Downfall Of The Juicy Chicken
Aikido is effective based on the extension of the body and the mind. The mechanics of the physical movements are actually rather straight forward. The concept is very simple -- perhaps too simple, so that most people have a hard time. People tend to get tripped by their lack of faith in something so simple. Because of the sense of insecurity they harbor inside, without a solid heart to support the physical form, it implodes and the movements end up being not effective.
In a recent class, we did hanmi-handachi (uke, the attacker, is standing; nage, the thrower, is seated) practice. The first exercise was to learn to bring the standing uke down to the level of the nage. The movement is very simple: Maintain extension in the arm, establish a connection with uke, then drop the hand without changing the extension. Students had a very difficult time. Everybody tried to compensate by pulling or pushing partner with force. As a student confessed after class: How can it be so simple? It just looks too easy to be true!
I later showed a basic technique, shihonage. The beginning move is simply moving straight forward with both hands in front. Some students could not move forward and had to move at a 90 degree angle. Reason? To make sure their partners follow them, they added force to pull the partner along. Their pull was so successful that their partner got pulled in right in front of them and ended up blocking their own path!
Ultimately, Aikido training is not just a training of the physical body. It is a transformation of the soul through physical movements. If the spiritual training is not in par with the physical training, as Endo Sensei says, it is like a carriage with one large wheel and a small wheel, it will just spin in place and go nowhere.
Have some faith in what you are taught. Give it a chance. Just do it and let good things happen. And have some faith in yourself. It does not matter if other people do not believe in you. Yet, YOU have to believe in you. Ultimately, that is what really matters.
Sometimes the insecurity manifests itself as extra force people put in, thinking they are reinforcing their movements. By tempering with the "original recipe" with extra juice, the body movement is no longer what it should be. The extra force distorts the relationship between the partners. The extra force actually reaps the structure apart like some internal twister.
In a recent class, we did hanmi-handachi (uke, the attacker, is standing; nage, the thrower, is seated) practice. The first exercise was to learn to bring the standing uke down to the level of the nage. The movement is very simple: Maintain extension in the arm, establish a connection with uke, then drop the hand without changing the extension. Students had a very difficult time. Everybody tried to compensate by pulling or pushing partner with force. As a student confessed after class: How can it be so simple? It just looks too easy to be true!
I later showed a basic technique, shihonage. The beginning move is simply moving straight forward with both hands in front. Some students could not move forward and had to move at a 90 degree angle. Reason? To make sure their partners follow them, they added force to pull the partner along. Their pull was so successful that their partner got pulled in right in front of them and ended up blocking their own path!
Ultimately, Aikido training is not just a training of the physical body. It is a transformation of the soul through physical movements. If the spiritual training is not in par with the physical training, as Endo Sensei says, it is like a carriage with one large wheel and a small wheel, it will just spin in place and go nowhere.
Have some faith in what you are taught. Give it a chance. Just do it and let good things happen. And have some faith in yourself. It does not matter if other people do not believe in you. Yet, YOU have to believe in you. Ultimately, that is what really matters.
Comments
Post a Comment