Stuff the Ueshiba said . . .

The founder said:

“Aiki is not the art of fighting with an opponent and defeating an enemy.”

Beebe:  With Aiki there is no resistance therefore there can be no fighting.  With no resistance there can be no opponent or opposition.  With no enemy there can be no defeat.  Therefore, Aiki, and the Way of Aiki (Aikido) is not a group of techniques meant to deal with an enemy’s attack in order to defeat them.  So, what is Aiki?

 Ueshiba, “It is a way to unify the world and make human beings a single family.”

Beebe:  Aiki is transformative.  It changes the nature of relationships from one of opposition to one of complementary oppositional dualism to that of a non-resistant singularity.  But how?

Ueshiba:  “The essence of Aikidō is to harmonize oneself with the movement of the universe, one has the experience of unifying the self with the universe itself. Someone who comprehends the essence of Aikidō has the universe within them and can say with confidence, “I am the Universe.” [『我即宇宙』]

Beebe:  The universe started out as ineffable, and inconceivable.  When it became a singularity, duality was born in juxtaposition to the singularity.  A singularity (One) cannot move because movement implies change.  But a duality implies change.  Time is the measurement of change/moment.  So, time came into existence along with the duality born in juxtaposition of the singularity.  This duality is In/Yo.  Complimentary, mutually dependent, co-arising opposites.  Light/Dark, Self/Other, Up/Down, etc. One gives rise to the other and is defined by the other.  This is the movement of the universe, and it is an Aiki relationship.  In order to unify the “self” with the “universe,” one must participate (harmonize) with the movement of the universe.  That is one moves in accordance with In/Yo.  In this way one must become In/Yo.  When this is true, one can say with confidence, “I am the Universe.”  But it is easy to say, “I am the Universe.”  So, what proves these words to be true?

Ueshiba:  “However quickly and skillfully an opponent attacks, I am not defeated. That is because my technique is not faster than my opponent’s technique. I say it is not a question of fast or slow. From the beginning I am victorious. Because the opponent who has decided to fight with me, the universe itself (self in unity with the universe), decides to violate the harmony of the universe. That is, the moment a feeling of fighting against me arises, the enemy is already defeated. At that point length of time, whether fast or slow, doesn’t exist at all.

Beebe:  Aiki isn’t a technique, it is a relationship of co-arising, mutually dependent, complimentary opposites.  Because they are co-arising, mutually dependent and complimentary opposites there is no question of time, there is only the question of being.  As the universe is a singularity expressed as a duality, it is ever un-defeated and therefore ever victorious.  But, how does one become one with the universe?

Ueshiba:  “Aikidō is the principle of non-resistance . Because it is non-resistant, it is victorious from the start. A person who has malicious intent is already defeated.” (Takemusu Aiki, Chapter 12, from the first page)

Beebe:  Aikido isn’t a collection of techniques; it is the principle of non-resistance.  As long as I persist in trying to live in this “Self/Other as One universe” as if it were a “Self vs Other universe,” I will continue to be resistant to all that I do not identify as my Self.  Therefore, I necessarily will live in opposition to the universe because I view existence as “Self vs Other” and in that universe, the “Universe” is “other.”  Of course, this is a hopeless quest.  Even if I could successfully destroy the “other” (universe) I in turn would be destroyed, and naturally if the “other” (universe) destroys my “self,” again I am destroyed.   The solution is to enter into a non-resistant relationship with the universe.  I must become Aiki because Aiki is the primary principle of the Universe.

