Ni Ki　二気/Two Ki’s/In Yo/Yin Yang

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I recently posted the following on Facebook and thought it might be useful to include here:

How does one use one’s tissues in Aiki?
Can one develop one’s tissues?
How is this different from normal training?
How might I train the tissues in Aiki?
Is that all Aiki is?

I will begin to answer these questions in the next blog on trueaiki.com, but here are some answers in brief:

Q: How does one use one’s tissues in Aiki?
A: In tension. In some arts students are advised to use the hands like a paint brush. The bristles of a paint brush are the tissues. They do not work well when pushed, but when pulled they are put in tension and work well.

Q: Can one develop one’s tissues?
A: Yes. Unlike the bristles in a paint brush our tissues adapt to the circumstances into which they are placed. So, if we place our tissues in tension regularly and a bit beyond that which is “normal” for them, they will adapt to the “new normal.”

Q: How is this different from normal training?
A: The answer to that depends on one’s “normal” training. If one normally emphasizes using one’s tissues in tension, then there will likely be no difference. However, most common training tends to emphasize concentric contraction over eccentric contraction or tension.

Q: How might I train my tissues in Aiki?
A: Pretty much any situation that puts the tissues in tension and avoids contraction can be considered training. Training that uses all tissues is more efficient than artificially segmenting them. In other words “cheat” in tension as much as possible. Exercises that use flexible media such as ropes, cables, bands, cloth, etc. are a good place to look because flexible media usually force the user to use the media in tension rather then compression. But keep in mind, especially at the beginning it is easy to do the “right thing” in the “wrong way” (using contraction). Endeavor to replace the use of contraction with the manipulation of one’s mass to place one’s tissues into tension.

Q: Is that all Aiki is?
A: Far from it! But generally speaking, that is where most who are training True Aiki start training.

Remember Aiki is the bringing into balance of mutually arising dual opposing forces using the power of consciousness (Ten, Chi, Jin). Aiki is NOT the outward movements. The outward movements are the RESULT of Aiki. Because of this, the resultant outward movements related to Aiki have a typical look or pattern. It is this look or pattern that most people mistakenly copy, thinking that they are training Aiki. While this “look or pattern” can produce SOME “Aiki-like” results, it is a far cry from the real results of True Aiki. Due to this fact, most individuals training in this manner require the COLLABORATION of partner to pantomime what True Aiki results would look like. There are some for which this is unsatisfactory and in an attempt re-establish functionality and “realism” into their art, at some point they break away from the “look or pattern” of Aiki to use proven conventional means (leverage, pain, power) to achieve their desired results. This explains that state of the majority of Aiki practice today.

This week I will examine Ni Ki 二 気 as it occurs in the body, specifically in the case of  Aiki 1.  I will also provide a sampling of ideas on how to develop it, with a focus on being able to begin using and developing Aiki 1 immediately.

To begin, we will narrow our focus a bit.  Understanding that, for now, our aim is to use as many bones as possible in compression and as much soft tissue as possible in tension (thereby putting the two into a dual opposing relationship), and we are going to concentrate primarily on the soft tissues.

When one grabs the ends of a rubber band and pulls in opposite directions this puts the band in tension (which is what we want).  In this instance the oppositional forces are provided by the two hands (probably using contraction) pulling in opposite directions.

In the body our “rubber bands” are soft tissues.   We want to put them into tension by using gravity (Force of Heaven) and the solidity of the ground transmitted through our bones (Force of Earth).  It is important to NOT use contraction of the muscle tissue in an attempt to create oppositional (but not mutually dependent) forces.  We want as much muscle as possible in tension as well.  The illustration below shows a simplified example of how this is done.

So, the first trick (it is a trick because we are not used to doing it) is to relax the tissues in such a way that they are not contracted, BUT they are in tension.  Using terms set out by Tohei Koichi, one must: Keep One Point (forces must be in balance, thereby defining a central “One Point”);  Relax Completely (not contract, contraction is the opposite of tension);  Keep Weight Underside (when one does the above one’s mass will naturally settle into a dynamic balance under the influence of gravity);  Extend Ki (the net result of all of the above is that all of one’s tissues will come into tension, meaning that they will extend).  This requires “Unification of Mind and Body” because, in order for the body to reach this state, the mind must lead it there, which is a lot more challenging than it sounds for most!

