It Is And It Is Not
"If you are the kind of person who thinks everything is about you, Aikido is the martial art for you!" Larry Levitt Sensei says. It may sound silly and funny, but Larry Sensei has a point.
Indeed, Aikido can be a rather "self-centered" martial art. The essence of Aikido is about maintaining one's center regardless of the situation. The nage acts like the Sun -- while he moves along his own orbit, the nage keeps the ukes spin around him like the planets in the solar system. Whatever attacks and/or weapons that the ukes bring along fly around the periphery like the moons of the planets. Because the Sun is the central reference for everything, it gets to control the dynamics and rhythm of its interaction with the planets. Maybe that is why O Sensei says "I am the Universe"?
Aikido practice is about learning how to control and manage oneself. When an uke launches an attack, his line of attack bisects the universe. A nage who does not understand the brilliant concept of Aikido would overextend himself so as to interfere with the uke's side of the world. Little does he know that the secret of perfect control lies in managing and maintaining one's own 50%. When your own half of the universe is totally under your command, where do you think the other 50% can go?
Having said that, one needs to be cautious to not take things too literally . . .
At our dojo, grading is an educational experience for the entire community. We try to include all students in the process so that it is a celebration of everybody's practice.
One time, for a mid kyu-grader's test, we called out a more senior student to act as nage. We just wanted him to "relax" the testee by throwing him around. This student was caught totally off guard. Being hung up on the desire to look good, he became so cerebral that he was unable to handle the attacks in front of him. The more he tried to pull out fancy techniques, the slower he became. He was constantly behind. Instead of chucking his kohai around, the poor thing got clocked over and over.
The test went fine. The testee passed successfully. The group went to our usual watering hole for a celebration. Everybody was visibly happy except for this senior student.
"Are you okay?" I put my arm around his shoulders. "Meh. I didn't do very well at the test," the student said. "I agree it did not go very well. All we asked is that you throw someone around for a little while, but you could not do it." I looked at our dear student in the eyes, " So, did you learn anything from it? What do you think is the lesson here?"
"Um, I don't know." He tipped his head and thought some more. "Errr, always be prepared?"
I could not help letting out a sigh. True that it would be great if he can be better prepared at all times, but he still had not managed to grasp the crux of the matter.
"It was not even your test. It was not your show. Your role was to help somebody else shine. Remember: Not everything is about you!"
Indeed, Aikido can be a rather "self-centered" martial art. The essence of Aikido is about maintaining one's center regardless of the situation. The nage acts like the Sun -- while he moves along his own orbit, the nage keeps the ukes spin around him like the planets in the solar system. Whatever attacks and/or weapons that the ukes bring along fly around the periphery like the moons of the planets. Because the Sun is the central reference for everything, it gets to control the dynamics and rhythm of its interaction with the planets. Maybe that is why O Sensei says "I am the Universe"?
Aikido practice is about learning how to control and manage oneself. When an uke launches an attack, his line of attack bisects the universe. A nage who does not understand the brilliant concept of Aikido would overextend himself so as to interfere with the uke's side of the world. Little does he know that the secret of perfect control lies in managing and maintaining one's own 50%. When your own half of the universe is totally under your command, where do you think the other 50% can go?
Having said that, one needs to be cautious to not take things too literally . . .
At our dojo, grading is an educational experience for the entire community. We try to include all students in the process so that it is a celebration of everybody's practice.
One time, for a mid kyu-grader's test, we called out a more senior student to act as nage. We just wanted him to "relax" the testee by throwing him around. This student was caught totally off guard. Being hung up on the desire to look good, he became so cerebral that he was unable to handle the attacks in front of him. The more he tried to pull out fancy techniques, the slower he became. He was constantly behind. Instead of chucking his kohai around, the poor thing got clocked over and over.
The test went fine. The testee passed successfully. The group went to our usual watering hole for a celebration. Everybody was visibly happy except for this senior student.
"Are you okay?" I put my arm around his shoulders. "Meh. I didn't do very well at the test," the student said. "I agree it did not go very well. All we asked is that you throw someone around for a little while, but you could not do it." I looked at our dear student in the eyes, " So, did you learn anything from it? What do you think is the lesson here?"
"Um, I don't know." He tipped his head and thought some more. "Errr, always be prepared?"
I could not help letting out a sigh. True that it would be great if he can be better prepared at all times, but he still had not managed to grasp the crux of the matter.
"It was not even your test. It was not your show. Your role was to help somebody else shine. Remember: Not everything is about you!"
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