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On
Mastering Aikido [Book Review]
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Daniel
Linden Sensei (6th dan)
has given MI Magazine
one-time publication rights
to sections of his successful
book On Mastering Aikido.
Linden Sensei runs the
Shoshin Aikido Dojo in
Orlando/Florida and also
has network of cooperating
dojos in Germany. Shoshin
Aikido is a member of
the Aikido School of Ueshiba
(ASU), which as an international
federation, has over 100
dojos worldwide.
Linden
Sensei has over 35 years
experience in Aikido and
in this book he discusses
Ki, center, spirituality,
and technique to name
just a few. This book
is very readable and its
dialog style is a great
way to get the message
across in a understanding
way, enjoy...
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Last
month we introduced the fantastic book "On
mastering Aikido" by Daniel Linden, with
permission to show MI Magazine readers Chapter
5. MI Magazine will be exclusively presenting
Chapter 5 of this fantastic book in 2 Parts.
Here is the continuation of last months Part
1 of Chapter 5... |
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| On
Spirituality (Chapter 5) Part 2 |
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| Linden
"We can see a body that is damaged;
where the brain has been hurt and consciousness
is gone. People in vegetative states exist
all over, in nursing home and hospitals. I
have never seen a mind in need of a body." |
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Hooker
"You are looking at one right now.
My body gave out. M.G. took my ability to
function. I was on welfare, Dan. I don't think
I ever told you that. The welfare system took
over after I collapsed while working at a
packinghouse. My body refused to move one
day and I endangered some people. So we were
on welfare and the G.I. bill offered me the
opportunity to go to college and pay some
bills at the same time. I went to school,
sometimes in a wheel chair. Thank God for
Connie, she helped me get out of bed some
days, helped me get dressed, tied my shoes.
I was a wreck, but I got through it."
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| Linden"I
remember the G.I. Bill, Dennis. I remember
that it paid one hundred seventy-five
dollars a month." |
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| Hooker
"Well, I did get a small bit more
than that for marriage and children allowances,
but not much. I don't want you to think it
was ever anything more than poverty, but with
God and Connie's help, we made it." |
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| Linden"That
was in 1978, the year you moved to Chicago? |
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Hooker
"Well, yes. Saotome Sensei had been
coming to Chicago to teach seminars and we
had met and talked a good bit. He was real
interested in my problem and wrote me many
letters and even flew to Terra Haute to visit
me. He put together the program that
I have followed all these years to try and
help me lead a normal life. I had been driving
to Chicago all that time and training with
Takahashi Sensei, and then Shigero Suzuki
Sensei, whom Saotome Sensei had sent. I moved
up there when I got my first job after graduating.
I could finally earn a decent living without
having to labor manually. Then the next year
we moved to Pensacola. |
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| Linden"Hey,
that's right. I hear they're planning your
twenty-fifth anniversary party." |
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| Hooker
"Your dojo in Denver, the Rocky Mountain
Aikikai, has been going twenty-five years,
too, hasn't it?" |
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| Linden"You
know, I believe you are right, however I haven't
been back there in over twenty-five years." |
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| Linden"What
did baker Sensei use to say? 'I have over
twenty-five black belt students and not one
of them would walk across the street to spit
on my leg if it was on fire', something like
that." |
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Hooker
"Yeah. I remember him saying that.
I told him I would."
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| Linden"I
think I did, too. He was a great teacher.
I miss him." |
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| Hooker
"Well if you believed in the spirit
you would know that he is still here
with us." |
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| Linden"I
believe that his teaching is still here with
us. And that as long as I remember him and
we bring up his name and talk about him, that
he is still here with us. I believe that as
long as his children carry forward and his
line extends on this earth that he is still
in a sense with us. But I don't believe that
his spirit, in a somehow not-quite corporeal
essence is floating around and smirking as
I trip on my hakama." |
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| Hooker
"I don't think it's necessary to
believe in ghosts to believe in spiritual
essence. My spirit is as real to me as yours
must be to you. My spirit is freed when I
breathe and sometimes I feel myself rising
above and beyond my body. Do you get that?
