Mistaken By Mistakes

I have been teaching low impact Aikido for seniors in our local recreation center for a while now.  I never expected teaching seniors to be this challenging, but it is.  

To start, most of the students are complete beginners.  You have to teach them absolutely everything from scratch.  Given their age, most students are stiffer and less agile.  Their body awareness may not be high.  The pace of the class is much slower than regular dojo practice with younger students.  

Since we only meet once a week, whatever we did last week, people already have forgotten most of it by this week.  We spend a lot of time reviewing.  The learning curve is not steep.  It is a real test of your patience.  

Another distinct thing about teaching seniors is that, unlike children, they are absolutely not afraid of their teachers.   Given I am at the younger end of the 55+ crowd, most students are older than me.  To them, I am the kid.  You definitely cannot make them do anything if they do not want to.  Coercion is a no go.  You do not have the option of sending a note to their parents.  You cannot bribe them into cooperation with a candy or a toy.  If you fail to earn their respect, they talk back at you like there is no tomorrow.  It is a tough crowd.

The only sensible thing one can try to tame them is to lead a compelling class that catches their attention and sustains their interest.  As soon as you allow their interest level to wane, they start chatting away and ignore you.

Another strong characteristic among senior students, particularly the men, is that they are much more sensitive about how they look.  They are very concerned about being caught making mistakes.  As such, they tend to make very small movements.  When they have trouble replicating what is being shown, they shake their heads incessantly as if they do not approve of their own performance.  Sometimes I happen to be nearby when this happens.  The moment we have eye contact, they break out a nervous laugh and freeze at the spot.

Cottier Sensei used to urge us that, to practice, we should make big moves.  "Just as you think you are moving big, make it bigger!" 

I tell the class that not only is it ok to make mistakes, actually mistakes are a necessity for learning a body art like Aikido.  Without experiencing what is awkward and hard, it is difficult to appreciate smooth and easy.  We need to have experiences of this sort to help us navigate our path through Aikido.  Before we get stuck, because of our muscle memory, we already can sense what is ahead and refrain from getting further into a difficult situation.

I am a carver.  I see the process of learning Aikido akin to making a carving: Starting with a wood blank,  we draw preliminary lines and make a rought out to get the general shape.  A rough out has no details.  Depends on the look and the grains of the wood, the carver modify the angles and shapes to achieve the final product.  Does this mean the original rough out cuts were "wrong"?  Not at all.  Every project has to start from somewhere.  Without a rough out, there can never be a finished carving.

Regardless of our age, we, Aikido students, should quit wasting our time worrying about looking bad.  Mistakes and awkwardness are the foundation for swift movements and spectacular techniques.  Trust the process and set ourselves free.  

Aikido is freedom.  Since we come to pursue freedom, don't you think we should embrace it from the start?