basically pushing their shoulders out of proper alignment. As the arms come down the realignment of the shoulders being out of phase can cause wobble. Keep the shoulders correctly in place throughout the arc of the cut.

A person with incorrect alignment of the hips to their shoulders (hence to the target) will often find themselves rotating slightly during the cut causing the shoulders to come out of alignment. Fix the body alignment.

A person with poor posture will often have to compensate throughout the movement causing alignment issues.

Footwork is always an issue as too much movement in any one direction can cause the same issues of rotation within the body. Remember that power is generated from the one-point/hara/dantien/whatever and sent through the body. The sword cuts, you guide, and power is a result of the entire body. When that does not happen muscles have to compensate and it becomes extremely difficult to keep a consistent path to the sword.

Overextension in any part of the body tends to cause wobbles as balance is thrown off. Control, control, control.

Hand dominance is a constant issue. Often hints such as "focus on the left hand for power, right hand for guidance" are given to a person who needs that advice due to how they're swinging. The same advice to someone else will just make their cut worse. The reality is that the hands have to work together seamlessly with the entire body transmitting movement. So advice here usually has to be given very carefully depending on the person's needs.

For some a lighter sword will help fix issues, especially if they're throwing themselves off balance. Other times a heavier sword will make the difference for the exact same issues. Control is the underlying thing being addressed. Sometimes having a lighter sword allows the person to find the proper "groove" for cutting. Sometimes a heavier sword slows them down enough for them to find the proper "groove" for cutting. So YMMV.

Keep in mind that everything as described up above may be slightly different depending on what style you study. Some styles do bigger cuts, some smaller. Some slashing, some cleaving. Some are very fast with small movements, some are bigger, mean, cut them in half type things. Some emphasize being square (hips/shoulders) to the opponent, others not so much. Some emphasize foot alignment as well that is square, others not so much. Those changes alone will dramatically change how cuts are done. So each style will address most of the above issues slightly differently because each thing affects the other. The individual "tips" exist as part of a larger whole. What works with one will be absolutely wrong for another because internal consistency is what matters. Later styles of swordsmanship tended to emphasize draw/cut movements. Some earlier styles (some regional differences as well) will emphasize a slightly different grip which allows a more "leveraged" fast movement of the blade. Watch Toby Threadgill's demos on youtube with the sword. Compare how the sword moves with someone doing something like iai. Very different in subtle ways. Neither is incorrect. But each does what they do with an internal consistency that is critical to proper form.

In the end (after that long post) my point originally was that most advice regarding swordsmanship cries out for a larger context to ensure that the internal consistency is there. I do iai differently at times than I do my aikiken. Because they are different. And I've seen many aikiken demonstrations by high ranking people of many styles and there are more differences than similarities. Straightening out a cut depends on what you're doing wrong. What's "wrong" or "right" depends on who you study with and how they do things.

This is not an issue of superiority. I enjoy aikiken. I would not give advice to someone from another style, however, because I don't know what they might be doing wrong. Because I wouldn't know what is "right" in their style.

But yes, there are basic things. Smooth cut. Don't over muscle. Slow down. Get good extension without over-committing. For the rest? Ask your sensei to watch and fix what you're doing wrong.

Now I'm sure some think I'm being an elitist snob anyway (I get e-mail, yes, I get e-mail...) I don't think it is a highjack but an attempt to see the larger picture.

That said, please do not hesitate to put me in your ignore list. Or just scroll right past.

So please pardon the intrusion in your thread. I was trying to answer the OP's questions as sincerely as possible.

The author, Keith Larman, is a member of Seidokan Aikido as well as a sword expert and has published some very detailed articles on the matter.

Keith Larman became interested in Japanese sword crafts in the late 1970’s. In the 1990’s he began training in traditional methods of polishing and mounting of the Japanese sword. In 2002 he decided to devote himself full-time to the profession of polishing and mounting.

Tristão da Cunha Sensei from Portugal.

Click here to view forum thread in Aikidojournal.

Just found this while surfing the web and thought it would be interesting to share.