POWER AND CONTROL

This has been the topic of an interesting discussion among many posters over at aikido-l over the past couple of weeks, evolving from a question from a member about whether or not aikido was essentially about power and control and then her follow up question about the issue as defined by when one person has definitively pinned another. My brain started musing on more general issues and this is what I wrote:

My notions of power and control were literally shaken in the 1989 earthquake. It brought into sharp relief the idea of an impassive universe that had no desire or thought about me or humanity, and let me relax delusions of how much control I personally have. I began to see the idea of control more as a fluid process of decision-making. AKA "muddling through the best we can" :-) encompassing the ideas of power, ethics, autonomy etc.

When I became a supervisor last year, suddenly I went from being a perceived "moral authority" (a role I've played in many job situations) to a Person with Power. Things I said and my attitudes were scrutinized by people whose livelihood, in fact, was subject to my desires, thoughts, etc. It was actually interesting to watch them watch me. But again, I was able to see it as a process in which each party had decisions to make. Any given employee could question me, reason with me, argue with me, sabotage me, agree with me, flatter me, etc and I could chose a reaction to each of those.

In the dojo, I tended to like Michael's idea of enticing. I have used the phrase "inviting" uke. My attitude was process-oriented (this is training, not a street fight) so my interest was not simply who ended up pinned or pinning, but seeing what steps or decisions led to that outcome.

I guess the common thread in my thoughts is that while power certainly exists in the real world (there are national and religious and business leaders whose decisions shape the lives of many people all at once) my view is that it is only when a critical mass of other people make decisions ceding them that power by supporting them or not taking action to stop them that their power exists.

I was brought back to earth (or at least to the dojo by Gil's very practical:
"Power & control should mean simply that the attacker cannot---
1 reverse you
2. hit you with another weapon
3. escape...Define power & control any way you wish, but if at the end...uke is able to do any of those three, then your aikido is worthless & your time is wasted."

Now, being more process-oriented, I don't see it as time wasted myself. But it is surely a good reality check of what you are doing right or wrong. Dennis Hooker put it nicely: "The Goal is to have power and control over myself at all times. If that is always the case then no one can have power and control over me. The fact that they try and fail does not mean I have power and control over them. I am simply managing my life and their willful intrusion into it makes it part of my life."

I like that attitude; it fits in with certain ideas (Seneca's form of stoicism and some Buddhist teachings) that appeal to the part of me that I try to cultivate, that accepts what is in the moment and assumes autonomy, responsibility and decision-making.
For some related writing on how power dynamics can work in a dojo, you can read a column Katherine Derbyshire and I collaborated on a few years ago, "Moral Stances on Shaky Ground."