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Showing posts from 2016

Resting, leaning, conviction, abandon

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Resting, leaning, conviction, abandon  Ukes will rest or wander if not led. Nage will lead where uke's energy is headed.   Following and leading become one as the energy and intention becomes the focus. What seems to be matters not and what is prevails.  Why would uke lean....why not if they have a place to rest? Move the resting place and uke will lose balance. Letting, not forcing with open palms and soft finger tips...no grabbing, pushing or pulling only guiding. When uke comes around to see where nage went she will move in the energy trough if it is made available. First the void must be defined by nage's dramatic, dynamic movement. Uke is encouraged to follow by enthusiastic soft letting.  When nage moves with intention and invitation uke can't help but follow. It is like offering roast beef to a Dalmatian...uke is willing and eagerly follows on the sweep of defined energy in the described channel.  Aikido requires faith. Nage m

Aikido attacks are like real attacks

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Aikido attacks are like real attacks. How, you ask? We are working at simulating the realness of an actual attack. We give energy and follow. When an attack happens in life it is unexpected and spontaneous. The person being attacked feels uncomfortable and may deny and minimize. In aikido we can just be with what is happening. We can even celebrate the attack because uke is gifting us with energy. We have been talking in class about attacking by directing our energy towards nage’s center. We don’t push or pull. We give a live attack with intention and energy and then we follow as nage leads. Uke lets go of any agenda and simulates the spontaneity of the energy a real attack would have. In class today uke grabbed nage’s wrist in different ways and nage then told uke what the attack felt like so uke could have an idea of what was happening right away from their nage. We continued with this idea as uke grabbed nage’s wrist with intention and energy towards nage’s cent

it really is not about fighting.

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In aikido and I am speaking of the aikido I train in and am not comparing it to or denigrating any other style; it really is not about fighting. What I mean by fighting is that it is not a sport or a contest. For me, aikido is self-defense. It is about what I have to do to protect myself. This to me means in daily life and self-defense situations. Aikido is conciliatory and restorative.  My training helps me protect myself from others and from myself. It reduces life to the simplest form where I have to feel what is and do what I can. I can blame and I can whine…and I get to see how ineffective both of those responses are. I can come back to center and accept and do what I can. I can move or change myself. I cannot change another. Another may be moved when I move or change.  My focus must be on moving me and not them. This truth is so good for me on the mat and out in the world. I am empowered when I keep the focus on me and what I can do instead of wandering off my pa

Let's celebrate our self-defense choices

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Class today small but good. We talked about expansion and contraction and the decision to self defend and how that manifests in our lives. And then after class we talked about how we are the experts in our own self defense and that nobody but the person involved knows what the right thing to do is a in a tense situation. As we pay attention to the now we are able to see and hear and perceive all the signs, signals and conditions and make the best possible choice in that moment. People may say afterwards "oh you shoulda done this or that" but they don't know because they weren't there. Let's celebrate our self-defense choices and continue to train with our friends ever expanding the circle of love and peace that our training affords.
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Class was poignant: during one exercise we had a tiny mat we had to keep our feet on and keep our hands just above. We had to work with what energy uke gave us. Anytime we reached out past the mat we got buzzed by observers. I got pushed over and shook up. I lost balance and came back. I self-corrected instead of trusting my helpers. I did my best and it was messy. The next part of class we held a very large ball in both hands I suggested we use the ball as a symbol of a large orb of vitality.  I wanted nage to really let their energy out and greet uke with fun and movement. Then we did freestyle. We did 2 throws; small and constricted and 2 throws; large and free moving. I wanted nage to explore how both ways of throwing can change how we move.  New habits provide fresh options.  In freestyle we develop skills to take what comes and blend with it. The more relaxed and open we are the safer we become on the mat and in the world. I got overwhelmed with an uke. I overr

Ukes gonna uke.

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Should other people do what we want them to do? Why should they? Expectations are resentments waiting to happen. Should past performance indicate how a person should act and feel in the future? Are we responsible for our own behavior? Aikido gives us a chance to physically explore those ideas. Ukes are gonna uke.  An uke is who they are on any given day. If I “expect” an uke to be a certain way I have stepped out of my center and into the mind. By paying close attention to my uke I can guide the technique and come to a resolution. There is no room for “should haves” or “could haves” in the now.  Uke will do their best at each particular moment as regular people in the world do their best with the circumstances of the day. Me expecting others to behave in a certain way is a futile as me expecting uke to be different. By accepting what happens I can deal in each moment, gather information for future choices and move on. Ukes can be stiff and sore, cranky and

Yoga...why not aikido......:)

