tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89983553478132499432024-03-15T00:55:09.434-07:00Aikido, searching the WayAbout my journey into Aikido in Malaysia and the World. How my foray into Silat opened my eyes into hidden aspects of Aikido. And the never ending pursuit of learning true Aiki.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.comBlogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-76841185467245266582022-09-09T01:22:00.003-07:002022-09-09T01:22:55.318-07:00Stages in learning Aikido<p> Learning Aikido is not complicated and in fact it could be very simple. However the reason why we call it keiko and not shugyo is that we have to be patient in learning to peel away the layers of our training. </p><p><br /></p><p>In traditional martial arts typically we have foundation training and that would be the body. So we start by training the body physically and for most traditional martial arts it would be the strength of the legs and the core or hips foremost. Typically one wouldn’t train the extremities too much because it distracts the use of power away from the Danton’s. It’s not for all cases though, osensei has an iron pincer grip. He used to train by hanging by his fingertips on the branches of trees in order to gain sufficient height in order to enlist in the army. And grapplers have to increase their grip strength as a matter of course. How we want to train today however is to focus on the legs and core. The legs will be the foundation. And after this we should train our endurance and flexibility. Next would be to master breath power. In modern analysis of breath power they have gone beyond the esoteric explanation of breath flowing through the body and the source being the dantian. They would talk about vascular pressure, fascia cohesion and the primary driver would be reverse breathing or creating pressure in the body through breath and coordinating that with specific weight exercise.</p><p>This domain would be for th truly enthusiastic and youthful students. For the general public imagining the breath flowing through the body is sufficient. Using vascular pressure can be harmful in the long run. And traditional schools have training methods to counter act this.</p><p>After the physical training can only we really focus on the techniques. Techniques really demand a certain level of physical competency and ability before it could be performed well. In aikido keiko the training of the techniques or the waza itself accomplishes this need to a certain extent and each waza levels build up the capacity to unleash the next level. Foremost on this is ukemi or the art of receiving attacks. It also encompasses the art of atemi or strikes, of awareness of blending and of taking the falls themselves. Understanding ukemi is knowing how to react safely but not in total overtness when receiving the technique from nage. In order for both parties to learn uke cannot run away from the technique rather must receive it safely and correctly to such an extent that in advance practice there will be little difference between nage and uke because reversal techniques will be employed and attacks are only initiated when there’s tsuki.</p><p><br /></p><p>After the outward expect of aikido is trained one can graduate to the inner and Aiki aspects of aikido of which the meat of the matter is. Despite its harmonious and soft ways you cannot learn Aiki from the get go without going through the hard technical aspect. It’s like immediately going to cursive calligraphy without understanding alphabets. </p><p>Within the 1 is the 0. And to understand nothingness you have to understand somethings first. In Aiki training a lot of the intangible understandings is needed. Be it the spatial awareness of openings of danger of opportunities the surroundings and the mind of your opponents. You’ll also need understanding of kuzushi of kamae of chushin of your connection the ground and of connecting with the opponents center and mind and spirit. And this is why you can’t immediately jump to aiki from the get go. </p><p>The final level of training is takemusu aiki. When your very being has understood the essence and principles of aikido and the emway you talk think walk and do things is the manifestation of aikido. In this regard you don’t actively think you’re a Malay or Chinese a man or a woman. You know who you are and you don’t need to advertise it. Just like that is the natural manifestation of aikido in you.</p><p><br /></p>Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-61453978893229337952021-07-02T10:01:00.001-07:002021-07-02T10:02:29.333-07:00Aikido is atemi <p> I last wrote 4-5 years ago, so forgive my long absence. Over the years I’ve questioned the validity of speaking so much about aikido rather than doing it. Given however my martial encounters revolve around the dojo (of which today remains in limbo thanks to COVID) alone, I didn’t think there’s really anything much to talk about.</p><p>However I was reviewing a few of my old video collection and I remarked to my wife who was watching an embukai video, you can’t blame people for thinking that aikido is dance. The nage is definitely a good aikidoka but the demo is pretty much a dance. All of ukes attacks are of course predetermined, that’s not the problem, the issue is that nage is totally open. And for the sake of demonstrating the techniques, uke doesn’t take advantage of those openings. So it looks like a well rehearsed dance.</p><p>I explained to her about a video on Silat. I like this Silat because it resembles the one I trained in closely. The teacher demonstrated his movements, and within his movement is a pair of shield and strike. As he utilizes the movement against an attack, he performs a technique. The technique wasn’t the answer to the attack, his movement was. He didn’t complete either the shield or the strike, but midway, it transformed into the technique.</p><p>This is how aikido has to be performed I exclaimed. We shouldn’t jump to the technique, but everything starts from the atemi. As atemi meets the attack, the technique is manifest.</p><p>Newer videos of Saotome sensei are a good demonstration of this. He is never open. He is always controlling chusin, he meets uke with atemi (that’s not obvious) but perfectly cuts their chusin, and using awase and then musubi, naturally a technique is manifested.</p><p>She then says ah I got to start practicing again. And I then answered, you’re not going to like it. We don’t start with the soft and elegant looking aikido to get to that level. We start hard and strong. And through that pain, only we will get to that magical place of ephemeral and effortless aikido. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgH1ZQKkvGr1z9MJwj0duOgHqeEzoNN0lwTKdTTCRypdHOh0pTJkBLxcwBte_j3nwJcpu3s0rIPXDO1JpJrYfpuQ5fiAHoe_BY-BNPwyy8gT5UBADCuVauppCvx6eTjCAGdmrXa1QhUo/s2048/889EE547-1784-47DC-917A-5584DC6C4174.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgH1ZQKkvGr1z9MJwj0duOgHqeEzoNN0lwTKdTTCRypdHOh0pTJkBLxcwBte_j3nwJcpu3s0rIPXDO1JpJrYfpuQ5fiAHoe_BY-BNPwyy8gT5UBADCuVauppCvx6eTjCAGdmrXa1QhUo/s320/889EE547-1784-47DC-917A-5584DC6C4174.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-7646087562221211992017-12-08T04:46:00.000-08:002017-12-08T04:46:12.442-08:00Aikido Down UnderIt has been more than 20 years since I last went to Sydney, almost as long as the last time I wrote in this blog it seems like. Much has changed but the way of Aikido hasn't. How it is perfectly normal for aikidokas to travel the world and take time off from whatever their itinerary is to find a dojo to practice in. Lucky for me, I have friends in Australia.<br />
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Practicing in a dojo instead of teaching in one is a different game altogether. Despite my dojo being called aiki Shoshin, or beginners mind, I was lamenting not too long ago how difficult it is to keep that frame of mind. Especially as the years of practice adds up. You tend to think, I know most of this, what I want is to delve into the secrets. Pretty soon, instead of having a sincere learning experience, you start to analyze whoever it is that's doing the demonstration. Looking for their good points and bad points. No doubt, being analytic helps and stealing techniques is a valid way to learn. But honestly, nothing compares when you just let go of preconceptions. And become an empty vessel.<br />
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That was how I felt last week. A complete misogi in training. No worrying about who gets it and who doesn't, just focusing on myself and my partner. That, and catching my breath.<br />
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Obviously you tend to see this in older aikidokas who delve into teaching. Being attentive to class and the students, other daily routines taking up your time, all would inevitably lead to less personal training time. And consequently too much talk too little action. The age doesn't help either, and as things goes, it's a worsening spiral.<br />
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Therefore, before your aikido becomes more of a rethoric and a case of slow methodical examples in front of class, people like us should find time to practice aikido like when we first tried for our dan grade. Hours and hours of grueling honest work.<br />
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Having an 'Aiki mind' doesn't mean it's an excuse to having blubber around your tummy. And it's not even a good example for your students. Some of the best shihans around remain as trim and as fit as they were three decades ago. Kobuta sensei, takeda sensei, saotome sensei to name a few...<br />
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I guess what I wanted to share was how important this training was for me. I felt really clean afterwards. I think above all, practice should be like this. It must produce this cleansing each time we train.<br />
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<br />Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-20651776942177640842016-12-21T07:19:00.000-08:002016-12-21T07:19:31.707-08:0022nd December Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today we looked into beats. Just like the musician that reads his music following a particular tempo, the beginning student of aikido too can practice using tempo.<br />
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As uke attacks nage, nage takes that as the first beat. For nage to be successful, his harmonisation must occur in that first beat. Its better to have harmonise at zero beat, but for now, uniting with uke at the first beat should be the goal.<br />
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If for example the attack is katatedori aihanmi. Nage cannot start his technique after uke has grabbed him. There is latent potential power within uke that immediately follows that grab, that would overwhelm nage who moved after that first beat. Instead, nage unites with nage at the first beat and the first contact and lead him into the technique.<br />