I took these Ueshiba quotes from the beginning of Shirata Sensei’s essay.  Here is the curious thing . . . one could take all of this and think, “Psychobabble! – I don’t need it.  Just give me a set of practical techniques grounded in rock solid training and I’ll be fine.”  This is how Ueshiba started his martial arts career, and by most accounts he was quite successful with that approach, that is until he met Takeda Sokaku.  Others might think, “Oh yeah, we do these martial looking techniques, but Aikido doesn’t have to be martially effective at all. Really, it’s about love, and peace and being one with the Gods.”  In this way Ueshiba could very well have explained away being bested by local amateur Sumotori while living at the religious compound at Ayabe, or after almost being executed while ineffectually serving as bodyguard for his guru in Manchuria, but he didn’t. Hard charging martial artists and religious zealots were a dime a dozen then, as they are today.  If he had chosen either of those courses, we probably wouldn’t know anything about him, or Takeda Sokaku today.

As we know, Ueshiba rose above the crowd. This is something that probably wouldn’t have happened had he not met and learned from Takeda Sokaku.  What set him apart was not his athleticism, not his technique, nor his religion.  What set him apart was his martial ability.  Without that he would likely have remained virtually unknown.  Without that, Kisshomaru, Tohei and others would have had no foundation upon which to create what became internationally known as Aikido.  And, without that, Daito Ryu would very likely have remained just another obscure school of jujutsu.  

The source of Ueshiba’s martial ability is also clear.  It came from the undeniable influence of Takeda Sokaku.  Yes, Ueshiba rubbed elbows and borrowed freely from many, but what Ueshiba did looked like what he learned from Takeda, and what Ueshiba came to emphasize, and that which became the name of his art, “The way of Aiki,” also came from Takeda.  

Now, Ueshiba was undoubtedly a religious guy.  That is how he made sense of the world around him.  That is also how he made sense of the Aiki that was taught to him.  It should come as no surprise that that is how also how he taught.  He taught what he “knew,” and what he “knew,” was Aiki understood through the lens of an Omoto Kyo/Shingon/Shugendo kind of guy.

Nevertheless, he was pretty clear and consistent with himself.  He laid out what Aiki is.  He laid out what the Way of Aiki is.  He laid out the “how to” of Aiki.  And he laid out what the proof of attainment was.  

And

He told us what it wasn’t as well.  It isn’t technique or timing.  And, it isn’t religion.

And now for a little confession and a testimony . . . 

I confess that at the beginning of my Aikido career I “believed in the dream.”  I confess that after looking deeply into Aikido training, looking briefly at Taichi and other arts that were supposed to have “it,” after my teacher died, at about 30 years into Aikido training, I came to the “realization” that the “dream” was just a dream.  That the “stories” were just stories.  And that the “legends” were just legends.  This “realization” was supported by my peers that had also worked long and hard and came to a similar conclusion.  It became the punch line to many inside jokes.  Not coming from a background of teachers that made excuses and explanations for their art, I continued to train and become a martial artist of respectable conventional ability and well aware of his limitations.  I confess that years after the passing of my teacher I began to doubt the reliability of my memory of his ability.  I thought that, like many others, I was prone to “inflate” my recollections.  

Then I began to read posts by Dan Harden.  He spoke of things I knew and claimed to be able to do things I had experienced being done.  Other’s poo pooed his claims, but the more I read, the more I became convinced that, not only did he know what he was talking about, but he very likely could do what he claimed.  (I also accurately guessed his background and reasons for not discussing it.  This enabled me to not only judge his integrity, but the integrity of those that choose to try to take advantage of the silence he had vowed to keep!). I called Dan and had the good fortune of having him come to my house to teach on several occasions.  I came away with two wonderful gifts:  

