Want to know what Aiki is in simple terms? When pulled enter, when pushed turn! Don’t take my word for it. A Daito Ryu Kyoju Dairi said as much and so did the Aikido Founder.
Want see a basic example of this principal? Look to your nearest forward roll or backward roll. Please join me in this thought experiment:
Walking down the sidewalk you stub your toe. Inertia carries your body forward while your base of support stays behind. Instantly you feel the inexorable pull of gravity acting on your body. Gravity is pulling you down, down faster than your legs can hope to recover from.
Instead of fighting the pull, instead of resisting and pushing
against it, you enter into the pull.
In a fraction of a second you are making contact with the
earth. Its force is massive, unstoppable. Again, instead of resisting the earth’s “push,” you use the contact to continue to turn yourself around your own center.
Your force meets the force of gravity and normal force
orthogonally. There is no resistance, there is no collision or fight. The forces are resolved. You remain centered throughout the entire exercise. This is the art of non-resistance. This is Aiki.
Now, let’s engage in another thought experiment:
Reflect on your practice.
Choose a technique, any technique.
Got it firmly in mind? Okay, how well do you enter when pulled? How well do you turn when pushed?
Let’s stop, rewind, and start again. Please pay even closer attention. Where are the pulling forces acting on your body? Don’t forget gravity. It is easy to forget. We are so used to it, it can become invisible just as can one’s resistance to it. Are there other pulling forces acting on your body?
Are you entering with, or resisting, those forces?
Let’s do it one more time.
Please pay close attention. Where are the pushing forces acting on your body?
Don’t forget normal force. We are so used to it, it can become invisible, just as or habituated resistance to it can become invisible. Are there other pushing forces acting on your body? Are you turning upon contact or resisting those forces?
Now you have all of the forces accounted for . . . or do
you? It is easy to note a push or pull from another, but what about your contact with them? For example, if you grab another, what are the forces present inside your hand? Are there pushing forces, pulling forces, or both?
Are you entering and, or turning there too? Another example might be a strike. Are there pushing or pulling forces present? Are you entering or turning with the forces?
Now you have all of the forces accounted for . . . or do
you? Are there pulling or pushing forces present in your body? Better take a look! Are you entering with and/or turning with those forces?
Whew! That quite demanding.
But wait. Did you notice that the forces, and your relationship to them, are changing constantly? If you were successful in non-resistance, did you notice that this simply led to new forces and force vectors?
One could spend one’s entire life in this practice . . .one
might even accurately call it . . .
Aikido
Allen
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