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The second part of the class we concentrated on fulcrums. Again, this has a tie in to the first part of the lesson.<br />
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In order to understand unity, we need to understand distinct parts of our power. Again using katatedori ai hanmi, nage tries to move uke using his shoulder as a fulcrum, then his elbows, then his wrist. Finally, he tries to reconcile uke's power on his arm and uses that connection as a fulcrum instead. Done right, nage is able to move uke with ease.<br />
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We did explore a few key points on how to actually establish that connection. Simple things like making the connection gapless, not using bone to bone contact, stopping desire to move uke from overwhelming the movement, and other key basic principles being established beforehand.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-8428266646785272692014-07-14T19:51:00.002-07:002014-07-14T19:51:36.721-07:00Searching for Balance<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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Balance is like a buzzword in martial arts. If you look at movies and books, everyone talks about balance. Whether its balance of your internal energy, balance of left and right, balance with the opponents... and so forth. Yet for all its ubiquity not much depth in explanation or exploration is given to this very important aspect of life.<br />
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Osensei asked us or actually he told us, to observe nature is to study Aikido. (paraphrased). Well, again with these martial art saints, a one liner wisdom. So we have some students go out to nature, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends, to be with nature hoping that one time or another when he gets back to the dojo, Aikido's secret will open up to him somehow.<br />
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It is true that a lot of wisdom is garnered from observation. In the past, masters seek inspiration from animals and the forest and wisdom. But those things have been there for a millennia. There's been billions of people too, so why aren't there billions or even millions of different martial arts? I believe though that for for most people, true observation is beyond them. If we cannot even observe our own body and mind and spirit, I doubt we have much to learn from observing nature itself.<br />
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Right now, we are in the middle of the muslim's fasting month or ramadhan. Muslims around the world are observing fasting from before dawn to the after dusk each day, abstaining not only from food and water, but also other desires driven by the ego. Abstaining from 'wants' and 'desires' so to speak. They are also asked to perform more good deeds, such as charity, learning, helping and worship of all kinds. Yet this month is also in the pinnacle of the 2014 world cup. Life goes on too, we have work in the morning, traffic jams in the afternoon and the Palestinians are dying by the hundreds.<br />
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Oops, it appears this blog now contains political inspiration and religious connotations. Where is the Aikido then? Well today, we are speaking about balance. True Aikido requires its assimilation in the daily life, and balance is a key component. Not just balance written in the first paragraph, but also a balance of self and others, of the worldly and the spiritual. When Osensei kept harping about spirituality as the key of unlocking Aiki, most of his students (I mean almost all of his students) just could not accept it. Some, true to human nature, mocked him quietly that the old man's lost his marbles. Yet, this is a fundamental aspect of human balance. The atheists and the secular would say their piece now, let them. I'm not judging and I'm not preaching. The purpose of writing here is to remind myself of my journey. Perhaps looking back at it in another 10 years, I might have gotten everything wrong... or then again, maybe it was the right step at the right time that will lead to my future progress. Who knows.<br />
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There are money examples that we can find to make sense of this actually. A lot of people find faith strengthens them. But faith is meant to soften the heart as well, and .... harden it. We are asked to show mercy because God is merciful to us in his bounty and gifts. But we are taught to be merciless in fighting oppression and injustice. Being kind is not just by helping someone with money and food and love. Sometimes a greater kindness is to cut him up. A doctor saving a patient with gangrene may cut the person's leg off. Sure we understand its mercy now and its medicinal knowledge. But think about it... centuries back, no one knew. The first doctor to cut open his patient to conduct a heart surgery and a cornea surgery was a muslim doctor. (turkey or India, I can't remember). Back then it was a game changer. How could he have every convinced someone to allow him to cut their body open to fix it up?<br />
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Yet again this violence done, it was done with knowledge and faith in that knowledge. That knowledge gained through hard work, experimentation and the gradual building up of experience through lesser components was also in the end Godsent.<br />
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How true then the art of beheading for the samurai. The way to kill is not anything new. Hit a person's head with something hard enough and he will die for sure. But the Japanese have it down to an art level. Beautiful someone would say when watching a master wield his sword. Elegant. Simple and yet so deadly. Is the art of killing so beautiful that one would praise it? Life is not that cheap that it should be ended by a stab in the dark, a bullet in the head, a rope around the neck, a needle in the vein, or a missile in the dead of the night. To kill someone in combat with skill and faith in oneself is to appreciate death. To feel its close embrace, one would appreciate living all the more. When you can see your opponent's sweat, tears, pain and fear, you see a human being. It makes killing him all the more momentous. Because if you can emphatise with a human being, how would you be able to harm him. Harming another being is like harming yourself. Yet, if in harming this person you are doing great kindness, and you act with full conviction of faith that has its foundation on love and mercy, you shield yourself from destruction with spirituality.<br />
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It is a fact that combat veterans comeback with many a disorder and malady. Research shows that in most modern military conflicts, at least a while back, that most soldiers shoot their enemies deliberately aiming to miss. and vice versa. That for most human beings, killing another is apprehensible and unnatural. For most of us, we would like to be kind and happy with other people. Think about it. Would you like to go out there and fight with a total stranger, or would you rather make new friends so that you can enjoy his company?<br />
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That is why, when you do go to combat, you have to go there for the absolute right reasons. Human beings lie to each other, most human beings are selfish. We know that, because its a genetic make up to ensure our own survival... over other if need be. So you don't actually know whether going to combat is for the right reason especially if you are a career soldier where questions aren't asked. But a bushi... a bushi or a warrior is not a mindless beast. He has a mind and he has a heart and he needs his faith to justify and bolster him. A samurai is a servant to a higher ideal. He is not a gangster with a sword. He dispenses violence in the path of greater good. A person who actually does that will not find himself rotting inside and expressing this outwardly with hard to pronounce diseases. A person who is selfless and kills other human beings because of faith and conviction would have balanced his deed.<br />
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And this understanding is desirous in our pursuit of martial arts. We cannot continue to learn a martial art like Aikido as if it is life's answer to everything. Like a dance routine with our partners. Like a temple to spew koans like a grasshopper's master. Like a hobby we get off after a long day. Aikido in all its temperament find its roots as a martial arts. Osensei may have told us about love and harmony. Yet what is harmony? I believe we have misunderstood harmony as rainbows and pink unicorns. Harmony is the balance and assimilation of the hard and soft. Skewed either way, and human life would be imbalanced. We would suffer within ourselves if the balance remains unaddressed. I don't mean to advocate killing and violence in our practice, but understanding it in our practice is crucial. Using it with faith when called upon is an absolute necessary. You cannot practice a warriors heart without tempering your heart to wilfully enter the path of upholding justice. In whatever form it takes, physical, words or mental, you must stand with the higher good. Otherwise there is no balance.<br />
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Lastly, this is also the path of Aiki. Aiki is neither soft or hard. But appropriate.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-36945932731649105392013-10-16T09:55:00.000-07:002013-10-16T19:32:39.968-07:00Receiving shomenuchi - The Three Ways<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Firstly, the truth of why you are seeing less and less of my postings here is that I'm taking more time to digest my lessons. Learning now takes longer and while at times I feel I understand certain things better, I also realise that I still don't understand enough.<br />
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Anyway, in today's training I was thinking of the three ways we meet shomenuchi.<br />
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1. The wave<br />
2. Opening the door<br />
3. The irimi cut<br />
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Before this, I've taken all three as seperate methods or techniques. But as I explored it today, I feel I understand that the three are levels of the same thing. With the wave, the no 2 won't work as well. Without no 2, no 3 wouldn't work either.<br />
