The "Ki" to Success

Greetings everyone.  It was a wonderful class tonight at the dojo.  Perfect temperature and some good Aikido took place at Shobu.  Now that the orchestra season is over I can come to the Tuesday night classes and Sensei examines ki and how it is used in Ai-KI-do. 

I must say, if you think that it is hard to articulate Aikido technics in words, this material is next to impossible to write about. The biggest challenge in writing about ki is my lack of knowledge of this aspect of Aikido and the fact that it really is a feeling and how do you express a feeling?  It is like trying to explain what Beethoven’s 5^th symphony sounds like to someone who cannot hear sound.  So much is lost in translation.

Some elements that I took away from tonight’s class is the importance to connect to uke’s ki meridians and in doing so unbalances uke.  This is an element that is extremely useful in performing kokyu nage (breath throws) technics. 

To me, ki is not so much about physical applications of Aikido as much as the importance of the mind although mudras (hand positions that shapes the direction of ki) are very important.  Sensei talked about how ki is like a beam that is similar to pole of energy that goes through our spine. What came clear to me towards the end of class is the need to extend that ki deep into the ground and far beyond my head at the same time.  The ki curves around like a wave coming under and over uke to connect to uke’s ki and then we can unbalance uke. 

This aspect is similar to orchestral conducting in the sense that when I am on the podium I am trying to influence not only the people near me in the strings but also the woodwinds and brass who are maybe 20 feet away.  So my gestures, body, hands, eyes, and most importantly my mind must connect with them to influence them and assist them to play better. 

The technic that we primarily examined to explore ki elements were yokomen uchi (strike to the side of the head) kokyu nage, kata tori (single hand shoulder grab) kokyu nage and finished the class with katate tori (single hand grab) tenkan ho (turning).  Ki is an essential element for getting to the root of what Aikido is about.  There is the martial component to Aikido that I love to examine but Sensei is trying to get us below the surface, beyond the physicalization (Tipton-ese word) of Aikido.  The physical side is easy to see, (nikyo, sankyo, irimi nage, etc) and that is important but what about what we cannot see.  We can’t see oxygen but it is very important to us to survive even more important than food and water and yet it is invisible and all around us much like ki.  We need to tap into that unlimited source of energy that extends far beyond our physical body.  It truly can be the “Ki to our Success” if we can find it and harness it. 

It was great fun, explorative, imaginative, frustrating, rewarding all rolled up into one.   I always welcome your comments and thoughts.  Have a great week AND BOLDLY GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE (I finally got to see Star Trek  movie last weekend.  It was soooo good!)

The Maestro

Jo Seminar with Jay Sensei May 30-31!

Don't miss the Jo Seminar with Jay Sensei May 30-31! Class Saturday will be from 10-noon and 3-5pm, Sunday class will be from 10-noon. If you are not on the inclusive membership, the fees for the weekend are $75 or $50 for saturday, $35 for Sunday. These are the video highlights from last years Jo Seminar:

Living the Bodhisattva Life: Transforming Anger, Awakening Patience.

The Toledo Zen Center presents an afternoon workshop with Jay Sensei Sunday May 24th from 1:30-4:30pm. This is the second in a series of workshops in which we will work with the seemingly paradoxical way a Boshisattva lives in the world. This event is open to the public, no registration is required. The suggested free will donation is $25.

"With the thorn of anger still lodged in the heart, there can be neither peace, nor joy, nor true action."
-Jay Rinsen

Space......The Final Frontier

It was a nice to be on the mat moving after hanging in the extreme humidity of Texas for a spell.  I always feel that the dojo centers me when life starts going in numerous directions.

Speaking of numerous directions, Sensei began the class with a series of exercises with the staff jo.  It examined how to remain centered in the midst of chaos moving around us.  We were “twirling” the jo like a baton but our hand ideally would always remain in the contact with the jo as it turns.  So we were never throwing the jo in the air like a baton there was always a connection to the weapon with the hand. 

The title of today’s post is “Space …. The Final Frontier”(and the new Star Trek Film opened last weekend, YEAH) because while were doing this and everyone’s jo is spinning, we had to move and walk.  Oh yeah, and not hit each other and drop the jo while doing all of this.  It was important that we remain centered in our own space otherwise we might whack ourselves or one of our friends on the mat.  We had to maintain and take care of our own space.  The other element that I noticed in doing this was that this movement needed to germinate from the hara.  When this happened it would seem as the though the jo would have an engine and generate its movement on its own.  Sensei said that we mustn’t try to “make” the jo move but allow the movement to come from our center and waist.  When this was done properly, it would appear that there was very little movement being made on the outside of our bodies but it would create a dynamic movement from the jo.  It is kind of like driving a car at 60 miles per hour, the slightest movement from the steering wheel can have a DRAMATIC influence on the car.  

Much of Aikido is about managing space in a relaxed fashion and when my “Wow, I haven’t dropped my jo” mind entered the picture I would immediately um, well, let me see,  drop my jo.  With this jo exercise, it is imperative that one stays as relaxed as possible even though there are so many things happening around you.  In the craziness of Randori (tori is attacked by multiple ukes) with all of the energy and attacks coming tori must remain centered, calm, and in control of their breathing.  The other issue is to create constant movement with the jo similar to cursive writing, a constant flow. No corners or edges to the movement of the jo. This principle is found in the empty hand technic in Aikido.  We then put the jo away and examined how this principle is expressed in Ikkyo (first technic).    It is funny that sometimes we begin the class and I just don’t “get it” but like any martial art, if you stay present in the class and the long arc of martial training AND have a good teacher then the understanding of what and why we do certain things in class will eventually arrive. 

Well, that is all for now.  Have a great rest of the week.  I will bid you goodbye in the words of the great philosopher Dr. Spock, Live Long and Prosper!

The Maestro