Clarity comes with Teaching, Training, and Time

Clarity comes with teaching, training, and time

TrueAiki.com reader Robin Scheachter wrote another great response and since my last response was via a blog, and this response relates tot he last, I’m posting this as a blog as well.

Rob wrote:

Hi Allen

Thanks for such a well though out and comprehensive response!

I think I need to go back and really define the word Aiki in my own mind. I’ve been using it interchangeably with other, somewhat muddy terms like ‘internal power/strength’ and ‘connection’. The idea that the word Aiki could be applied to a technique without the movement manifesting (or at least aiming to manifest) the qualities we are aiming for simply hadn’t occurred to me.

I do make a distinction between the qualities that can be manifested in solo practice (extension of the spine, tonus in the connective tissue etc) and those that exist in relationship to another (avoiding direct opposition of force and others?). However I’m not even sure this distinction is a valid one as lots of the IP training I’ve been exposed to seems to suggest maintaining the solo qualities and moving irrespective of your partners actions plays a significant role in Aiki work.

In my experience, and this is indicative of my level of training, the qualities I can manifest in solo work are difficult to manifest even when doing simple push tests and must be consciously sought and maintained. My working explanation for this is partly that I’ve not conditioned these qualities to the point that they are a subconscious part of how I am (the end point of a long process by all accounts!) In part, I also think that it is to do with the social conditioning we all have (in differing forms and to differing degrees). One of the things I’ve learned in martial arts is how not to respect someones personal space. I’ve seen people contort themselves trying not to be impolite while simultaneously trying to throw there partner to the ground! I’m still looking at the subtle ways my social conditioning affects how I interact in co-operative practice. Would you say that examining and changing how you view and interact with people is a necessary step towards Aiki?

To try and sum up then: Ultimately, Aiki must work in a real fight. In order to do this it must be an automatic part of your being. Your ability to manifest Aiki on someone else is dependent on you ‘internal’ development. The process of creating a body/mind capable of manifesting Aiki ‘hard wires’ this state into you, meaning that you stand a chance of it working for you in a fight. Is this anywhere close to the point? I hope it is, because my head hurts!

Thanks and all the best.

Rob

Allen wrote:

Hi Rob,

Your initial confusion is completely justified.  Internal Power, Internal Strength, and Internal Connection (and I’ll add Kokyu Ryoku) are all terms that have been used synonymously with Aiki.  This has happened for at least two reasons.  One is because some individuals have thought that Internal Power, Internal Strength and Internal Connection was the total expression of Aiki.  Another is that, historically, while even those that did not see Internal Power, Internal Strength, and Connection as the total expression of Aiki, they did identify them as different  expressions of Aiki.  Confusing right?

This is why I coined the terms Aiki 1, 2, and 3.  They were all considered Aiki in that they were compositions of Yin/Yang, but they were differing expressions of Aiki.  At the same time, because they were all considered Aiki, they were collectively referred to as Aiki.  Confusing right?  

On top of that, an individual can form an external mechanical Aiki relationship (Meeting force orthogonally, Aiki 2 and/or 3) with no Aiki 1 and get a limited expression of Aiki as result.  This is typically what is done when one is doing Aiki waza with no Aiki 1.  (Although many do not even do this and think they are “doing” Aiki because of a name.) As Takuma Hisa pointed out, this can work in controlled circumstances such as the dojo where individuals are collectively working towards mutual success, but is unlikely to work when greater stress is experienced whether that greater stress be internal (emotional), external (physical), or likely both.

An individual can form an Aiki relationship within themselves (Aiki 1) with no expression of Aiki 2 and/or 3 (which should also originate within one’s self) and, again, have a limited expression of Aiki as a result.  This, however, will not result in Aiki the kind of non-resistance and its advantages available with Aiki 2/3.  Aiki 1, 2, and 3 together offer the most potent expression of Aiki and is therefore recognized as “Aiki” in the larger internal sense.  