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In the wave, the attackers power is diminished upwards upon contact. And we follow this with a cut through his center using our center as impetus. The sword doesn't cleave, it shears and so should our center movement.<br />
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In opening the door, for it to work we cannot wait for contact. The wave must be implemented well before contact and this as his power dimishes, we can safely contact his attacking hand and at that point in time, use chushin to move his center away.<br />
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In 3, we cannot irimi and cut without diminishing uke's power and then changing his line of attack using no 2, and only then irimi and cut. If you try to avoid uke's cut by sidestepping, inevitably, the uke will change direction to follow suit,<br />
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Well practice this more. For now, its bed time to reflect.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-86458371029781348512013-03-02T09:54:00.003-08:002013-03-02T09:54:51.440-08:00Kenjutsu seminar March 2013This is going to be a real quick post for the current seminar I'm having, a sort of forget me notes come sharing. There's a lot of nuggets of information he is sharing and its great to experience koryu based kenjutsu training. For those of you still practicing aiki ken only, it'll be a good step up from there.<br />
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I'll probably do a rewrite soon after this. But don't expect any photos or videos. Too busy training to get any of that....<br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Practise without opening the mind is wasted energy. With goals and laced with principles the practise is a step by step method of approaching mastery. Winning is reward of concentration. Concentration is like a tight beam of light. As you shine it to various spots in the darkness, you will eventually be aware of the entire surrounding. As practitioners of budo we must pay attention to that.<br /><br />Iaijutsu<br />Tennonichi<br />Gripping the sword at the hon line or natural line. The sword is held by sticky hands. Awase.<br />The little finger holds it in place and has a small hollow.<br />kesa is the angle temple to nose.<br />Neck to armpit.<br />Elbow to hip. Etc.<br />Sword to draw is held at kesa.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Thumb is removed from tsunami maintaining oblique position and is now releasing the ken from the saya.<br />Butt of sword faces opponent.<br />This is maintained when transferring from right to left.<br />Tsuba is always guarded by thumb.<br />The peak of a draw has the sword above the head.<br />Employ ki ken tai. Body never moves before the sword.<br />Cutting is stopped using the wing muscle of the draw hand. Body is now oblique.<br /><br />At kamae the situation is reversed. Left hand is strong. Right is soft and guiding.<br />The cut is soft hard soft but always leading through the little finger. Ki extends outwards.<br /><br />Drawing also uses the chest, not the hands. Sinking is employed. Curve of the sword is maintained at all times. The sword feels like its been thrown and then held back.<br /><br />12 tanjo techniques.<br />1. Right leg back. Lock elbow. Hon te. Overhand swing with step in. Follow strike.<br />2. Right leg forward. Retreat suriashi. Hand comes around and strikes. Follow up.<br />3. Left leg fwd. Drop with right knee fwds. Right hand holds up tanjo midsection. Strikes elbows as in wave. Strike body with left hand. Rise up to the right controlling the elbow.<br />4. Right leg fwds. Strike upwards follow up with high barai with left leg step in. Left hand at temple guard. Strike. Drop hands to control sword. Trap ankle with left feet. Strike armpit.<br />5. Uchi. Three steps end left feet fwd. Hold tanjo lower. Kaiten. Irimi with strike. Left hand comes upward and replaces right hand. Ikkyo.<br />6. Left leg fwd. Switch feet drop to knee strike solar.<br />7. Right leg fwd. Suriashi back. Strike solar.<br />8. Upwards strike to displace ken.<br />9. Upwards strike but off line. Hit ken and hit right temple.<br />10. Uke is drawing and kesa giri. Step back with kesa guard. Hit twice.<br />11. Left leg kneeling with strike to shin. Stand up strike elbow ans body.<br />12. Tanjo behind neck. Maai. Nage feints cut and tsuki. Parry left and enter body strike.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sent from Samsung Mobile</span></div>
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Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-18386234957849218352013-01-02T03:36:00.002-08:002013-01-02T03:37:21.556-08:00Some Gifs of Sensei's latest Aiki IntensivesDecember 2012<br />
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The techniques shown are a variation. They are more circular as opposed to sharp/straight cuts we are more used to.<br />
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<br />Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-75415298288530758722012-11-24T04:06:00.001-08:002012-11-24T04:18:54.552-08:00How are we learning?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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A couple of weeks back, I returned to UK for a short holiday. There, I managed to visit my old sensei's John and Sarah, and their ex-master Sensei Kolesnikov. It was as always an enjoyable training. Somehow I feel invigorated and excited whenever I train in my old dojo... perhaps it was because of the Ki Aikido slant, or perhaps of their unique way of teaching and training.<br />
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Anyway, I've sensed the changes a few years back in terms of their relationship between the two dojos. But it was a closure for me to actually talk to them about it. For John and Sarah, they felt the need to improve themselves pushed them into breaking away from the main dojo to explore the art with other sensei's... and not necessarily with those of the Ki Society and its ilk. Having met with Ikeda Sensei and a few others in Europe, they felt that what they had was too constraining. And so they left to pursue this knowledge elsewhere. Without a doubt, there may always come that time when we feel our paths branches away from those who are with us. All of us have our own journey to make and sometimes those paths may align together, sometimes not. John and Sarah felt the draw of new found knowledge and felt that growth can come from there.<br />
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This is one way of learning. Learning from a new perspective, or learning new techniques, methods, skill. This way of learning expands your skill set. Yet, through it all, I felt that their Aikido has not far detract from their original school. The fudo genri is embedded into their being that the Aikido they do is more familiar than different.<br />
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Visiting Sensei K's dojo the next day, I honestly think what I just said is true. The mould is set and their style is no different then their previous master. However, Sensei K has not waited or petrified his Aikido as well. Whilst he has not ventured into different ways to practice his Aikido, or looking outwards as it were, he has to some extent look inwards.<br />
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The outwards that I mentioned earlier is looking beyond your existing knowledge. Looking from somebody else to teach you something new. Looking inwards, is delving into the existing knowledge. Trying to refine it or explore it in different ways. So with Sensei K, he does the latter... perhaps venturing a bit into dance, into spirituality, or gaining insight from research.<br />
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Both methods of learning are valid. As a new born, our first task is to learn new things. As quickly as we can. At the same time, practicing each new thing until we master it... during this time our progress and knowledge gathering is at its peak. It gets harder and harder to learn new things as we grow up.<br />
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We can attribute this to gradual increase of difficulty in our knowledge curve, or memory loss, or lack of time, or our own mental blocks i.e. set and myopic views, etc. But when we were most innocent, knowledge came rapidly.<br />
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Our choice day to day, is to either keep learning or hold tight to what we have. Sometimes you can see that people refuse to acknowledge something new because it goes contrary to their current knowledge or beliefs. In refusing to open their mind, they lie in themselves but are comforted by the unchanged state the find themselves in. For most, a strange new idea is very frightening indeed.<br />
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How do we learn?<br />
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Do we keep on doing the same things again and again? Go to dojo, back home, go to dojo, back home. Day in day out, week in week out and for years... do we find ourselves in the same cave?<br />
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Or do we think on what we do? Reflect how it works? Remember and think about the messages and clues our teachers gave us? Do we practice to get better or to defeat Uke?<br />
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We have to keep this in mind everytime we practice. Its very important especially in Aikido where learning comes from feeling our partner out. If we kept practicing selfishly, i.e. imposing our will as nage upon uke, we will never change for the better. We may get fit and stronger, but Aikido may forever be beyond our grasp. Instead, from feeling comes understanding.<br />
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Think about sorewaza kokyuho. A most basic but very important exercise we do each session. What is it about two hands parallel grab whilst kneeling that can be important enough that Osensei always had it in his classes? It doesn't even make sense in reality.<br />
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Yet it holds the key to all of Aikido. For my level, I feel its understanding energy and power. We want to move uke but without 'wanting' or 'using' power. Instead we must feel his power and return it to him. How do we do this? Imagine a walkalator. If you stood on a walkalator heading your way, then you need not do anything but you will move forward. But if you were to walk against a walkalators direction, you'll most likely be held in place or at the best, expending tremendous effort to move forwards as opposed to walking normally on the ground. And that is how Uke is holding us. A walkalator in the opposite direction. So how do we use his power instead of ours? Imagine the walkalator as a conveyor belt. Even as it moves forwards on one side, the bottom side returns to its source. Thus his walkalator is in fact two directions. Similarly, uke's energy is like that too.<br />
