AikiDale on Aikido

What are you learning?

aikidale — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:11:50 +0000

I see far too many teachers, let alone students, trying very hard to learn technique. There is a better use of one’s training time. Study aiki, learn aiki, be aikidoka not wazaka.

aikidale — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:33:48 +0000

It is the very mind itself
That leads the mind astray.

-Takuan Soho

The Beginner’s Mind

aikidale — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 14:43:05 +0000

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”
-Shunryu Suzuki
Suzuki was a Zen master. The quotation is from his book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
It occurs to me the more expert we become and the more we crystallize our style the more imperative it becomes to nurture the beginner’s mind, to maintain an awareness of the many possibilities available to us. To not be so aware could lead to an expertly dug dogmatic rut.

RIP Sunadomari Sensei

aikidale — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 04:30:08 +0000

http://www.aikidojournal.com/blog/2010/11/14/kanshu-sunadomari-sensei-passes-on-november-13/

Learning

aikidale — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:02:39 +0000

A Zen pistol shooter posted this recently and it is important enough to pass along here. Sensei, coach, instructor, professor, master, teacher. These are all guides. The better ones point the way with more clarity perhaps than others but the student must accomplish the learning. Then forget the learning and be. There is no dogma in the search for truth. Thanks Brian!

“You yourself have to be the master and the pupil. The moment you acknowledge
another as a master and yourself as a pupil, you are denying truth. There is
no master, no pupil, in the search for truth.”

-Krishnamurti

A few snapshots from the 2010 Instructor’s Seminar

aikidale — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:06:29 +0000

Click to view slideshow.

Once the efficient killing of enemies has been accomplished we begin to learn how to treat them as human beings.

aikidale — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:41:41 +0000

“You see, Elena, the whole trouble comes from treating your enemies like human beings. Don’t you see, my dear, that if you do that, they cease to be enemies? Think what that leads to—the end of patriotism, the end of war … It’s the end of everything.” From ‘Fire Over England’ 1937

Nice Ikkyo

aikidale — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:38:34 +0000

Sankyo very much!

aikidale — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:29:51 +0000

Have you ever suspected there is more to sankyo than twisting a wrist? Is there a principle here which may be applied elsewhere? Find out tonight, Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at the Melwood Art Center Aikido Dojo at 7:00 PM.

Accomplishment

aikidale — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 11:51:23 +0000

There are many reasons to practice Aikido and as one progresses it does one well to be aware of why one practices. Some begin with no more reason than to escape boredom and being desirous of a new adventure. Some want to escape fear by obtaining the knowledge of arcane combat methods. There are many others.

Lewis Carroll wrote in Alice in Wonderland:

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

This aimless journey is perfectly acceptable! Especially if one is amused or even (it can happen) learns along the way.

Some get lost on the way. Getting lost on a journey is actually not a bad thing. It exposes one to new opportunities if one is open to them. Fear of the unknown can be a problem however. When people are afraid of the unknown they make up answers to ensure their comfort. Sometimes false gods and religions are the result.

In Aikido we learn things. We learn techniques of movement in the beginning. As we continue to practice we become (tautology warning) more practiced in the performance of those techniques. From this continued practice and improvement we may learn principles.

Among those are laws of physics such as gravity, momentum, conservation of energy, angular acceleration. We may also learn about the mind to fight and how to overcome it. We may learn musubi, kokyuho and zanshin. We may learn Takemusu Aiki.

One enters an Aiki Dojo as an initiate on probation. As one learns and progresses in achieving an understanding of the kihon waza, the basic techniques which are the tools with which one learns Aiki principles one is awarded the mudansha rankings of rokkyu through ikkyu, the white belt ranks, and when the beginning movements can all be demonstrated one is awarded the first black belt rank which signifies one has been accepted as a student.

Now the real training begins. No longer must one learn more simple natural movements which we call techniques. One must now learn about themselves and the world in which they live. One must begin to understand in greater depth the principles of Aiki movement and how they apply to the real world outside the dojo. One must begin to explore the power not just of the movements but of the concepts of non resistance, of harmony with one’s environment. One must learn how to wield the sword constructively as well as destructively.

As one makes progress along this road one is awarded Dan rankings, the black belt rankings. These rankings are symbols of one’s understanding. For those who misunderstand or who have given up their quest the symbol becomes the goal. The symbol is a faint shadow of the actual accomplishment of course and becomes like Yogi Bera’s missed hit:

“I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat, and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?” Yogi Bera

If you find yourself at this stage in your training talk to Sensei. I can help. That’s why I’m here. We do not seek the black belt or even the Dan Certificate. We seek that which it represents. If you get that promotion without the understanding it represents it means the instructor who gave it has given up on the student and no longer cares. Blaming the bat for missed hits does not win the game.