Aikido as a way of life.

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 requi...

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...

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 ...

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.

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 a...

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, cr...

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 foo...