OOooooo what Takuma Hisa said!

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Aiki changes according to the situation, but what most of my pupils are doing is not fundamentally aiki technique because it does not work in real fighting. When we really fight we clash first. Aiki must stand this first clash of the enemy.

-Takuma Hisa, Aikido 8th Dan / Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Menkyo Kaiden

https://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/takuma-hisa-kannagara-no-budo-daito-ryu-aiki-budo-hiden-1940/

This quote is used as a teaser by Chris Li for his excellent article at the link above.  Some might wish to ignore what Takuma Hisa has to say because he doesn’t do “their Aikido” or “their Daito Ryu.”  This would be a mistake in my opinion.  After all, he became an Aikido 8th Dan under Ueshiba Morihei (when Ueshiba was still teaching actively) and a Menkyo Kaiden directly under Takeda Sokaku as well.  Kannagara no Budo Daito Ryu Aiki Budo Hiden contains a glimpse into what both Takeda and Ueshiba called Daito Ryu and Aikido at that time.  The movie that Hisa and Ueshiba made a few years earlier also spoke of Kannagara no Budo and Aiki Budo  It has been claimed that Ueshiba changed his art after the war.  I think it obvious upon comparison that Aikido and even Daito Ryu changed after the war. But there is no evidence supporting the claim that Takeda and/or Ueshiba changed much.  Takuma Hisa claimed that what Takeda and Ueshiba were doing was the same.

I think the above quote is quite interesting.  Takuma Hisa says that “Aiki changes according to the situation” This makes sense when one considers that Aiki requires constant change.  What Takuma Hisa doesn’t say is interesting as well.  He doesn’t say, “Waza changes according to the situation.”  He may well have thought that waza should change according to the situation, but that isn’t the issue he is addressing here.  Here he is taking about Aiki.

Takuma Hisa goes on to say, “ . . . but what most of my pupils are doing is not fundamentally aiki technique because it does not work in real fighting.”  Here he is stating that true Aiki technique works in real fighting, what his students are doing “does not work in real fighting,” therefore it fundamentally cannot be Aiki.  It may look like Aiki waza.  It may be called “Aiki waza.”  But it fundamentally cannot be Aiki waza if there is no Aiki happening.  Again, Takuma Hisa isn’t talking about a specific technique.  He does not claim that there is a specific technique that changes and applies to all situations.  He is stating that fundamentally Aiki changes and works, and in his opinion should work in all situations.

This makes perfect sense.  If there was one technique that worked in all situations it would make sense that Takuma Hisa’s curriculum would consist of THE one technique.  But it doesn’t.  His compendium of techniques is huge.  

He states that, “When we really fight, we clash first.”  The Ueshiba’s Aikido 8th dan and Takeda’s Menkyo Kaiden is saying, “When we really fight, we clash first.”  He didn’t say, “When we really fight, I get off the line of attack” or “When we really fight, we follow decorum first, then you attack in a preconceived manner, and then I apply an appropriate technique.”

Clash is defined as “meet and come into violent conflict.” 

But wait!  There is no conflict in Aiki!  

That is true.  But nobody said there is no meeting.  When two forces come together orthogonally, regardless they do not conflict with eachother.  But they do meet.  

There is a catch though.  The spinning wheel of a locomotive is going to be able to “not resist” a far greater force than a spinning marshmallow.  

This is where we begin to understand Takuma Hisa’s statement about Aiki.  

He says, “Aiki must stand this first clash of the enemy.”  In other words, regardless of technique, if the axle, wheel, and tire generating Aiki cannot withstand the “the clash of the enemy” there will fundamentally not be any Aiki.  If I had a car on a lift, started the engine and put it into gear, if I lowered the lift my car would take off.  If I had a car with marshmallow axles, wheels and tires on a lift, started the engine and put it into gear, if I lowered the lift my care would crush the tires, wheels, axles and go nowhere.  

Want to meet strong forces with no conflict?  One’s body must be up to the task.  One needs an Aiki body.

One may develop the ability to Aiki, but the amount that a person can fundamentally Aiki is dependent upon the strength of one’s axle, wheel and tires.  (I’m not even going to get into the engine here.) This explains why masters of Aiki continually worked on strengthening themselves in a manner that was conducive to producing Aiki.  Ueshiba referred to this as Kokyu Ryoku no Yosei Ho. Kokyu Ryoku isn’t Aiki per say But the strength of one’s Aiki is dependent upon the strength of one’s Kokyu Ryoku. Of course everyone, including the masters, have their limits. 

Did I mention Kokyu Ryoku and Aiki aren’t martial techniques?  Kokyu Ryoku and Aiki aren’t martial techniques!  

So there we go.  We need to develop Kokyu Ryoku if we are going to be able to Aiki.  We need to develop the ability to Aiki. And if we plan to use our Kokyu Ryoku and Aiki in combat, we need to develop technical and tactical ability in the type of combat we expect to engage in.  Easy peezy!

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