In terms of martial application one needs to maintain the balance of Yin/Yang sought after and, to whatever degree, attained in solo practice.  Whether one avoids contact, or not, should be a tactical consideration rather than an internal expression of Aiki.  Although the contact of another’s force with one’s own center of equilibrium is never sought.  In most cases of hand to hand combat, almost any contact will prove advantageous to one adequately expressing Aiki.  In many cases of combat with dull or bladed weaponry, again contact (with one’s own weapon) can be quite advantageous, because the Aiki qualities of one’s body will be expressed by one’s weapon. In the case of projectile, explosive, chemical, biological, etc. weaponry contact is naturally best avoided.  

There is a phenomena that isn’t very often recognized at the beginning of training but you, Robin, described it well.  People think that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing during solo practice.  Only to have what they had been practicing fail in cooperative partner practice (not techniques, rather direct Aiki practice).  I have found that the main reason for the fail in partner practice isn’t as much lack of habituation and/or development (which is a factor and success will be on a continuum), but that they simply aren’t doing what they are supposed to be doing in solo practice to begin with, and therefore also in partner practice.  The difference is that solo practice tends to point it out.  

There is a good reason for this often repeated phenomena.  (I’ve seen it in virtually every individual that has first started training with me, regardless of years of training.)  The reason is this:  Rather than having a relevant experience of what is correct (what works) and practicing that, most individuals have a concept or idea of of what they should be doing rather than a physical experience of it.  They then practice what they conceptually or ideally think they should be doing, rather than replicating a prior physical experience.  This almost never works.  Learning and development is difficult enough when one knows what one is doing.  It’s down right maddening when all one has is an idea.

With proper Aiki training, there are changes both anatomical and neurological that take place in the body over time, that enable one to be better at, and inclined toward, certain types of movement that produce an Aiki effect.  This is normal adaptation.  For example, if one were to stop walking on the ground and only move via climbing or swinging, one’s body would adapt to become more efficient anatomically and neurologically for that task.  If one were to continue to challenge one’s self to be a better and more powerful climber/swinger one’s anatomy and neurology would continue to develop to accommodate the new challenges.  

There are some things that those that have trained Aiki for years can do that others are simply are not physically and neurologically capable of without having undergone the same training and adaptation process.

Along with learning and development comes the potential for further learning, etc. people make the mistake of thinking that Aiki is like a trick or secret move that one learns.  This simply isn’t the case.  Aiki is a particular relationship between forces.  Facilitating that relationship is the skill to be learned, anatomical and neurological adaptation better enabling that skill is the result of many hours of practice over long periods of time.

Aiki waza are techniques that are amenable to, or reliant upon, the use of Aiki.  In fact, some Aiki waza simply don’t work at all without significant Aiki development and application.  Since Aiki waza are techniques, they can be outwardly replicated to some degree.  Of course, just because a technique exists doesn’t imply that it was intended for, or is wise to use in high stress situations.  Certain reactions have a higher probability of success in many situations and their probability of success grows even higher with proper training.  

Growing ability and knowledge of, and comfort with, feeling, understanding, and manipulating one’s own body, beyond the norm, is a requirement for learning and development.  One’s ability to feel and control one’s own body beyond the norm increases with training.  It is of great benefit when one who is capable of manifesting Aiki allows another to feel what they are doing inside their body since much of what they are doing won’t be visible outside their body.  It is also beneficial to have an individual with proper knowledge feel what one is trying to do inside one’s own body and provide accurate feedback. This requires trust, and the maturity and insight to accurately determine if that trust is well placed.  

I would say that examining how one views and acts within one’s self when one is around, and/or in contact, with other people is is an essential part of Aiki practice.  This starts with physical proximity without contact.  Then with contact. In the case of using Aiki martially, one must then train with increasingly challenging, then threatening, then chaotic and surprising forms of hostile contact.  There are of course, tactical considerations, but in the the realm of manifesting Aiki the foundational work is always what you are doing inside of you.  The goal is that, regardless of what is happening outside, one is always properly manifesting Aiki inside.  If one isn’t manifesting Aiki inside, the likely hood of it manifesting outside is nil.  

Thanks for more thoughtful questions!

Chris Li just posted a link to a great piece of writing about Chen Tai Chi.  It’s beginning is directly relevant to several of the topics discussed here.  

http://www.taiji-bg.com/articles/taijiquan/t32.htm

All the best,

Allen

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