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His hands may be pushing against you, but there is a return path. Curiously enough you may use the bottom of the walkalator as an honest analogy of the energy path. Don't push against his direction, instead use his return energy and move forward. You will find that sorewaza forms the basis of all awase.acTehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-68648224795039981492012-07-16T09:50:00.003-07:002012-07-16T09:50:55.456-07:00The Progression from Unification of Self to Unification of Others<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We know that <i>fudo genri</i> is closely related to the first level of Aikido which is unification of self. But I think I get how important <i>Chushin</i> really is now. Learning to feel center, to be relaxed, to move without wanting to move, to extend ki all leads to establishing a good centerline. With that, movement becomes Aikido movement. Without <i>chushin</i> being the backbone, we are just like jelly fish no matter how much muscle or speed we put into our movements. If we only know how important<i> kamae</i> and <i>sorewaza</i> really is. And I'm beginning to appreciate<i> kata dori</i> more and more. And Ikkyo, wow. How did such a boring technique become so so Important? Even more so than<i> iriminage</i>! One would have thought that<i> iriminage</i> is so much more useful, but hey...Without proper <i>Ikkyo</i>, it's doubtful you could even enter into <i>iriminage. </i>If you're still pushing your <i>ikkyo</i>, then its high time to start practicing more cuts.<br />
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And then, all those exercises with our partner. Those attacks. We get to feel their ki, their tension, their muscles, their balance, their center. And then we learn to manipulate this using our centerline, and we also learn to connect our center to theirs. Then we learn to move their center with ours. And later we learn to move it from feeling. Then quite possibly later, we get to feel his center even without physical contact and then even to move his center from that distance. This is just wonderful! An art that constantly has layers upon layers for us to explore and discover. Its just great. I don't care if I'll ever use it or not, just by having the chance to practice this is reward enough for me.<br />
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I wonder how and what I will discover in Unifying with the universe level...I know its still a long way to go. But will I hear the Sound of Earth? Will I hear the Sound of Heaven? And after that...Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-88773573826264738682012-06-30T04:51:00.000-07:002012-06-30T04:51:58.606-07:00The Art and The Labor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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The Malays have a saying, <i>tak kenyang sesuap nasi, </i>what it means is 'you can't sate your hunger with a handful of rice'. What it actually means is that, if you were to practice once, you are unlikely to 'get it', just like eating rice... you need to eat more than a handfuls and so practice has to be more often done.<br />
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Most times both the teacher and the student falls into the trap of instant gratification, more so in this very capitalistic modern world that we live in. For a generation where the currency has no intrinsic value behind it, it is very ironic that we equate reward to the amount of dollars we spend. So for this generation, where there are endless 'masters' and instructors and teachers willing to teach you the secret of any art in return for some moolah, they expect a reasonable rate of return for the money they've spent.<br />
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Now this is kind of an arbitrary reading of the current situation, but on a whole it is true. Especially when it comes to children's classes. After all, you'd have parents remove their child from a school that consistently fails them or any slight grouse for that matter. It is kind of tricky, since teaching martial arts to children is pretty dubious at best.<br />
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I'm all for training them young, but modern kids are not the shaolin young un's whose parents had allowed the temple to adopt them because they can't support their own children. Nor are they the Thai kids whose crazy regime in Muay Thai is the only way out of poverty for the top 10%. These children are in survival mode. They understand that the only way for them to survive to adulthood and make a decent living is to practice hard and rise to the top of the ranks in their martial arts/sport. Our society sends the kids to the dojo to collect certificates for their extra curricular activity. Its not even close.<br />
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Not to disparage the kids, the adults that join modern dojos are more often than not the same... a way to exercise, a way to rid of excess energy or stress, a hobby and what not. Where is the serious practice that is expected of martial artists? Martial artists who in yesteryears practice no less than 4-6 hours a day, because slacking means death? That's the point isn't it? Slacking in your Aikido practice is unlikely going to be the cause of your death in this modern times. Thus, the real motivation for practicing martial arts is no longer the same as before.<br />
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Nevertheless, individuals practice for their own reasons, and whatever those reasons may be, the desire to train is there. As little or as hard as they practice is irrelevant. The fact is, with desire of knowledge, one must invest time and effort. A skill is learned, not bought. Thus to be skilled in Aikido, first you must have a wish to be so, second you must labor for it. That's the simple truth.<br />
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Now a lot of people may have fall in love with everything that's nice about Aikido and they may wish to have the skills to the same. But wishing to be an artist and buying the paint and canvas doesn't make one an artist. So love the art, but working hard is the only way you can become an artist.<br />
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I write this not just to remind anyone reading this, but mostly for myself. As I get older, with more kids and more work, its so easy to put Aikido in the back burner. But I saw something in this art. As effective and lethal silat may be, and more practical one would say, there is something unique about Aikido done well that it still has a part to play in my life. I fervently wish that I can live up to the art.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-75940803162434837402012-02-03T16:46:00.000-08:002012-02-03T16:52:14.106-08:00Weapons are Not just for killingWorking with weapons really opens up your mind. For an art like Aikido, reliance on empty hand techniques for practice but raving on and on about how we derive our art from the sword and spear is ludicrous. <br />
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Adding weapons Enlarges the scope of your training. It creates a tangible element to increase your awareness of intangible concepts like maai and chushin among others.<br />
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By using a weapon for both uke and nage, they create another layer. Whereas with the empty hands they only have their hands and body to worry about. Thus with the hands so closely attached to the body, most nage don't realise that they are too close or too far from nage. With a weapon, immediately the tool shows them of the effectiveness of their distance and positioning. It's like an Aikido ruler and leveler all in one.<br />
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There's also a paradox. With weapons uke tends to engage nage better. It's as if they are empowered and override their fear to engage nage properly with an attack. Perhaps the length of the weapon encourages them to attack properly because they feel less threatened. Shorter hands means hat nage accesses their body too easily. With weapons, there is now this tangible extra distance that they get. Interesting, convincing, but in reality there's no difference.<br />
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Training with weapons also teach both nage and uke superior positioning and when the end game has arrived. At which point where recovery is none existent. And before that point arrives, what can be done. As you do better, that point gets lessen to the point where it's none existent at the point of attack. But the discovery to that alone helps speed the process of learning.<br />
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Obviously the weapons you use will to a certain extent dictate what training you can do. Equating a Jo to a sword to a knife is like saying a skateboard, a surfboard and a snowboard are one of the same. <br />
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No one expects the training to be an Indepth mastery of the weapon though. Learning with weapons is meant to enhance the Aikido training, not teach you mastery of the weapon or over the weapon. In some respect realists will question the validity of that training if it doesn't accomplish either. Might it be that the training is then just self gratification? A delusion cooked up by men wearing skirts to validate their martial efficacy?<br />
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To a certain extent, anything going on the modern dojo would probably be closer to delusion than the reality. The fact is, most of us have no combat experience and are unlikely to get one anytime soon. Nor are we teaching special ops on the use of knives and swords on the off chance they meet a group of super ninja villains that dodges assault weapon fire with ease but die comparatively easily against some fancy kicks and knife throwing skill. <br />
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It is enough that the weapon creates focus ap for the training that we do. If we understand that aikido principles are applied regardless, we stand the chance to use those principles when there's a need for it. Since we are followers of a Way, it suits us to train this way.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-22713114732454717602012-01-15T22:47:00.000-08:002012-01-15T22:47:57.335-08:00The Eyes That DecieveFor martial artists, the eyes has always played a major role. The method of seeing is shared in many different arts, some with different emphasis and rationale but always explainable.<br />
