Aiki - Aikido

According to the explanations given by O-Sensei on his Aikido, Aikido is Misogi 1 . So then, what is Misogi? „Misogi is a Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification by washing the entire body“ 2 . Surely there may be better and more detailed or deeper explanations about what Misogi is and what it represents, but for the moment let's just leave it at that: Misogi is a purification practice to purify the self. So then, if Aikido is Misogi and Misogi is a purification practice, then Aikido is a purification practice too. That would make sense, doesn't it?   "Aikido is Misogi, Aikido is a purification practice"   But in what ways exactly would or could our Aikido training be a purification practice to purify the self? Of course there may be other ways, but here's one way to look at it: By cleansing our sometimes more or less clogged or clouded perception 3 , we are getting more sensitive in our perceptual capacities. By clogged or clouded perception I mean our...

  "Aikido is to give others joy and happiness through budo without fighting" Aikido to me, indeed is a wonderful thing to practice and it goes far beyond just being gymnastics and sports or being a martial art mainly for self-defense. As Michio Hikitsuchi sensei puts it  1 : "Aikido is not about winning over the other person. It’s about victory over yourself. It’s about transforming your life. It’s about finding new purpose in life, to give others joy and happiness through budo without fighting".  In fact, I deeply feel that Aikido is joy, because Aikido is doing the things right and also doing the right things. To do so brings joy, not only to ourselves, but also to our training partners as well as to any of our fellow human beings involved in this kind of action.   "Doing the right thing the right way"   Aikido training gives us the opportunity to practice "doing the right thing the right way". But what is the right thing to do and w...

To develop Aiki awareness and capabilities, besides musubi and kuzushi there are other prerequisites. In Aikido, unity of the body is essential. To move with body unity we first need to have good body coordination, that means our body in movement is well coordinated and well connected. Coordination and unity of the body can be practiced with suitable exercises, be it with or without training partners.    "In Aikido, unity of the body is essential"   To move correctly in Aikido, we need to be able to perceive suki or openings, be it on our side as well as on our training partner's side. It’s absolutely necessary to follow the budo principle of not having openings in our stance and position. Michio Hikitsuchi sensei explained 1 : “Aikido is budo. This means you can’t even ignore half an inch of vulnerability. A suki (opening) of even one centimeter can do you in”. The bo-katas, as left to us by Michio Hikitsuchi sensei, are a helpful practice method to train our body co...

"Finding out about how to connect to a partner's center was an important step"   Musubi Finding out about my own center also made it possible to find out about my training partner's center. Finding out about how to connect to a partner's center is an important step. In Aikido, connecting with your partner is called musubi 1 or Ki-musubi 2 . As a side note, I'd like to remark that Musubi is the foundation of more things to come. Without this foundation, the door to further discoveries wouldn't open, it wouldn't even show itself. Musubi clearly is a very important point in Aikido. It is for good reasons, I reckon, that some senseis 3 make Musubi to be one of the central points in their Aikido practice. Some have designed special training methods and exercises to teach us how to connect with our training partner, to enable us to learn about musubi and ki-musubi.   "unbalancing your opponent is part of Aiki, but not all of it"   Kuzushi Other s...

Once when asked about how many Aikido techniques existed, O-Sensei explained 1 : “There are about 3,000 basic techniques, and each one of them has 16 variations… so there are many thousands. Depending on the situation, you create new ones.”   "in the end Aikido training is nothing but Aiki training"   To differentiate Aiki training from Aikido training, I‘d say that in Aiki training we use different training methods to improve our Aiki abilities, whereas in Aikido training we apply Aiki to our techniques so that these techniques can become true Aikido techniques. But in the end Aikido training is nothing but Aiki training too. To me, as I said before, Aikido is the way with Aiki, therefore Aikido training is a training method that leads us to where we are able to understand Aiki and are able to work with Aiki.   "Aikido is a training method that leads us to where we are able to understand Aiki and are able to work with Aiki"   When I started with solo training metho...

