Passed Mar 06, 2010

Andy, Kanae and I passed our tests. I’m now nikyu. I had a lot of help from my mentor Ben Sensei, the kind members of Calgary Aikikai, and all the aite and teachers who helped me practice for my test – especially Chris, Takashi-san and Andrew. I would like to thank Beau and Julian for being challenging Uke’s on my test, and for making randori a real workout. :)

I naturally made mistakes, but it was a different kind of test for me: in preparing for this important test I got training from two different dojos; it was hard to learn modified techniques two weeks before the actual test. When I found out it wasn’t Ben Sensei who was going to test me, but rather the committee members, I had to quickly retrain and modify my techniques to pass the test they envisioned. Andy went through the same re-learning curve and it was confusing for both of us. In the end we internalized everything our friends at Calgary Aikikai gave us. Though on the test some of my techniques were choppy and I wasn’t super proud of myself, I was happy to go through the process because it was not a normal, smooth process.

Test Day Mar 06, 2010

Today is the day. In a couple hours I will test for nikyu and be tested by my friends at Calgary Aikikai. These past two weeks had been a challenge because I asked my friends at our sister dojo to help me prepare for their test, and in doing so I had to modify some of my techniques. Many of the techniques I practice in one dojo might be called variation in the other dojo. However, they are kind people and I have the support of all my friends and people I practice with, both in my dojo and the sister dojo. Most importantly I believe in myself so I will do my best and clearly demonstrate what I have learned.

Testing for Ikkyu: A good checklist Mar 02, 2010

Unbendable Arm Feb 15, 2010

After the Igarashi Shihan seminar, some of us relocated and practiced more what we had been shown. We had only been show Aikido methods and nagare, not actual A-Z techniques, so we practiced those exercises. We started with taisabaki using our shoulder blades first. This was so we could get used to using this underutilized muscle group.

Next, we remembered what he showed us a year ago and we practiced those exercises too. Again, it was a treatment in the essentiality of learning how to use our opposite muscles when meeting force. These were exercises where we pushed aite against a wall and he had to redirect your static energy.

The subject of the ‘unbendable arm’ came up. We tried that too just for something different. Yes, the unbendable are is strong indeed. I was wondering how one could use the ‘opposite muscles’ to bend that which is unbendable. It turns out that we could apply what Igarashi Sensei had taught here too. We reasoned that by being rigid, the aite is using yin. In order to balance this with yang, we would need to be soft.

The key to bending his arm lies in your shoulder. If the aite has his wrist on your shoulder, then you are opposing your own efforts to bend his arm. Your shoulder is connected through your spinal column, down your legs, and to the ground (very rigid). How can you resist the Earth? Somehow you need to remove your shoulder from pushing up as you pull down. If you can do this, then your aite had nothing to secure himself against while you bend his arm (with even just kokyu power).

The method, not the technique Feb 15, 2010

“The method, not the technique – that is important.” – Igarashi Sensei

Strong muscles do not make the difference in a fight; nagare, the physics of the human body, and knowing how to balance yin and yang (陰と陽) are what does. Igarashi Sensei didn’t lambaste us at the past seminar, but he did spend three days driving this point home: when encountering force, use the opposite muscle(s) to redirect the opposing force. For example, when raising your arm while it is held down, do not use your biceps; when extending your arm while it is being held high do not use your triceps – use your forearm. When doing tai-no-henko start with your shoulder blades, not your biceps. Sensei goes on to say that this is method. He wants us to practice method first, not technique/waza.

Another Dimension of Training Jan 31, 2010

I was looking for videos of waza that had perfect form, flow and were free of critical openings and vulnerabilities. Because I was looking so closely and reading technical articles from journals and taking screen shots for further analysis, I never thought about something: There is yet another dimension to waza.

I will explain with an example. For shomenuchi ikkyo omote, Miyamoto Tsuruzo Sensei of Japan wanted us to wait until the strike was almost on our head to feel the gravity of the attack, play with it a bit, then deflect it. Osawa Hayato Sensei of Japan wanted us to move before Uke had fully raised his arm; we were to move before the down stroke of the attack had begun. Sometimes with Ben Sensei we perform this waza from awase where there is no momentum at all. So, there are different kinds of momentum of Uke’s attack: preparing to attack, attacking, and extinguishing (conceptually awase).

