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Martial Art for Peace |
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"A
martial art for peace..."
That is how Aikido has been described.
When you tell this to someone accustomed
to the films of Bruce Lee or Jackie
Chan, they nod their heads and smile,
humoring you. Practicing for war while
professing peace? That just doesn't
seem possible. Spectators watching
Aikido exhibitions are frequently
struck by the graceful flowing movements,
and the seemingly
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effortless
way that nage throws uke across the room.
Sometimes it looks as though the attackers
simply fall down in advance of the throw,
and they feel as if someone is cheating. Perhaps,
they wonder, there is too much cooperation
going on here. Aikido, they conclude, looks
really cool, but would be ultimately impractical
"on the street."
When Morihei Ueshiba, Aikido's founder, was
alive, no one questioned the art. Ueshiba
was a trained swordsman, a practitioner of
Aiki-Jujitsu, who developed Aikido slowly
over many decades. He had noticed, we are
told, that there were relatively few old martial
artists. One by one the most dedicated students
of the martial arts fell prey to injuries,
or as their bodies grew weaker they came up
against a stronger, quicker, younger opponent,
and were defeated. In Aikido, Ueshiba created
an art that allowed him to walk onto the mat
at eighty years old, and toss his attackers
around like scarves thrown from a magician's
sleeve. When Terry Dobson, an ex-marine and
one of the few Americans privileged to take
ukemi from O-Sensei, attacked Ueshiba with
full force intensity, he reported that he
found himself suddenly and swiftly planted
on his back.
Aikido, Ueshiba taught, is the way of harmony
with Ki -- the blending of energies. An attacker
is no different from the defender, who by
following the attack, entering in or turning
around it, can guide the aggressor into a
fall, away from harm. Behind his techniques
were the decisive movements of a Japanese
swordsman, one who knew the importance of
one-strike conclusion of battle. Ueshiba's
ukes, his attackers, we are told, felt his
power and commitment as he led them around
in circles and off their feet.
Watch one of Ueshiba's students, as anyone
who practices Aikido is, and you will see
the echoes of the Master's technique. It has
been said that Aikido is weakening as it moves
further from the founder. Are today's attackers
falling because they are thrown, or are they
falling because they are supposed to?
For Americans, the "way of harmony with
Ki" sounds very mysterious, very deep,
and very Japanese. Most of us have been raised
in a practical machine age. Power is measured
in megawatts, in megabytes, in chip speed,
and in bank balances. We are only just beginning
to understand the idea of "hara,"
of centering oneself regardless of the circumstances.
Many Americans complain that their lives are
out of balance, spinning too fast, and that
the only way to survive is to run faster,
work harder, and earn more, or alternatively
to diet, spend less, and save more. Each of
these solutions depends on an external effect
working on the world. They are like the karate
technique of blocking an opponent's blow as
it comes crashing towards your head. If you
are strong enough and fast enough, and your
opponent is weaker and slower, then the blow
may be deflected. Otherwise, the blow lands.
Unfortunately, even if you have managed to
deflect the blow, you are likely to find bruises
on your arm, and on the arm of your opponent.
The way of harmony with Ki is to know that
blocking power with power results in a crash.
One or the other, or both, may survive the
wreck, but something is hurt, damaged. If
one views a martial art as self-defense, there
is no healing, only a victor and loser.
"Aikido is protection," Terry Dobson
once said. You are protecting yourself, but
you are also protecting your attacker. It
is as if a favorite uncle has too much to
drink at a wedding, and gets into a fistfight.
No one wants to hurt the uncle, and no one
wants the uncle to hurt anyone else. So, the
student of Aikido steps in, and uses the least
amount of force to protect the Uncle from
hurting himself, and anyone else. Dobson relished
throws that looked accidental. He would envelop
his attacker, bringing the aggressor gently
to the floor with soothing words, "Are
you ok? It looked for a moment like you were
going to fall."
"But," says the skeptic, "that's
at a wedding. What about on the street? What
if two guys..."
Wait a moment.
Extend the notion of family only slightly.
There is a famous saying that there are only
eight degrees of separation between each person
on the planet. Everyone knows someone who
is related to someone who is married to the
President's aide or to the mugger.
"But the muggers want to hurt you,"
says the skeptic.
Do they? Or do they just want your money?
If you run away will you be safe? Have you
been attacked or simply threatened with words?
Were you shoved? Is a shove an attack?
Several years ago, I was in an argument. We
were nose to nose, and I felt his anger growing.
Then he shouted at me, "Get out of my
face!" So I stepped back, away from him
and out of his reach. Had he attacked me?
Yes, but not very hard. By stepping away,
I protected both myself and him from physical
conflict.
"But what if they have a knife?"
asks the skeptic.
Step out of range.
"But if they have a gun," frowns
the skeptic.
Give them your wallet.
"Then what's the use of Aikido?"
says the skeptic in frustration.
What is the use of swimming in a hurricane?