But wait!  There is a catch!  (Of course, there is ALWAYS a catch!)  It is not always (in fact for most people it almost never is) possible to do the above EVEN if one’s mind can directly ask the body to do it.  The reason is that most of us have never done this in our lives, so not all tissues are developed to the point that they can support all of one’s mass in this manner.  The normal case is that our tissues are developed to support the body by contracting, creating a frame of the bones.  There are usually muscular imbalances such that some tissues are shortened, others lengthened, and some muscles in chronic contraction, and some are very developed while others are extremely atrophied.

Furthermore, some tissues have been injured in the pass and repaired such that they are not fully elastic.  As a consequence of this, when one begins to settle one’s mass onto tissue in tension the force concentrates at these “static,” matted, inelastic areas.  The nerves in the areas send out “SOS” feedback, and one often encounters pain and automatic contraction to relieve the “problem.”  Even after such a problem is fixed, the force simply travels to the next problem spot.  Most of us have many.

For these reasons, practice must be a process of bodily learning and anatomical adaptation over time.

People That Live in Stacked Houses Get Thrown Quick!

As mentioned earlier, most of us use our bodies like a brick house.  We stack our bones and try to let gravity hold us there.  That doesn’t work for the most part, so for mortar we use muscular contraction to try to hold the “bricks”of our bones in place.  Brick houses don’t do well in earthquakes for the very reason that, once the structure is misaligned, it tends to collapse under its own weight.  “Stacked” bodies do the same.   When the structure becomes misaligned with gravity, we attempt to strengthen the mortar (via contraction) but this only makes us more susceptible to collapse.  Many, many martial arts take advantage of this fact.

Tansegrous structures really don’t give a care about earthquakes.  They always align with the forces within themselves.  Consequently, a bit of shaking and/or rolling has little or no effect upon their structural integrity.  When we use our body with the tissues in tension, applied force is equally distributed throughout the structure.  Mis-aligning rods results in strengthening the tension in the tissues.  Force added to a tissue is distributed as tension in the soft tissues and compression in the rods.  As long as the collection of rods and tissues can bear total input of the load (everything has its limitations) the structure will remain sound.

So, in Aiki we do not wish to “stack” our bones.  Rather, we allow the heads of the bones to roll (which I will later illustrate actually puts more tension in the surrounding soft tissue), and we carry our mass equally through compression of the bones and tension of the tissue (or at least that is the goal).  This is a dynamic balance  vs the static balance of a stacked structure.

Learning vs Training

As mentioned earlier, practice to develop Aiki in the body/mind is a process of neurological/anatomical learning and adaptation. (Body vs mind is a false dichotomy.  But for the most part, regardless of facts, in the West we still are far more comfortable with the traditional false dichotomy than we are with empiricism.)  The learning and adaptation have a chicken/egg kind of relationship.  Learning leads to adaptation, adaptation leads to new learning.  Best not to dwell on that too long and just proceed with the day to day practice, understanding that progress implies change, so changing one’s understandings points less to one’s past mistaken ideas but rather to one’s present progress.  Quite frequently people are embarrassed by their past lack of understanding and try to hide it, or get frustrated with their peers or teachers changing messages.  Try to have compassion for yourself and others.  After all, what profit is there in begrudging the progress and development of self or others?

That’s it!

For now, that is all that is required for developing Aiki 1!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy, or NOT!

Let’s Begin. . .

I like to make training “stupid simple.”  Primarily, I like to do this because I have found that when it comes to training I am both stupid and simple.  So I need to be with something that is so simple that even someone stupid like me cannot fail.

I have found that the best approach is to create an experience of what “correct” is and then work from there.  In this manner, one doesn’t have to rely upon what one imagines to be “correct.”  They just are.  It is much easier, and far more successful, to move from success to success, than it is to work from failure to success.

With that in mind, I suggest that one does the following:  Hang as passively as possible.  For example, one could grab a suspended bar or rings and hang one’s body from it.  Even better, if one had hooks strapped to their hands there would be no need to contract the muscles of the forearms.  Inversion tables do the same thing.  Another way  is to lay on the floor and have two, or four, people grab a limb and lift you up.  One is only limited by one’s imagination.

The point of this exercise is that one will immediately discover that their body is fully connected already.  Unless there is something medically wrong, it is very unlikely that any body parts will fall off. . . Because they are connected!  The other thing that will happen (if one relaxes) is that one’s bodily tissues will be put in tension automatically.  In some places the amount of tension might be a bit uncomfortable.

