The Heaven, The Earth, And Everything In Between

If there were a poll for the most difficult Aikido concepts, I would give my vote to "Extension".

For many years, I watched my teacher, the late Ken Cottier Sensei, spin in circles with one palm on his belly and the other palm facing out towards us.  "Extension.  Extension.  Centered. Centered." Sensei said repeatedly.

I figured that this must be something very significant, but all I got out of this demo was feeling perplexed and defeated.  "What does it mean?  What is Sensei trying to tell me?" 

Now that I am an instructor myself, when I walk around class to make corrections, if I comment to someone that they need more extension, more than likely, they would stick out their arms in a stiff, rigid manner.  It makes me chuckle because I remember doing it myself.

Extension, despite the imagery in most people's heads, is, actually, not a movement.  It is a feeling.  It is a state of being.  It is the way you carry yourself.  I have been looking for a way to describe it for years but to no avail.  Finally, on my way back from a recent trip, I saw a real life example that, I think, most people can relate to.

As our plane touched down, it decelerated very quickly.  The inertia caused everybody to feel thrown forward.  The old couple sitting next to me each stuck out a finger to touch the back of the seats in front of them.  Using those points as reference, they straighten their torsos, sat firmly into their seats, and prevented their personal space from collapsing.  Without having to grasp anything, they sat securely in their seats until the plane came to a stop.  It dawned on me: They just performed a perfect demonstration of Extension!

A point of connection with the ground + A point to mark the edge of one's personal space + An engaged core in between.  What a simple recipe!

Extension is the basis of how we use our body in Aikido.  It has so many applications.  Not only can one use it for stability while being still, it actually can be used for achieving great mobility as well.

One of my pet peeve in Aikido is that many people have poor mobility: Their feet are light, but they are not swift.  They feel heavy, but they are not grounded.  They are always either stuck or drifting.   They are only standing on top of the mat, but there are no roots.  They have no real relationship with the earth.  As a result, every move is a lot of work.  It takes effort and is slow.

Takeguchi Sensei always talks about pushing into the ground so as to use the energy from the ground to move oneself.

For a long time, it was mystifying to me:  "I am standing on the ground.  How do I push into it from above?  How do I press on it any further than I have already?"

Before learning how to push into the earth, one, first, needs to know how to tear a piece of paper on a table.  

Imagine there being a piece of paper sitting flat on a tabletop.  You have to tear it using only your palms.  You are not allowed to pick it up.  How are you going to do it?

One way to do it is to place my palms firmly on the piece of paper, then stretch the paper while twisting the heels of my palms slightly outwards in opposite directions.  Even though my hands are moving along a 2-dimension surface, the movements actually involved work on all three dimensions.  

Try it yourself and you may get the feeling that you are pressing into the table.  But that "press" does not come from your putting extra weight over your hands.  

Now stand in hanmi, and repeat this paper-tearing experiment using your feet.  Sustain a slight tension between the soles of your feet.  Feel the extra pressure under your feet.  With your two feet and an engaged core, you are now using Extension to push into the ground!  

Once you learn to stand this way, you can choose to be steady and immovable like a mountain.  Yet, by simply releasing one foot, the reaction from your push into the ground propels you in whatever direction you wish to go like a bullet.  

O Sensei says, "The Universe is me."  

And the universe is ever expanding.  

It all starts with the feeling of extension.

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In the upcoming posts, I will write about the technical aspects of several fundamental moves in Aikido.  If you are interested, please stay tuned.  Consider following this blog so that you will be automatically informed when new blog posts are published.  Alternatively, you may join the subscription list by emailing me at opiemnitram@gmail.com