As my reading experience will continue, so will this list of recommendations for further reading still grow. You may want to check back frequently. If you would like to add some recommendations for further reading in the comments, you are most welcome to do so. A Aikido and spirituality, Japanese religious influences in a martial art - Margaret Greenhalgh Aikido and the harmony of nature - Mitsugi Saotome Aikido and words of power - The sacred sounds of Kototama - William Gleason Aikido, des paroles et des écrits du fondateur à la pratique - Gérard Blaize Aikido: Expression of Yin and Yang in Motion - Henry Kono Aikido Journal online Aikido, Heart & Sword - André Nocquet Aikido, living by design - Mitsugi Saotome, Susan Perry Aikido masters Vol. 1, prewar students of Morihei Ueshiba - Stanley Pranin Aikido Memoirs: One Irishman's Lifetime Search for the Answer to the Mystery of Morihei Ueshiba's Aikido - Alan Ruddock Aikido Pioneers Prewar Era - Interviews conducted by Sta...

  "It’s quite difficult to explain Aiki"   It’s quite difficult to explain Aiki, but then again, that does make sense, doesn't it? Since, if it were easy to explain and easy to understand, most probably many more people would be using Aiki in their Aikido. One could argue that Aiki should rather be felt. And exactly there is another point that makes Aiki difficult to understand. Since Aiki means to lead our training partners without using force against them, it's not exactly possible to feel the power of Aiki, yet we are experiencing it.   "If these things are visible, or can be felt, it's not Aiki"   Aiki is not visible as a cause resulting in an effect. No connection can be made between Aiki as a source to an effect being caused by it. When dealing with Aiki, it is helpful to understand what we actually don't want to see and feel, when Aiki is in use.  Because if these things are visible or can be felt, it's not Aiki. In Aiki, we lead our train...

The principle of this Aiki is quite simple, to put it into practice though, isn't simple at all. Once we understand how it works it becomes easier, but still it's quite difficult to do it right. To understand, we have to experience first. To experience, we have to do it quite right for the least. So this is like a closed loop or circle which makes it difficult to get in or on, as there is no way or door that would gradually (step by step) lead us there. We have to jump right into resp. onto it. Sagawa sensei explains 1 : "True training begins once you understand Aiki". Aiki in Aikido, to my understanding is the technique that stands behind every technique. More than a technique, Aiki is the principle that stands true in every Aikido technique. Aiki is the principle that always has to be there in Aikido. Without Aiki it simply is not Aikido. Again, as we go back to the roots of Aikido, we might ask ourselves, if the Aiki in Daito-Ryu is the same as the Aiki in Aikido?...

     "with this Aiki, my Aikido training has changed completely"   My understanding of Aiki may still be very limited. But taking the principle of this Aiki at the core of my Aikido, my Aikido training has changed completely. The things that I have experienced so far and the things that I am able to perceive with my body tell me that in order to develop Aiki, we have to develop a kind of an Aiki body, that means a body that has the appropriate abilities in perception and is also able to move in accordance with the Aiki principles. Only a body capable of this will be able to produce Aiki techniques.   "unity of the body is a prerequisite for Aiki"   My own experience shows me that an Aiki body can only be developed through physical training. With intellectual thought alone things can't be done. Aiki expresses itself through the unity of one's own body, with perfect balance at any given moment in a body movement. Like precision in technique, balance and unit...

In Daito-Ryu, a distinction is made between Daito-Ryu Jujutsu and Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu. Daito-Ryu JuJutsu is based on a technical execution of Daito-Ryu fighting techniques. Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu is based on Daito-Ryu techniques executed with Aiki. Daito-Ryu without Aiki is Daito-Ryu Jujutsu, Daito-Ryu with Aiki is Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu. This distinction is noteworthy and is also consistent with Michio Hikitsuchi sensei's comment on Aikido, saying that Aikido techniques by themselves are not Aikido, but only techniques.   "the Aikido techniques only work perfectly well when applied with Aiki"   This I think, is a quite important point to be aware of: Aikido techniques without Aiki are just techniques. Without Aiki, Aikido then becomes a Jujutsu, a fighting technique. So, while Daito-Ryu Jujutsu techniques are characterized by their high effectiveness, Aikido techniques as shown by O-Sensei only work perfectly well when applied with Aiki.  If the Aikido techniques are...