Actually rising away from my body. Now that
is real. When I meditate I can raise my quality
of life. Health and happiness are intertwined
and cannot be separated. People in poor health
are not happy. By releasing myself from stress
and worry, I become happier and as I regain
the joy in my life I become healthier." |
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| Linden"I'm
glad it works for you, but I've known
and awful lot of perfectly healthy people
who are just miserable." |
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| Hooker
"But that is because they don't
pursue the way of spiritual harmony.
Saotome Sensei has made it very plain
that this path is highly personal and
necessary for humanity. It doesn't have
to be Aikido, but if a person is devoid
of spirituality in his life then his
existence has no meaning other than
continuity. To continue living for no
purpose other than finding pleasure,
or just to keep on living for no apparent
reason at all does not fulfill our basic
nature. Our true existence is spiritual.
We are spiritual beings and our purpose
in life is to raise ourselves up to
the highest standard we can." |
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| Linden"I
believe that we are highly evolved beings.
I believe a spirit that flows through
the universe binds us to each other.
I believe that we are ethically and
morally bound. But, by god, I don't
believe that we are any more individual
in spirit than any other mammal that
walks the earth. To believe that we
are somehow bound by promise or obligation
to a god to enlighten ourselves…well,
I don't know about that. I would accept
that it might make us happier. I might
accept that it might make us more peaceful." |
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| Hooker
"I am at peace. I am happy.
I've struggled my whole life for this." |
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| Linden"Dennis,
you're old. I'm old. We are getting
even older. That is what happens to
people. If you spend your life in a
worthy cause, and find rewards, fulfillment,
and accomplishment, you get happy and
find peace. Oh, and that business with
lowered testosterone, that helps, too.
I know I'm more peaceful. And everybody
always tells me how much more mellow
I've become." |
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| Hooker
"Thank god, for that. Try applying
a little of that mellowness here. The
breathing practices that I trained for
all those years have been described
at length in my book, Poppy's Book.
Someday I might publish it. I don't
know, I wrote it for my grandchildren
and it is quite personal." |
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| Linden
"I've read it." |
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| Hooker
"That's right. Anyway, the thing
that is important to me is not that
you agree with me, but that you understand
that I live my beliefs. My heart and
spirit follows these training methods
and exist only because I followed them.
I truly believe that I would have died
years ago if I had not done this breathing
and meditating. You treat this lightly,
but these breathing techniques have
been practiced by warriors for centuries
and did not come to me lightly. I live
my life with the spirit leading the
way. My existence is bound inexorably
with yours and my family's and all of
mankind. |
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| Linden
"Actually, Dennis, I don't take
these things lightly at all. I don't
take anything concerning my closest
friends, my family, or Aikido lightly.
In fact, it is the intense seriousness
with which I do take these things that
cause me to make light of them whenever
I can. Lord Byron once said, "And
if I laugh at any mortal thing, "tis
that I may not weep." I read that
when I was fourteen years old and have
never gotten very far from it. My students
are looking for something when they
come here to me. My wife was seeking
something when we met. When you and
I met we were both looking for something.
We found it in each other, my wife in
me, I in her, and my students in this
dojo.
I
take this very seriously. When I became
your friend, which meant something
to me. I would do anything, whatever
it would take, for you and yours.
My commitment to my students is complete.
I will abide by the commitments I
have made to my friends and family
and students and to my teacher, Saotome
Sensei, as well. You know me, Dennis.
You know how serious I am when the
glove is dropped. I believe in friendship.
I believe in the given word and the
implied promise."
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| Hooker
"Just so that you understand
that to me the spiritual aspect of aikido
is as vital and real as breath itself.
And I hope you also realize that I don't
consider any part of this to be religious.
I am a Christian and a lay minister
and this has always caused some of my
people to wonder at lengths about me.
My use of the breathing techniques gives
me a connection with my higher self,
and that union also connects me to the
spiritual aspect of the universe. This
does not conflict in any way with my
Christian beliefs. I understand scientifically
exactly what happens when I breathe
and meditate. This in itself does not
preclude a mystical experience. |
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| Linden
"I understand the breathing apparatus
and what breathing does to the body;
how changes in oxygen levels alter the
body's ability to process information,
perception, muscle response, etcetera.