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There comes a stage though where to obtain perfect vision, we have to abandon the eyes we have. Musashi apparently wrote the need for a budoka to see what is there and what isn't there. I do not need to explain that the meaning is not literal here.<br />
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So what is perfect vision? Well to take it step by step, first we ask what is timing? Surely timing requires some understanding of causal relationship between uke and nage. Thus timing is all about reacting in the appropriate manner, at the appropriate speed, angle and force and at the appropriate moment. Now that is a lot of appropriate variables. Are our eyes up to it? Typically our eyes connect to the cerebral cortex before allowing for reaction by the brains logic. Studies have shown that this speed is slower than that of reaction that comes from the medula oblangata. Further studies have shown that well practiced martial artists have short circuited the reaction time by using trained reflexes triggered by the medula oblangata. And that's why we are suitably impressed at boxers who weaves around the explosive jabs, and baseball players that bats incoming 180mph balls with such skill. Using just the normal eye to cerebral cortex reaction time, these feats are impossible. <br />
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Still, bypassing the longer route is not yet Perfect vision. When perfect vision occurs, uke himself understands that nage no longer has an opening. He feels constraint to attack anywhere. Nage has complete control of uke by just seeing uke's center even without doing anything. And if uke attacks anyway, nage can move casually not at all requiring speed and reflexes to counter the attack. <br />
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To get to perfect vision, one can no longer use the eyes alone. But knowing exactly where uke's center is and starting with nage's positioning of perfect alignment to that line.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-84876141308669363132011-12-10T05:00:00.000-08:002011-12-10T05:00:07.565-08:00Giving and ReceivingIt can only be chance that it is in this month that I thought about giving and receiving in Aikido. Not that it's by any chance a new concept...<br />
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Part of the landscape of Aikido is that you need to rise above the act of wanting and doing and reacting. Not in the, let the flow of the winds guide me, laissez faire kinda way. But something like, following a path of acceptance. <br />
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Somebody said, 'pasrah' is giving up, 'rela' is acceptance. Such a simple wisdom. We are not giving up, we don't 'allow' things to go every which way. But neither do we fight tooth and nail against something. This middle path of acceptance is benign yet not passive.<br />
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In the act of receiving, we put into our minds that the energy or vibe uke provides is a gift for us and it is ours to receive. This energy could be a strike, a kiai, a grab, a kick or any number of things. But ultimately it must become ours to do as we wish.<br />
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In the act of giving, and it should always begin with this in fact, even with receiving, we give sincerely our energy to uke. Even before a single inch of movement is made, our hearts and mind have started giving. A simple way to give without depleting yourself is to give love. Love every thing around you like the world and the universe loves you. Not the person, not the name, but the essence.<br />
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If we can achieve this thoroughly, it would be very difficult to displace your center. Another person may try to attack you verbally or through his actions or inaction, but because you are perpetually in the state of unconditional giving, you would not be disturbed. <br />
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Imagine you are a glass of water and some takes a sip out of you. You'll find gradually that you become less and less. Or if someone adds ice cubes into your already full glass, you'll find that you will overflow. These are factors that affect you beyond your control. To maintain a state that cannot be disturb we must change our being from being a static cup. We must instead be something like a river or a well. By continuously giving water to everyone all the time, people taking water from you or dumping ice blocks in you will not change your state. Your volume would remain consistent.<br />
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It is in this context that I'm thinking our Aikido should be like.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-30728243216170104782011-10-23T18:26:00.000-07:002011-10-23T18:26:41.629-07:00Shu Ha RiContinuing from my earlier post...<br />
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The meaning of Shu Ha Ri can easily be confused when one examines it's 3 different character on it's own instead of in context to each other. The most common misinterpretation is that Shu Ha Ri divides keiko into three distinct parts or periods.<br />
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This way of thinking advocates a student to experiment and think up of 'different' or his own interpretation of techniques and principles and even training methods. It is construed that after a certain time in shu, he now has the ability to foster Ha in his training and finally end up with a new Ri...<br />
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What Sensei explained is a bit different. <br />
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Shu Ha Ri is to completely train in the path of your teacher. To train in a way that everything is the first and the last. If you continue training the path of Shu this way, you automatically enter the state of Ha. And down the road of mastery, Ri is realized whether you try or not. You might be convinced that what you are doing is exactly what your teacher has taught you, but others will see that your Aikido is different while retaining the similar foundations.<br />
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In a way it may jive with Osensei's comment that all techniques come spontaneously and cannot be repeated. That is the way of Aiki. But in Shu Ha Ri, it is not the pursuit of 'unlimited techniques' that concerns us. In Shu Ha Ri lies the foundation that becomes the base for the essence of Aikido to latch on to.<br />
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Needless to say, if your final intent is to grow apples, then the seed being planted must be an apple seed.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-67417528528654243952011-10-23T10:21:00.000-07:002011-10-23T10:21:15.905-07:00Aiki Camp 2011Just came back and I've much to think about, and practice. This time around I didn't bother taking any videos at all. It's pretty useless in an Aiki context anyway. There were a lot of things I wanted to write down, but basically couldn't keep up with the flow of information coming in. So I'll try to put down what I can...<br />
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22/10<br />
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When asked, Osensei answered that Aikido comprises 2 elements - heat and light<br />
Spiritual<br />
Bushin<br />
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If it's just light then we'll be doing meditation only. If it's just heat, then we'll get stuck fighting. But in budo, martial and spiritual cannot be separated. The greatest power is love. While it may sound like a Whitney song, that doesn't mean it's not true. A true force of good cannot be destroyed. And the truth is, nothing is created evil. <br />
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Our purpose in aikido is to find the light in our hearts. The light originating from the Source. The reason behind our creation, to reflect His will in our actions. To think we are significant when we should picture the universe in our minds. It's vastness and our relative significance... In size we would be smaller than an electron. In impact, we would't be approaching zero. Yet mankind continuously believe that the universe revolves around us.<br />
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Thus we approach aikido the same way. To do unto others instead of just following the course of nature.<br />
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Aiki sukomi for ryo kata was a new thing I learned today. The grip we usually use is for pulling mostly. Now using sukomi, it would be easier to control the opponent.<br />
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Atari. Tai atari. Equalize the energy of the movement. There is no retreat or hesitation or doubt.<br />
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To progress to awase, use spirit atari. The body allow loosening.<br />
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Tai awase. Body shaping. But also fill the shape as a 2nd method. Then put the power in the connection as the third method. But loosen the other parts of the arm. The 3rd method eludes me at this point in time. But I think it's similar in the Hino videos where he clenched and unclenches his arm.<br />
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2nd session <br />
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Atari - there is no direction.<br />
I'm only cutting and that's why uke's energy stops.<br />
So if I continue to project forward spirit atari, guiding his energy or pulling his energy might be hard. (still possible I think)<br />
Instead the feeling of acceptance is atari. Accept not just receiving. Accept is acTive. You 'switch on' atari before a confrontation. This way you manifest a connection to uke. As he contacts with you, atari powers the blending of energy. Of unifying the opposing force, becoming unity with the other. Then tying this unity up before 'doing' something is musubi. At awase level, it is still possible for uke to escape.<br />
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During musubi I frequently lose contact with uke's center. Connection center to center is still required at musubi level. Without continuous atari, awase and musubi is not possible.<br />
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Musubi with his energy... Feels like eka moves the contact point where atari contacts. He doesn't move you just that point. Also, possibly and easier method is to start with atari, awase at contact and realizing the musubi point. Before doing higher level musubi exercises, originate the movement for musubi contact with your center and affect his center.<br />