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Everyone should train in aikido. All this energy wasted on (fill in the blank here with fitness fad of the day) does not make one aware of their surroundings. It does not teach you how it feels to be grabbed and it does not offer you any solutions to conflict. How does Zumba make you safer and how does golf add to your tool kit in a conflict situation? Okay, golf makes you familiar with a handy weapon…but have you ever thought about using it a self-defense option? Now I am not saying that golf, yoga or dance training is bad…not at all. What I am saying is the world is not safe and we could all use aikido training. One young woman trained with us for several months before she went off to travel in Europe for a semester.  She was never going to be a lifelong aikidoka but her training helped her. She was on a train in Amsterdam alone at night with just one other person, a strange man. That man approached her; as he leaned into to grab her with a lecherous comment she put her foot in

...when I was just a peanut

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I started playing basketball and baseball really early. I had 5 older brothers….it was our culture….we ran, we hid, we threw balls and caught them or got hit in the face. One of the first things I remember my father telling me was “keep your eye on the ball” as he pitched a baseball.  I would shoot at the hoop on my brother Dickie’s 6 foot 4 shoulders when I was just a peanut. Movement is my spiritual practice.  If I am walking or riding my bike or playing mitt’s and sticks with Ron, you know I am happy. So aikido was a natural for me. Not that I knew it when I started. I just thought Ron was a fine looking fella, to quote my mother. For the 1 st year I stumbled about not having a clue. Not one clue. I did not understand the whole concept of being uke. Why would anyone want to fall down?  I could not roll…not at all. It was very scary and pitiful. I used to hide at the end of the line but the guys would push me up and encourage me even though every roll and every fall hur

brown belt enegry...gulp.

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With so much brown belt energy around it seemed as if the dojo might explode like a teenager does when confronted by a parent: Hurdling accusations, running in fear, hiding in the woods, peeking out to see if it is safe to come out. The dojo is not just a physical space. It is a combination of energies that synergize to hold us all when we are weak or strong, emotional, vulnerable, serene or hurting. We can be ourselves here in this place of mutual respect where we learn to give and get. We can hold space and energy for people here and we can receive both when we are in need. Our dojo is not for everyone. One must be very brave and have fortitude to stay when the very naked aspect of our true selves arrive. The dojo can hold space for most of us. But it cannot fix issues that must be addressed in other ways. We are what we are, which is strong, true and even magnificent. Aikido training can complement our path and it can enhance self-knowledge and self-defense.  A

Question: Is Aikido ever emotionally painful?

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Is aikido ever emotionally painful? Answer: Yes, sometimes so much so that I want to cut and run. But I stay because that is that I was taught to do and that is what I teach others to do. Our dojo is a safe place to meet your self.  Sometimes I don’t like what I find. I can stay anyway. The next uke attacks and I throw. When it is my turn to attack, I do and I receive the throw. My mind gets quieted through the practice. My attention to others relieves me of my self-centered fears and self-doubt. Regard for others always helps me come back to what is important. For me what is important is the safety of the space, the constancy of training and the peace that comes from mind-full attention.

Question: Why does it matter where I place my hands?

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Answer: Because the body is like a wild pony. It has to be trained to your bidding. If we let our hands just land willy-nilly all the time we do not develop good habits.  We ask our body to do something a certain why and then work to develop that way by training.  Aikido affords us the opportunity to accept feedback without judgment and to work that feedback into our movement to create correct feeling and impeccable technique. Another reason it matters where we place our hands is because we want to be mindful every moment in class and out of class. By paying attention to details we set the intention for our hands to go a certain way and then we follow with the movement to come as close to that intention as we can. This practice helps us develop mind body co-ordination and gives us a reference for how we can be at all times. We can notice distractions like problems or compliments and then come back to our centers and be   paying attention to all the details of our daily life. No

How does aikido change me?

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Question: How does aikido change me? Answer: Just the act of stepping out on the mat with an open mind begins the process. For example:  Nage says: “When uke grabs me like that I can’t move.” Sensei then shows us how to move when we are grabbed like that. We move what we can. Ourselves. We don’t move what we can’t…someone else. Our moving changes the relationship between us. Harmony is re-established through the process.  The process creates a feeling in both uke and nage of peacefulness that they can pass along to others. Out in the real life dojo the same thing can happen. Me: “So and so makes me feel (insert a feeling word here such as angry, frustrated, happy…)”.  Then I get to look at the lie that I just thought. So and so can’t make me feel anything. My feelings come from my own judgments and thoughts and desires:  things I can change. So if conversations or experiences with so and so make me feel  (again insert your feeling word of choice) I can choose how I want to r