I also understand that the acidity levels
in the blood caused by excess carbon
dioxide are registered in the brain
and how these affect the breathing apparatus
in terms of depth and rapidity. But
are you aware of studies done recently
connecting the act of breathing with
the fear and flight response?" |
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| Hooker
"No, I haven't heard of those." |
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| Linden
"They were done by exercise physiologists
concerned with excess adrenalin in the
system. It seems that the harder we
exercise the more prone we are to take
in breath through the mouth. It's a
larger airway and it seems natural to
do this. The problem is this, the act
of opening the mouth to breathe causes
a response from the adrenal glands.
These react to the increased need for
oxygen and accelerated heartbeat. The
response is a vicious circle. As we
breathe faster through the mouth the
body secretes more and more adrenalin.
This by itself causes the heart to beat
faster and the lungs to attempt to deal
with the buildup of carbon dioxide and
the need for more oxygen. It increases
the speed that we build up lactic acid.
So as we pant with exertion, we are
actually causing an increase in metabolism
that feed on itself." |
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Hooker
"Well,
that's about what I expect. It makes
sense. That is why we breathe through
the nose in all these exercises except
when we utilize Kotodama and release
breath through the mouth.
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| Linden
"The researchers had some
tennis players breathe through
the nose exclusively and others
breathe through their mouth. Over
several months they discovered
that unilaterally the nose breathers
had greater stamina and lowered
heart rate and respiration. They
attempted to duplicate the experiments
with other forms of physical exertion
and the same result applied. Lately
I have been trying to get the
dojo students to use nose breathing
exclusively in training. It seems
important, for some reason, that
breath be expelled through the
nose as well as taken in." |
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Hooker
"If a person uses breath
correctly, that is, makes use
of deep breathing, there should
not be panting in the first place.
No great athlete, martial artist,
gymnast, whatever stands at the
end of the event gasping for air.
People who master their art also
by default, master breathing -
you can't do one without the other.
"When Sensei taught me these
techniques he was trying to save
my life. These were not meant
to bring me to mastership. They
were meant to heal a terribly
weak and broken body. That they
have allowed me to go further
than I ever dreamed I could is
not just a miracle, it is a blessing.
Monks and warriors throughout
the years have used these ancient
breathing techniques. They are
proven in many ways and over many
centuries." |
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| Linden
"You know, my only reason
for rebelling against the Japanese
approach to the is because it
seems to be one more aspect we
don't need. I don't have a problem
with breathing technology. I don't
have a problem with meditation.
I have a problem with those who
insist that the Japanese method
is the only one and all other
approaches are flawed. But you
know me. I have this resistance
in many things. If you tell me
that the only way to shoot a gun
is to hold it with one hand out
sideways, I'll be out there gripping
it with two and shooting the lights
out just to prove you wrong." |
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| Hooker
"Yeah, no one ever called
you stubborn or contrary. Not
twice anyway." |
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| Linden
"It has more to do with de-mystifying
Aikido than it does with any problem
I have with any given culture
or method. In my early years I
had teachers who made us feel
stupid and uncultured because
we didn't know what they were
talking about when they randomly
threw out Japanese terms. I believe,
in retrospect, that they were
weak- minded fools, shodans and
nidans who didn't have a clue
used mysticism and bull to hide
the fact. It is easy to hide behind
a Japanese term, give a simplistic
explanation and then glare with
disdain at some beginner students
who ask a question for clarification.
Too many Aikido teachers do this.
This is why I have tried to explain
everything with simple American
terms and explanations based on
scientific knowledge. You do the
same, but your spiritualism and
mysticism are entwined in scientific
thought and you allow your students
to come to you. You don't try
and impress them with nonsense.
Actually, I believe that we are
in complete agreement with each
other. As long as we don't start
explaining any part of Aikido
to anyone else." |
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Go
back to Part 1 of Chapter 5
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To
order your copy of this book titled
"On Mastering Aikido" please
click the link below.
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Daniel
Linden is rokudan (Aikikai) and teaches
a regular schedule At Shoshin Aikido
Dojo in Orlando Florida as well as
annual seminars in Germany and elsewhere.
He has trained for over thirty-five
years. He is author of On Mastering
Aikido (available through www.onmasteringaikido.com
or www.amazon.com
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