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most times we go straight to skin or try to move the contact point. But imagine anchoring his center with yours and only then move the musubi contact point.<br />
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A mistake to avoid is during static exercise to wait. Or after musubi is achieved to think. T do this naturally is to train until feeling musubi contact point becomes natural. And 2nd to move or guide or listen to contact point movement becomes automatic. <br />
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One exercise to pass through a first person into the 2nd person requires feeling him through another. A physical movement will never result in anything in that situation. If it's just transfer then perhaps momentum and spiraling can help but not passing through. That's just mind power.<br />
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In loosening and absorbing... Atari never stops. Relaxation is very important too. Center and chushin power is needed to establish power line. Then to let the movement realize itself.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-36811842208585975152011-09-18T05:04:00.000-07:002011-09-18T05:04:16.519-07:00Limits and Their Possibilities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3YWDQEFDi177Ec0I8-SfZLP1-Dt7LDCzXbcbY6SvoWC-cQ6g9B9iXmnjKQ8v2xX7O-oezDGfuBFYsZRHnwabnQSWjgCyIxM0HQs-TMRVGZtXoEbrDUeDMnbeesOgD1mwV0UXLENvpeU/s1600/1331388_chainlink_fence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3YWDQEFDi177Ec0I8-SfZLP1-Dt7LDCzXbcbY6SvoWC-cQ6g9B9iXmnjKQ8v2xX7O-oezDGfuBFYsZRHnwabnQSWjgCyIxM0HQs-TMRVGZtXoEbrDUeDMnbeesOgD1mwV0UXLENvpeU/s1600/1331388_chainlink_fence.jpg" /></a></div>I think we live in a world that's afraid of losing. As much as they are afraid of losing, they are even more indignant of imposed limits. Strange considering we live by so many laws.<br />
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The problem being, we see laws most often as an injustice. Something imposed by those more powerful than us, and exploitative in that they predominantly become one sided. These are human laws of course, created by whims and fancies of rulers in the guise of benevolence and the 'I know what's good for you, because you sure the hell don't'. This line of thinking is not new and exists since the time of masters and slaves, colonization through the 'white man's burden' appeal and a slew of other motto and slogans.<br />
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This innate fear and distrust of laws and limitations then psychologically affects us and scars us and see us shrink from laws and limits. It doesn't help that we have so many motivational courses and television shows that inspire us to break such limits. But inadvertently, it would appear that there's a caveat to just who can break those limits. Heroes and heroines yes, second rate characters (i.e. you and me and cousin bob need not apply please) a resounding NO.<br />
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So whilst the carrot hangs from the string saying we can break do limitless things if only we TRY, success rates of course depends on how good looking you are, or which pedigree you come from, or some other random factor of the day. The masses get to look on with awe and enthusiasm how one person overcome the odds and defeated the bad guys.<br />
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What in the world am I talking about and how does it relate to Aikido? Well its those said limits you see. As I've mentioned there are man-made limits and there are natural limits. I will go on to define that natural limits are limits imposed on God to us. This limit is different to that of man-made limits, which is absolute in how it rules upon others, but it can be broken and it can be redrawn according to whims of the PTB (refer Anne Mccaffray on this). Whereas God limits are absolute yet has different tiers.<br />
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I believe God limits not because He wants to impose on us, but because He is benevolent. Most times those limits are absolute barriers to entry, but they can be surpassed if you reach a higher tier of understanding.<br />
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Now most will answer to this, what crock. Here's a man who can't achieve anything with his own strength and ability and is now blaming God. Actually no. I believe that limits imposed by Gods do give us targets to live by. Live within the limits and you will be happy. There shouldn't be this all encompassing greediness to see what more can I have. Yet at the same time, there are avenues that you could use to surpass some of those limits. And that's through knowledge, hardwork and sincerity. Therefore, in His eyes, everyone is an equal. They are all equally limited and they are all equally gifted. You decide who you want to be.<br />
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If I wanted to explain more about man made limits, I'd think about matrix. Its so extraordinary that such a film could be so profound in its observations. 'Human beings couldn't survive without the remote possibility that a single hero can bring them freedom' obviously reworded through memory but in essence, the Matrix which is a simulacrum of a normal life human beings have on earth was created perfect without even a hint of it being a program that is basically a virtual prison. But the AI discovered that the perfect matrix caused the human batteries to wither and die. The mind couldn't accept the perfect world. It couldn't accept the matrix as reality because it wasn't. Somehow the mind knew it was a lie, and that lie needed an outlet of escape. Not that they or every human in there would choose to escape, but enough that the knowledge of the lie is there and that should someone try, the possibility of escape would be there. Isn't that cool?<br />
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Also, limits are there sometimes in the form of our physical capability. You limit your range of motion so as not to injure yourself. You limit your power so you don't injure others. You limit movement so you can practice or isolate on areas that are weak. In so many ways, limits are really really helpful.<br />
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In our daily practice, sometimes we have our ups and downs. And surely one time or rather you wish you lived without limited capacity. You wished you could do this and that. Yet... is the time right?<br />
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Dave Lowry once wrote that his Sensei made him fumble through a Kata all summer until finally gave a simple line of advice, to shift his weight at just this point. Amazingly it allowed Dave to finally complete his Kata flawlessly. Only 1 bit of an advice that surely at some point in the future he would have found out on his own. Also, that surely could have saved him some 3 months of pointless training!<br />
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Yet... thinking about it. Would it really? Would that advice have worked 3 months ago before all that hardwork, that failure, the experience of living through it all? The knowledge was capped until he was ready. Too early it would have been useless, too late... well then it would have been too late.<br />
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In our practice, don't see limits as limitations. Think of them as beneficial steps that act as guides to our journey. Going over at the wrong time would send us to the cliff below without the necessary equipment to save us. But remember only men believe in absolute limits that are imposed. We however should live by God's rule instead.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-78675547736325370252011-09-15T04:58:00.000-07:002011-09-15T04:58:21.324-07:00Atari and Chushin, the Gozo Shioda demo or something like that...Well, for want of a better word I'm using Atari here for a particular training exercise. You see Gozo Shioda doing this very often. And Inoue sensei as well, following his teacher's style. Though it is impressive, it doesn't require you to have a stronger body than that of your opponent. So how is it that an apparently weaker and smaller old man can let fly an uke stronger and younger and who is charging at him at full speed?<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpf3goYw8p6dsC4V8pyLEmVdvyt_agz2LtJl-VfKpMPn7-J2jVndWNCUWvCtoT1O7CGq21ZVE98PuLLIvMVFT4RGeSQzHEOXLvHzdlp0hMdW5fJBWAOt-qIRSlPeHOlLW53auPYiCgHes/s1600/gz3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpf3goYw8p6dsC4V8pyLEmVdvyt_agz2LtJl-VfKpMPn7-J2jVndWNCUWvCtoT1O7CGq21ZVE98PuLLIvMVFT4RGeSQzHEOXLvHzdlp0hMdW5fJBWAOt-qIRSlPeHOlLW53auPYiCgHes/s1600/gz3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic from Koshinkan Aikido Website</td></tr>
</tbody></table>According to Kancho, its all about timing. I think though, its a whole lot more than that. Sensei does this type of demonstration too, however nothing too frontal. Most of the time his frontal demonstration which is similar starts from ryotedori instead. However, with uke charging against his shoulders or chest, sensei invariably always turns on his chushin. Uke always flies but not back to where he came from, instead it feels like pushing against a secret wall that turns on you and your hands got sticky glue so you can't let go until of course you find yourself falling...<br />
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Its not something you can replicate just by spinning. But I think I'm beginning to see how it works.<br />
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First off, it all begins with kamae. If you can stand in kamae with your center in advance position and you can actually move from center instead of legs then you could probably do this.<br />
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Basically its about advancing your chushin as if you are moving forwards being drawn by it but not yet quite reaching the stage where you need to move your feet. As uke touches you, your imaginary kamae is touching his centerline too (your hands are by the side in this case), turn from chushin and watch uke fly. Or at least that's what we hope would happen.<br />
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Trying to stablise your posture with your legs, you will find that when uke comes, invariably their power will snag into you and in the worst case plant your weights on your feet. The give of the body also sucks any power that you could have utilised.<br />
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Conversely, toughening up your body or meeting forward with body movement when Uke comes will usually lead to a clash of power that dries up any force you could have used.<br />
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Its not muscle power, its centerline. Its not timing, its sense, its not bracing with force, its atari.<br />
