AIKIMUTT AT PLAY AND AT PONDER

Three very different training sessions in one week...Monday night, Carol Sensei adapted class to a new student, parsing out katetori ikkyo and having us go through it very slowly. Wednesday night, Jay Sensei came up from Santa Rosa to lead us further through Iwama style weapons with a continuing focus on the two sides of the 31 jo kata. Friday afternoon I met Brandon and his dad in a space they are using in Willits, with Brandon leading an exploration of blending exercises leading into techniques....then a few days to let random musings simmer, putting this week’s activity into the perspective of lessons already learned and my current goals.

This aiki-mutt has learned valuable things from every dojo she ever joined or visited. One thing I treasure from the years spent as a newbie in USAF dojos was Chiba Sensei’s approach to weapons, which invests the training with the etiquette and the martial intent of a koryu art, a focus on accuracy and there only being one correct way to do any movement. I took to this avidly and upon changing dojos missed this aspect of training for several years, before finding a Suio Ryu study group in San Francisco in 2007 - only to move away up north several months later. So now while I find myself frustrated at times trying to learn specific new moves within the Iwama weapons system, even more strong is the sense of familiarity (I know HOW to approach this) and the sheer delight in the training.

The benefits of also spending at least some training time each week on slow empty hand practice have been clear to me since my first knee injury over ten years ago, when I had no choice but to move slowly and cautiously, neither taking rolls/falls as uke nor completing throws as nage. Back then, it was a chance to explore body position relative to my partner and where/how to find kuzushi. Now I find it is only at a slow pace that there is any chance to start integrating what I learn from solo internal training into my aikido practice.

What I’ve been working on in solo training is generating movement and power directly from my center, while remaining relaxed and playing with weighting and groundpath options. Integrating this into my aikido relies on establishing a real connection from my center to my partner. This can’t be learned if the partner is overly resistant, since that blocks the connection. It also can’t be learned if the partner is overly compliant, since that results in a false degree of positive feedback.

I’ve been puzzling over the idea of blending versus connecting. It strikes me that they are not the same thing and that it is very possible to have one without the other.

A blending exercise plays with ma’ai, exploring distance, timing, and body position/movement between the partners. Such an exploration, done without first establishing connection, essentially becomes a dance in which neither partner is actually affecting the other.

What interests me is not “blending” but what I’d call “unifying” - using intent, awareness of centerline, and moving from my center to establish a connection. If done correctly, nage/uke becomes one system for which, optimally, nage is providing the structural integrity, hence is able to undermine uke. From this position, technique manifests. It is if nage loses that integrity or connection that a softly connected, continually attacking (but not resistant)  uke will find the opportunity to reverse - again, technique manifests.

At least, that’s how I understand it today. Ask me again after I've been out playing more.....