If one were to literally “hang out” like this regularly, one’s tissues would begin to adapt in order to better handle the load placed upon them.  For the purposes of everyday usage, one is unlikely to find themselves hanging in this fashion so the adaptation that occurs may not be of practical use.  Rather, what we wish to do is to create a similar state while standing.

Don’t Just Do Nothing.  Stand There!

This brings us to standing practice.  Once one has experienced the sensation of tension in the tissues via gravity, one can begin to work toward creating the conditions were the same sensations occur in one’s body while standing.  This will take time and concentration.  One is not looking to lengthen the time that they can stand in a normal “stacked and contracted” state.  One is looking to learn how to stand in a “non-stacked, tissues in tension via gravity” state.  This cannot be learned for you.  It cannot even be taught to you, really.  One must just “stand there” and screw around, until one experiences a level of success.

I suggest picking a body part and concentrating on that rather than trying to do everything “correct” at once.  In that manner, one improves their chances of being “correct” at least in that one area.  Then one can move to another area.  One can try to do two learned “corrects” at once, and then more, etc.

I also suggest balancing that specific practice with at least several minutes of whole body practice, since the whole body practice is the end goal.

Don’t rely upon your sense of position in space.  It will lie to you.  Use mirrors. (Or for you younger folks without mirrors, use cameras.)  They are like great training partners, because they care more about communicating the truth than they care about your feelings!

You can work sitting as well.  As a matter of fact Shirata Rinjiro’s empty handed solo body movement exercises start by sitting in seiza and end with standing in hanmi.  Both are a “standing” or “movement in stillness” exercise.

PERFECTION:  You can’t get there from here!

Perfection is an ideal not a reality. . . At least not for us mere mortals.  Consequently, don’t worry about screwing up, being wrong, training improperly, misunderstanding, etc.  YOU WILL!  In fact, you likely ALWAYS WILL!  So you are hereby absolved of worrying about that.  Worry does nothing to aid one’s progression, rather it is a distraction from practice.  We all have the potential to improve and that is all the perfection one needs.  We are all perfectly human.  So begin!

One cannot progress without learning.  One cannot learn without NOT knowing.  When I train I don’t even let the phrase, “I know” be uttered, it is so counterproductive.  Don’t focus on what you do know, focus on what you can learn.  Note your mistakes, don’t ignore them, don’t hide them, don’t dwell on them. And, above all, focus on improving.

Don’t take the Map for the Terrain

Ptolemy’s World Map 140 BC

Keep in the back of your mind that what you have read about Aiki, what you think you understand about Aiki, what you think having Aiki will be like, are all just ideas.  They are models of reality, not the reality itself.  If one can do this, one will be more mentally “agile” and ready to adapt their models to their experiences of reality.  This will lead to more accurate, or at least more useful, models which will in turn lead to further new experiences.  A couple other things to keep in mind is that “knowing” a model (being able to talk about it) is not the same as experiencing what is modeled.  Climbing Mt. Everest is not the same as understanding how to climb Mt. Everest.  (And here I speak from personal experience. . . Not!)  Also, upon climbing Mt. Everest, how you describe that experience for yourself and others is likely not to be the same as others did, or do.  That’s okay.  Here, experience is king!  Models are just a painting, drawing, sculpture, or description of the king.  If using other’s notes gets you an “A” use them.  But if using your own notes works better, do that.

I’m bored.  What’s next?

First of all, this kind of training can be quite boring.  However, running from one exercise, teacher, or form to the next will likely entertain you while you make little progress.

Secondly, as far as training Aiki 1 is concerned, you pretty much know all you need to know.  So, bored of standing?  Standing getting you no results?  (We’ll talk about empirical measurement in an upcoming blog.) Do something about it!  Figure out a different way of training the same thing.  Be creative.  Think for yourself. Whoever started a tradition was the ONE that was creative and thought independently.  Be the ONE.  And, if you figure something out that works. . . Teach only one or two and mislead the rest!  NO, NO, NO!  Please, no!  This stuff is so simple, yet so difficult to do well that one could tell the world about it and remain fairly confident that only a handful will produce among the posers.  So why not share?

Next blog . . . San Gen: (actually you are already working on San Gen).  When it is good to be Self-Centered.

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