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I think that's about it...<br />
Um yes, its not the actual Gozo Shioda's signature demo... but something like it. His demo has got to start from this one I think. But until I actually find out, I'm not gonna bet on my words.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-60062893811207612882011-09-02T08:08:00.000-07:002011-09-02T08:08:57.373-07:00Is Aiki body or Mind?Now, take this post the way its meant to be taken. A student pondering, not a discourse of the subject Aiki.<br />
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There have been many discussion on Aiki, its origins,what exactly is it, who has it, no he doesn't have it...etc. Throughout its history, never has such an open secret be so thoroughly explored, misinterpreted and argued more than the subject Aiki amongst its fervent worshippers... the Aikidoka's and all the Aiki Jutsu related schools of Japan.<br />
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Some have even ventured into the Chinese Martial Arts (CMA) in the hopes of finding the secret from the 'source' of Japanese martial arts, or so they say. Many books have been written, obviously, most will point that the origin of Aikido's Aiki stems from Daito Ryu, and most rightly so I suppose. Because it is an accepted fact that Osensei couldn't beat Takeda when he first encountered his teacher, even though his past opponents never presented much threat to him. It is with Takeda that Osensei's illustrious career as an undefeated warrior began.<br />
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Still, some mutterings have been heard about the origin of Daito ryu, that it found its aiki from a wondering chinese martial artist. Since Daito ryu has no shortage of amazing personage who have demonstrated Aiki before, I wonder why really do we have to dig even deeper? If the DR schools have shown remarkable consistency in churning out students with Aiki, what logic is there to go through an even more obscure path of tracing Aiki into China? Just learn from the DR guys...<br />
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Certainly, on would wonder all this. My sensei however believes that Aiki in Aikido is more refined than when it was first encountered by Osensei. On hearsay, many people who had the privileged of feeling osensei when he was alive, described amazing encounters that border on the fantastic. Certainly nothing of the sort that they believe they can get in DR right now. However, no one can discount that DR itself left 2-3 persons of note that when you hear of encounters with them, show no less in terms of great and amazing feats that left their opponents mystified.<br />
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Putting that aside however, how do we mediocre students who are not super geniuses like Osensei and his DR peers learn Aiki? Judging by the numbers, the % of success seems very very low. Unless of course there's a whole slew of Aikido teachers hiding Aiki in their sleeves.<br />
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Having been exposed to some Aiki, I find myself wondering what is it that I'm learning. Certainly there's some body elements here in the beginning. A way of thinking as well. Maybe a way of moving too. There are so many different exercises, that provide glimpses of Aiki, but never the whole picture.<br />
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I got to thinking that if it was physical and perhaps a small part of it is, how is it different then a regular physical movement. My theory that the small % of an Aiki movement could still be physical, but even that physical aspect is different then how we would normally do things. Instead of using muscles that are common, it could be we are using rarely used groups. It takes a high amount of concentration to move your body using muscles you generally aren't even aware of, but a lot of body arts share this knowledge. Pilates, Yoga and certain house jujitsu... so it could be that using the skeletal strength and uncommon muscles and moving in a smooth and coordinated fashion causes opponents to miscalculate and misinterprate nage's movements. Consequently, they lose composure or focus and get easily unbalanced. For example, in Aiki Age, I've been thinking that aside from getting our center underside against uke's center, movement of the hands is done by the lower back instead of shoulders and arms. Thus this subtle movement will be missed by ordinary minds.<br />
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Notwithstanding that, a higher stage of Aiki development would apparently do away with the physical aspect in its entirety. But for that we have training in spirit, intent, feelings and things like that. It was never never anything to do with Ki per se. We don't have sessions of meditation to cultivate Ki to be used in fights. Always, it is understood that Aiki energy is the natural universal energy that passes to every creature.<br />
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As it gets higher and higher, I believe even the mind is given a lesser role to play. And in that circumstances, we no longer move our bodies with our consciousness or earthly self, perhaps even we are moving with out 'true' self.<br />
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Anyway, I'm just thinking about that. The nice thing is, after playing around with some wing chun people I just think that more live practice in a none Aikido environment, would be more beneficial in training for Aiki. With the Aikido guys, they just have this innate pressure to conform to what is expected. But for Aiki to work, it should work on anyone and especially everyone. That I guess would be where we can find our answers. Certainly I think, you can't find much by asking your teacher all the time.<br />
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Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-7934511990864667242011-08-14T04:22:00.000-07:002011-08-14T04:22:56.801-07:00Of Silence and ContemplationIt's been ages since I wrote anything here. In part because I'm still trying to understand better before I speak of a subject, but mainly because I was so busy with work. As always, with Ramadhan, I get more time to sort things out because we spend less time doing needless things.<br />
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Funnily enough, that's what Aikido training should be about. Leading towards the gradual elimination of needless things. Most people study Aikido awhile and come to various different conclusions. It doesn't help that they came in already colored by rehire expectations coming from watching all those videos out there. More often than not, they'd come to conclude that AIkido is so fake nowadays because people try to hard to follow Osensei's vision of harmony (or what they perceive as his vision). And because of that they talk about collusive aikido, about cross training, about looking for 'aiki' or 'IT' from somewhere some who...<br />
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Then there'll be the Daito ryu boys saying that Aikido is nothing but a watered down version of their budo and so on and so forth. First thing's first... Osensei said a lot of things about Aikido, but he emphasized in so many different ways that Aikido was never about the technique per se, nor is it about the movement. He almost always approached it from a relational aspect of the universe. How to fight someone who is in harmony with the universe is impossible. That Aikido begins in the heart.<br />
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Nevertheless he did condense certain techniques that he used again and again to demonstrate this art. Amongst the most often used is ikkyo and iriminage. He also said much of aikido can be taught from shihonage. Yet, they are a means to the end not the end itself. Otherwise how could you do it any better after 20 years or 50 years? The process of writing a word doesn't make a particular word any more meaningful, you can wrote gold a million times if you wish, it won't make you rich by the way. However, practice writing continuously and I'm sure one day people will praise you of your script. Perhaps you could even do calligraphy by then. For all of the beauty of your script, does it mean that you can now write tear jerking prose? Or novels that paint a picture so vivid that it colours the imagination?<br />
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Thus in that simple technique that's made up of so many different principles and mechanics and rules, what we are polishing goes beyond the application of the technique. Goes beyond the proficiency, the fluidity and the validity of the technique. You need to realize the technique's true purpose and that is to understand Aikido.<br />
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And at what stage can we begin this type of practice? It really boils down to you. Needless to say, to begin with you will need your letters and you need to learn the vocabulary, so I suspect Shodan is where you try to take your first tentative steps into the unknown. <br />
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This is the point where you can no longer answer through copying, where you have to answer through understanding. And of course, what I understand is but a piece of a million pieces and each of us may pick up different pieces in the beginning. Yet, persevere and we will complete the same picture. Some of us may take longer than others, but keep at it. For the pieces fit only in this puzzle. If we discontinue and try to pick another piece from a different puzzle, you will only end up with a weird incomplete picture in the end with many more pieces missing. Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-75924565558844494592011-06-19T08:54:00.000-07:002011-06-19T08:54:31.848-07:00Kihon intensives: SundayKatate shihonage. No change. Ukemi, at kuzushi, to fall back and over so the legs point into the direction of the fall. Not like the yoshinkan method.<br />
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Katate kotegaishe. 2nd method. Body escape using combination of butterfly hands and irimi movement. Also remember, as kaeshi is performed, not to transmit power into uke. As kaeshi is done, uke's power is drawn towards nage's hara too.<br />
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Katate sokumennage. Like shihonage. Bring up and draw uke to you. Touch with the other hand and enter. Careful for hijiate reversal. Remember angles and intent.<br />
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Katate sumo otoshi. Reverse palm, cut to the side and tai sabaki. Rear leg move more and control chushin. Enter all together.<br />
