The Fountain of Truth
I recently came across the video of a beautiful art installation titled "Air Fountain'' by Daniel Wurtzel. I shared the link with dojo members and urge them to watch it.
The installation is very elegant, but the idea is extremely simple. Strong fans are arranged in a circle to create an air vortex. In the middle are two long pieces of very lightweight fabric. The two pieces of shear fabric ride on the air current and fly around each other like a dance, making visible what we, otherwise, cannot discern with our eyes. To me, this is a perfect manifestation of the interaction between nage and uke in Aikido: They are always engaged and flowing around each other. The two parties never collide, nor do they entangle together. So much like the forces of Yin and Yang, blending non-stop and yet never really mix into each other.
I suspect everybody has seen this phenomenon in a smaller scale. It is just that we do not normally think of it as an "art installation".
Have you ever watched laundry inside a tumble dryer? I have to confess that one of my favorite thing is to watch baby clothes tumbling in an oversized dryer at laundromats. It is quite amazing how the little socks and onesies flies around in the air like an acrobatic show. "Imagine being a baby inside one of these onesie floating and rolling in the air. It has to be a really fun experience!" I often think.
However, not all laundry in a dryer achieves the same mesmerizing scene. Into our modest dryer at home, every week we toss bed sheets -- a flat sheet and a fitted sheet -- to dry. More often than not, every 10 to 15 minutes, there is a big "thunk" sounds that calls for our attention. Somehow, the sheets just keep entwining into a big ball, no matter how we shake them out again and again.
Baby clothes in big dryer vs sheets in a smaller dryer. Similar recipe -- fabric tumbling in a chamber of warm air, but very different results.
The major difference between the two scenarios is that, instead of allowing adequate space for the baby clothes to express its movement fully like in a laundromat tumbler, our little home dryer relies on the fins to push the linens around in tight quarters. The sheets have no choice but to wrap themselves into a ball and then bounce at the dryer in protest.
In a recent Aikido class, I offered this imagery to help students understand the importance of ma-ai and why using force on partner can often back fire. Even a bed sheet needs space to fully express itself, let alone a moving human being.
Takeguchi Sensei used to remind us: "Stretch your partner out. That's how you help create movement and encourage them to move." The late Kenneth Cottier Sensei also often talked about the importance of "removing the slack" in nage's connection with the uke.
A good nage controls and stays in the center of the movement. The uke, on the other hand, moves along the circumference. While the two parties move the same angles, the uke has a much greater distance to cover. That is how a smart nage achieves great efficiency. Regardless of the style of Aikido one practices, a skillful nage moves like a ribbon dancer, with the uke being the ribbon. And a good ribbon dancer does not get wrapped up in ribbons.
The law of nature is the law of nature. People and ribbons are no different.
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