For Osawa, we are to take Uke’s arm with elbow and move it through his own head to cause him to rapidly spin and readjust into the familiar ikkyo position (though we have shown in class that there is the danger of a front snap kick from Uke). I will call this the early phase.

For Miyamoto, once we came into contact with Uke, we would do a similar technique to that of Osawa, but we would slightly slide off the line. I will call this the on-time phase.

For Ben Sensei’s awase practice, there is no momentum from Uke to utilize. Trying to adjust Uke’s arm is difficult because he can readily retract or readjust it himself. We need to radically bring Uke’s arm out to the side, horizontally extended and quite safe from a snap kick attack. This will be called the late phase.

Endo Sensei typically moves to the side and guides Uke’s arm out in front of him. This is especially true if Uke is strong or has a lot of forward momentum. This could be called the rushed phase.

This leads me to my main consideration: Since there are multiple dimensions or aspects to consider in performing a waza, there cannot be one true way to perform a particular waza because several variations usually to lead to the same conclusion. The responsiveness of Nage is an important factor in determining how the waza is carried out. That being said, I contend that the best analysis of the performance of a particular waza is to study how many openings it creates or covers. That should be the measuring stick of how well any one practitioner executes a waza. Not only that, variations due to different response times, on purpose or otherwise, could also be practiced by students to their benefit.

Sunday Class: Perfect Research Vehicle Jan 24, 2010

Norm Sempai, Andy, Kanae, John and Jeff came out to a great Sunday class. I am excited to be in this club because we can work out on Sundays to perfect and get guidance about techniques that we learn about during the week. It is like Mondays and Fridays are class lectures with in-class exercises, and Sundays are the labs to spend more time on specific techniques.

Four of us spent 2 hours just on shomenuchi ikkyo omote tonight! We worked through the key points that Ben Sensei wants his students to know, as well as what happens when we don’t do what Sensei instructs (i.e. get off the line of momentum). Usually if we make mistakes on Mondays and Fridays we are corrected right away, but there is not enough time to internalize all the minute corrections. On Sundays we can try stepping different amounts, rotating less or more, lowering our centers less or more, and on and on. They are the perfect vehicle to explore Aikido as researchers.

Excercise: Tight Grip, Relaxed Arm Jan 23, 2010

It just occurred to me tonight something that might help others. In the gym between reps of inclined free weight lifts, I like to let my arms dangle and do little vertical circles while holding the weights in each hand. This loosens the tendons and muscles in my shoulders. I was thinking about all the uke that do stiff tai-no-henko and stiff katatedori, for example; I suspect they tense the whole arm as unit and not as three independent groups of muscles.  I might suggest a variation on my dangling arm circles because the shoulder and arm have to be relaxed while having a tight grip on the iron.

This is Relaxed Aikido Jan 16, 2010

Wait for it, be calm and relaxed, react!

Another Analogy from Ben Sensei Jan 09, 2010

“Many chefs ruin the soup.” – Ben Sensei

This means that if you have many teachers, you will spoil your technique. Each teacher has a different way of doing the same thing. One might go deep while another might go out. Yet another might insist on atemi first, and another might always want to see a technique step-by-step like a robot. Try to make them all happy each week!

I had this experience in Japan. Each week I saw at least half-a-dozen teachers, all great teachers, and each wanted something different. For example, Miyamoto Sensei wanted ushiro ukemi with legs straight as a true breakfall (not a roll) so it would give us ab strength in the future; Sugawara Sensei wanted perfect backward rolls. I had to remember who wanted what at what time of day and on which day.

Another example is Osawa Sensei wants a diagonal cut-in for katatedori shihonage omote whereas literally everyone else does not. We (my friends and I) call this the ‘Osawa way’.

It is hard to pick a way, but in the end each student should strive to emulate one single teacher to perfection.