As we build our practice of Aikido into the
next millennium, we will need to find ways
of extending Aikido beyond the mat. For most
Aikidoka, the students who love to train daily,
the practice itself is enough. We enjoy the
friendship we share, the physical challenge
of the sport, the joy of rolling, and the
act of learning and growing and improving
our understanding. The martial art of Aikido
will always be a haven for men and women who
want to study, learn, throw and be thrown.
If that is all, if we only keep our practice
on the mat, Aikido may eventually turn into
a dance. Graceful and flowing, fun to participate
in and to watch. The skeptics may yet prove
to be correct, 'It looks cool, but up against
a Karate guy, or a Gracie...'
Aikido's secret strength is its ability to
become invisible, to allow itself to extend
outside of the dojo. The techniques of Aikido
are only physical metaphors for resolving
conflicts in "real life."
Yet we rarely train ourselves to bring our
Aikido knowledge into our lives.
In my own experience, ukemi, the art of falling,
has been the most useful aspect of Aikido
outside the dojo.
Not long ago, I was carrying my two month
old son downstairs, when, at the top of the
staircase, I tripped. We slid, me on my back,
he in my arms, halfway down the staircase.
Rather than stiffen, I relaxed. Rather than
panic, I held him gently above me. The noise
was incredible. The look in his eyes was terror.
His screams afterwards, my wife's panic, my
own guilt and fear were all vigorously expressed.
And neither of us were hurt.
Other times, kneeling on the mat after an
argument with my wife, I have wondered to
myself, 'Why can't I practice Aikido verbally?
Why can't I blend instead of fighting with
her?' Students of Aikido will not engage in
a physical conflict if there is another option.
Yet we still battle our spouses, our bosses,
and our colleagues.
We train our physical Aikido by limiting variables.
"You will grab my wrist," the teacher
says, "and I will throw you like so.
Now practice." That is one of the reasons
that the skeptics feel our art is too staged.
We know that, over time, our reflexes become
better, and our knowledge of how to deal with
any attack becomes automatic. Blending into
a fall also becomes ingrained. As the attacker,
knowing that an atemi strike to the face could
"on the street" be a closed fist,
uke dives backwards to avoid the punch.
Outside the dojo, it isn't so easy. You sit
down to dinner and your spouse says, "Did
you pay the phone bill?" And sometimes
that seems like an attack. What is the best
technique to apply to this phone bill attack?
If we have practiced long and diligently in
the dojo, we may think to ourselves, 'Perhaps
the least amount of effort necessary to blend
with this...'
Recently, my wife and I were arguing late
into the night. Finally, in exasperation she
snapped, "What is it going to take for
you to let me sleep!?" Her tone of voice
was angry, and for a moment I believed that
this was another dagger of words.
Then I realized that I didn't need to fight
her. She only wanted to know what it was going
to take for me to let her sleep. Her "attack"
was exactly like a mugger asking for my wallet.
So I gave it to her. We discussed it, and
few moments later, the argument was diffused,
and we were happily asleep.
For too long, the art of Aikido has long been
limited by its classification as a budo, a
martial art. We train hard in the dojo, enjoying
our discipline, deepening our techniques,
and developing richer understanding of the
martial art. We have learned how to deal with
punches and grabs. How can we develop techniques
to deal with the phone bill attack? What moves
can we practice to avoid fighting with the
people we love?
Inside the dojo, it looks like Aikido is about
defending or protecting yourself from physical
attacks.
Now, and into the coming years, we must expand
our studies, and begin to include, in the
rest of our lives, the missing element of
peace.
by
Mark Binder - all rights reserved
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In
addition to holding a Sandan,
Mark Binder is a professional
author and storyteller. He tours
the world (though mostly the
USA) telling Tales of Peace
and tales of Wisefolk and Fools
(which are often the same thing).
He has several books and CDs
available at his website http://www.markbinder.com,
and in places like the iTunes
music store
Mark
Binder, chief instructor and
founder of Way
of Harmony Aikido,
has been a student of Aikido
since 1991. He holds a Sandan
(third degree black belt) in
Aikido and holds the instructional
title of Shidoin as an Instructor
certified through the Aikido
Association of America.
Mr.
Binder began studying under
Glenn
Webber, Sensei
(5th Dan), and spent four years
studying and teaching with Lou
Perriello, Sensei
(6th Dan, head of the USJA,
USMA Aikido programs). He makes
it a point to travel to different
dojo's and practice with a variety
of people (although this has
become much much more difficult
since the birth of his children)
............................................................................
Aikido
- History and Future
Published in Aikido Journal,
Summer 1997
by Mark Binder - all rights
reserved
Click here to learn about Mark
Binder's Keynote Storytelling
Program "The
Art of Peace"
http://www.markbinder.com/aikido/index.htm
http://www.markbinder.com
Special
thanks to Chris Newport for
the use of this photo of
O Sensei and Terry Dobson
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