1. He physically demonstrated the veracity of my remembered experience.  My memory of how Shirata sensei felt was accurate and comparable to only one other person, Dan Harden.  (That isn’t to say they are the same.  They most definitely are not.  Dan freed himself to pursue Aiki in the contexts that interested him.  Shirata honored his debt to his teacher by choosing to restrict himself to the support of Kisshomaru Ueshiba, because he was asked to by Ueshiba Morihei.  In my opinion, Dan’s path, like Ueshiba’s and Takeda’s allows for much more potency.  And, that potency is reflected in Dan’s diverse abilities.  Happily, Shirata sensei assured that organizationally and personally the only obligation I felt at his passing was to continue to pursue the study of Aikido, with integrity, in the manner of my own choosing.  And, like Shirata sensei, the only sense I got from Dan was that he wanted me to learn.)
2. Dan acknowledged that clearly Shirata sensei had created solo body movement exercises to develop Aiki.  (That is not to say that Dan thought, or thinks that they were, or are the best exercises for developing Aiki.  He was just shocked to find that there was still evidence of that knowledge still preserved within the Aikido community.  I’ll add that, as evident by the fact that Shirata maintained Daito Ryu solo body movement exercises as well, clearly, he exercised the freedom, creativity and flexibility of mind to create his own exercises as did Ueshiba, Sagawa and Harden.  Therefore, there is good precedence for building upon what one has learned to enhance one’s further development, as opposed to rigidly maintaining a structure purely for the sake of maintaining a structure.)

So, here is my humble testimony, I have only become increasingly inspired and excited by my training.  After meeting Dan, learning, while slow in the beginning, skyrocketed after about 3 to 5 years.  The first barrier that I had to overcome was the presupposition that what Dan was teaching and what Shirata taught were two separate things.  I know it is stupid, but until I understood that Dan, Shirata, Ueshiba, etc. were all teaching the same thing I kept getting in the way of my own progress.  After “pulling my head out” I found I could leverage each one of those teacher’s teachings to teach myself.  No matter who our teacher is, we all end up teaching ourselves.  That is why everyone teaches differently.  They share what they know, and how they understand, which is really the best they can do.  They cannot teach how YOU know and how YOU will understand.  Only YOU can do that!  

I am obviously older now, but I am pleased to say that I am much stronger, and more powerful than I have ever been in my life and that progress isn’t slowing down.  Keep in mind that this is a coming from a guy that not only loved martial arts from childhood, but also fell in love with weightlifting in high school and continued it until he had to stop . . . in order to learn Aiki! (Resistance training and Non-resistance training may look the same, but they are completely different!) I understand Aiki better than I ever have (and that is only improving with time and development), I understand the rationale behind Shirata’s pedagogical structure better than I ever had.  I understand and increasingly can demonstrate the unifying principle of Aiki within and behind every technique that most assume to “be” Aiki, as well as those that most would deny were Aiki. (“That’s not Aikido!”  Oh really?  Who was it that wrote:  “Rule number 1:  One strike in Aikido can kill!”  Hmmm?  “Oh, that was before his enlightenment!”  Oh really?  Maybe you should check your dates!) I increasingly understand and can demonstrate that “there is no form or technique in Aiki.  I move and techniques are born.”  (There can be forms, there can be techniques, but THEY are not Aiki.  Aiki is Aiki.) And, if I wasn’t clear, this isn’t “knowledge,” a “trick,” a “technique,” a “state of mind,” a “philosophy,” etc.  It is specifically what Ueshiba describes.

For me, it is a really cool place to be.  I have also found a renewed enthusiasm for teaching.  To be honest, for the longest time I had little interest, or desire to engage in the Aikido or Daito Ryu worlds.  I didn’t judge them good or bad.  They just didn’t hold my interest.  Now, when I run across those that are excitedly in love with the “dream” of Aiki, regardless of their art, I too am excited.  It is exciting to share and demonstrate that the “dream” is real!  

Aiki isn’t a religion, but the pursuit of Aiki can be transformative because one must transform one’s basest instincts at the most fundamental level.  Aiki isn’t a technique, but Aiki can give a dramatic advantage to technique.  Aiki won’t make one “all powerful” in fact one must let go of the desire for the feeling, both physical and psychological, of power in order for the power of Aiki to be expressed.  It is a paradox.  

And then, as so ably demonstrated by those that came before us . . . you die.  

Until that time, I’m having fun learning, developing, and growing!

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