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Futari katatedori/morotedori. Light and easy.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-76989183435942029342011-06-12T03:05:00.000-07:002011-06-12T03:05:06.992-07:00Swimming and AikidoSome years back my old aikido teacher told me swimming was like aikido. Being the guy I am, I never asked him to explain. <br />
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Just now as I was doing some laps whilst holding my breath, I realized that it's quite strenuous. I wondered how all those movies about guys and girls swimming underwater avoiding bullets, bad guys, sharks and zombies could possibly do what they do for a minute or longer when even 20 secs was too long for me.<br />
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That got me thinking on how to improve my strokes. Being self taught I have no doubts that my technique is far from ideal. Plus the fact that I kept my body straight to prevent water from going into my ears was probably a factor. Then, I thought about how sometimes swimming felt so effortless that I could have swam forever. I wonder what was it that I was doing wrong.<br />
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Then I tried to move in unity. Instead if pulling my downstroke with my arms, I twisted my torso slightly. To my surprise, I wasn't breathless anymore. 20 secs was nothing. My arms no longer burned the oxygen I needed. Using the body turn didn't exert my body at all, and the laps went by easily. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://shenanitims.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/zombi2-shark-scene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="213" width="500" src="http://shenanitims.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/zombi2-shark-scene.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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So is this what he meant? Well I guess maybe. Moving your body in unison is not magic, nor is it aikido's secret. Certainly it's right there in basic aikido, we do it everyday. However, moving body in unison is not the end to it all. Knowing what part and how to move those parts in unison is equally important. Take our kihon kosanage ikkyo for example. You need to sink and move your body with your hands and get kuzushi. But just turning on your vertical axis won't get you anything but a punch to your face. There is a need to move from your hara and not the hand, but also to maintain a chain or a link from hara to your hands to your uke. Sinking, you take kuzushi only if there is a connection to uke. An easy way to start will be to sink into uke's corner but not moving forwards whilst doing it.<br />
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Other techniques need equal study and how to best move your body. And this is why kihon training is so wonderful. It allows an actual study and development period to practice moving your body in a united fashion. That us why in the first level of aikido, harmonizing with yourself, kihon is absolutely necessary.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-31967985235113943512011-06-07T23:41:00.002-07:002011-06-07T23:41:58.981-07:00Kata dori Menuchi ikkyoJust a short <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFD5gn5ibIE&feature=related">clip</a>, but I was whiling my time away link to link and came across this one of Tamura sensei. Very interesting...<br />
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In the first iteration, nage atemi's even as uke grabs and strikes. Thus from the atemi, could even cut down the men uchi hand before going for ikkyo at the katadori hand.<br />
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In the 2nd iteration, Tamura sensei is pointing out that we should not stay to perform ikkyo on the hand, and instead to irimi before the ikkyo.<br />
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In the 3rd iteration, he was pointing out that the atemi hand is not a block for the men uchi. In this instance when you lose chushin (and uke's), uke has gained control of the attacking line.<br />
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In the 4th iteration, he sinks and controls the vertical space.<br />
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I love it!Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-75217343300186921672011-05-27T00:42:00.000-07:002011-05-27T00:42:45.248-07:00The Yogja seminarAh, Yogjakarta... one of my favourite place to visit in Indonesia. A very relaxed place and they really do have nice food that I recall from my first visit. I was really looking forward to this but like everything else in this world, something had to go wrong.<br />
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I couldn't really train well in the month preceding the seminar. Because of some health issues. Then I fell sick 5 days from the date and was basically a like a wet dead dog by the time I flew in. I also had to buy 2 separate flights back a day earlier to handle some work. Basically, it was like anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Events occurred that really tested my endurance to actually go to the damn place. However, it was a commitment I had to force myself to adhere to. This was a test of will, and somehow I had to pass. Although I did go, I couldn't take much ukemi from sensei himself. So that was a major disappointment for me, but the training itself was good.<br />
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On Friday, there was a training session at the local dojo. I went to practice but in the end because the sensei was outstation, the seniors forced me to take the class. So we did some basic training in preparation for sensei's seminar. I started with the basic kamae focusing on hara and chushin development. Tenkan as an entering movement not a turning movement. Sinking hara to perform leading movements and sokumen nage. Then we did a few basic techniques like katatedori shihonage, kosadori ikkyo and tenchi nage, to look at half steps and movement from hara. The students were enthusiastic and energetic. For most, what I showed them was new to them but nothing too far from what they already know. I had a problem with only one uke who was very stable and I couldn't get kuzushi for shihonage omote. One of my weakest techniques, I was thinking that I didn't sink in chushin and perhaps I didn't apply aikiage before entering. But upon discussing with Sensei, I think the mistake was when I shift stance he felt some movement in my hands. The next problem was when I sinked, he told me to enter and displace uke's center straight away instead of vertically and then following with the irimi movement. Something to think about, but I told sensei that I saw him do what I was envisioning before. His answer was that's the next level, I have to get this right not skip it. Ah... yes we are fond of that. Changing methods when one doesn't work. In the end, we lose the opportunity to develop ourselves further by avoiding a difficult obstacle.<br />
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Sensei's class on Saturday near the Kenji outlet was interesting. Both his class and seminar the next day basically orientated around the same things. Hara, Sinking and Atari. Whilst the techniques are varied, those 3 was the core theme to it all. Fundamentally, this syllabus is actually up to 3rd kyu for our school. Yet, on occasion I do come certain uke's who I can't perform it well or immediately especially from static. But because I knew what we were looking for, this really helps with the progression of my own training. This means, its absolutely critical for us as students to train in this fashion. Not just in the dojo but with outsiders in seminars like this. Good progress can be made by applying what we know sort of like a revision against uke's who are not familiar with the material thus would not participate in a collusive manner.<br />
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One of techniques that I paid more attention to for the benefit of my uke was the irimi nage from a katadori. Although at above 3rd kyu he should be doing nagare training, I had to start him on static after a few rounds of full speed application. This is simply because having no understanding in sinking and entering instead of moving forwards, he cannot apply the technique well. For this technique uke grabs katatedori, and using our other hand we touch his forearm and sink. As the kuzushi occurs we enter his space and envelop him into iriminage. You could also do it without moving the feet, inviting him and turning kaiten and cutting his chushin as he comes across. But even so, the sinking on uke is an application of atari and hara movement/control and is used either way. If nage tries to cut the hand away or move in, uke is at liberty to stop or hit him.<br />
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A yudansha named Azhar who spent nearly 3 years in Japan with Inaba sensei led the Sunday's warmup with a hara building exercise. Looks like the sumo leg stomping exercise and is an absolute killer on the legs. It was pure torture climbing up and down the stairs on the airplanes that evening. Still, I'm wondering if its not a good idea to include this in my daily routine.<br />
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I have some vids up from yogja that you can check out.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998355347813249943.post-34735065181005154412011-05-25T00:35:00.000-07:002011-05-25T00:35:39.169-07:00Tembin nageComing back from Yogja, I was a bit disappointed. First at falling sick right before flying to see sensei. 2nd because I had to reschedule to an earlier day to fly back because of work. Worst of all, for being unable to take much ukemi from sensei during the entire time.<br />
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Still, I did get sensei to show me how tembin nage is done outside of class. I wish I had time to practice this but it'll be a homework for me until he gets here in June. This is the video <a href="http://vimeo.com/24206670">http://vimeo.com/24206670</a><br />
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Its very very different then the typical hiji ate we've all been doing. None of that grab the hand and put pressure on the elbow, shoulder, armpit whatever stuff that you get floating about. Its contact at the tembin pressure point is soft. All of a sudden you find your head being projected forwards. There is NO fulcrum being used whatsoever.<br />
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This is even different then the one Kancho showed me earlier this year. Anyway... that's all I have time for today. I'll try to write in about Yogja soon.Tehbenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09101490069373523827noreply@blogger.com0