Vic's Gasshuku Refllections

This weekend's Gasshuku was incredibly beneficial to my practice. We focused specifically on kokyu practice and with Sensei's guidance we all had a more in-depth experience with the breath. We started our breathing practice on the cushion and progressively applied this to Ikkyo practice. As I recall what we were introduced to this weekend I begin to realize how the breath has been an untapped gateway for the majority of people in Western culture. For us to take such an intimate look at the life "force" that all of us share and to use this gift as a teacher is truly a blessing.

Sensei helped us to see that when we released our breath completely (in the exercises we we were working on) our conditioning wants us to immediately inhale as much air as we can as fast as we can. So we were instructed to take our time with this experience and inhale while keeping the breath smooth and controlled. We began to research this practice just as we would with any of the techniques we practice on the mat, keeping our mind in our center and maintaining verticality with the relationship between the "third eye" and the "one point". When we took our practice to the mat and applied it in our Ikkyo technique, my experience was unlike any I've had up until now. I was ACTUALLY having an experience of receiving Uke's attack into my center with the breath, my body was moving harmoniously while staying vertical, I could feel Uke's weight in my center as I moved, and I was beginning to understand the space around me.

All in all, I feel Sensei was maintaining his transmission of what Aikido is truly about in "feeling" rather than letting us get tripped up by intellectual conceptions. I am very grateful for my experience and encourage those people who didn't make it to ask Sensei about the breathing exercises, they are helpful. In fact, I am going to go practice right now.

Bows,
Vic