Happy New Year everyone! I hope that you had a glorious holiday and fellowship with family and friends. I had my first keiko with Sensei last night at the dojo and it was great to be on the mat with him and work off some of the holiday “cheer” that I tend to gain over the break. The shapes of Aikido refers to class last night. Sensei was talking about the shapes of receiving uke. Circle, triangle and square was an interesting way to examine our movements. My understanding (and trust me, my understanding is always open to discussion) the triangle represents moving off the line of attack. As uke moves to attack, nage will move off to the side and enter. If you look at the shape of a triangle it does just that with the point and the sides flare out to redirect the energy from uke.
The circle represent harmony. Harmony is certainly at the core of Aikido philosophy. This deals more with the blending of ukes attack. The use of wavelike movements allows us to blend with ukes energy. It is a continuation of the shape that the triangle created for us. Last but not least is the square. As a musician I see the square as a cadence point in a musical composition. We are not at the end of the piece of music but there is a resolution of some sort where the music relaxes. Sensei mentioned this to the class last night. When we get to the square stage in the technic it is important for us not to disengage completely. Continue one’s awareness, uke may have a friend who wants to get involved, uke may want to continue the composition, maintain my distance (mai) to uke to remain safe, and so on. Keep your awareness attached as things may not resolve the way that we expect. So the square is the pin or the throw, which hopefully leads to a peaceful resolution with our partner. Sensei had us to use a kokyu throw to examine these Aikido shapes. Definitely food for thought in our examination of Aikido.
It was great to see everyone last night. My phrase that I would like to share with everyone for the new year is “2009 is our time to SHINE”! Let us all work to make Shobu Aikido and ourselves the best we can be this year. I look forward to our journey together this year.
Peace,
The Maestro
The circle represent harmony. Harmony is certainly at the core of Aikido philosophy. This deals more with the blending of ukes attack. The use of wavelike movements allows us to blend with ukes energy. It is a continuation of the shape that the triangle created for us. Last but not least is the square. As a musician I see the square as a cadence point in a musical composition. We are not at the end of the piece of music but there is a resolution of some sort where the music relaxes. Sensei mentioned this to the class last night. When we get to the square stage in the technic it is important for us not to disengage completely. Continue one’s awareness, uke may have a friend who wants to get involved, uke may want to continue the composition, maintain my distance (mai) to uke to remain safe, and so on. Keep your awareness attached as things may not resolve the way that we expect. So the square is the pin or the throw, which hopefully leads to a peaceful resolution with our partner. Sensei had us to use a kokyu throw to examine these Aikido shapes. Definitely food for thought in our examination of Aikido.
It was great to see everyone last night. My phrase that I would like to share with everyone for the new year is “2009 is our time to SHINE”! Let us all work to make Shobu Aikido and ourselves the best we can be this year. I look forward to our journey together this year.
Peace,
The Maestro
Maestro Man - This is in no means a critique of your ongoing and excellent commentary from the mat rather my interpretation of last night and the teachings in general. The square or earth focuses my attention on being grounded, pulling the mat up as I sink my center, the triangle is entering into the attack, never disengaging as the circle or spiral motion influences uke without collision - merging with the trajectory or orbital path of the attack. As yin becomes yang the square is the base that the dust settles on. Your posts are truly valuable and I appreciate your openness to share the teachings with everyone that is able to attend and those that are there in spirit.
ReplyDelete-Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts. It really helps me to catch things that I may have missed or missed seeing. Good clarification and more food for thought for me. Mucho thanks.
C