The Early Philosophy of Aikido

The Early Philosophy of Aikido
I was always told that kamae and kihon dosa were most important. Training was to
practise the kihon dosa in pairs, practise the nine katas (three jo, three bokken and three
tanto) but the majority of time was devoted to a collection of around 179 kihon waza. Kihon
waza training was constantly tested as we would resist, squirm free or be downright
belligerent. Every time we thought we had found a weakness, Sensei would show us how
wrong we were. After six years of study, Sensei left for the USA and I was devastated.
Membership plummeted, and of the original twelve, I was the only one left. Two other
Sensei came from Japan for two or three years and brought with them new kinds of aikido.
After they had gone, I did not know what my aikido should be. I adopted an amalgamation
of hard training with a more subtle aikido. There followed a ten year period of walking in
the wilderness. I was surrounded by good guys but the sadness of knowing my
development had flat-lined, took its toll and what was left of my club collapsed. All I had
was two students, three new beginners, a dirty old gym and dirty mats. The day before
training, I would plan the lesson and an hour before every training, I would sweep the
whole gym and wash the mats. I had decided to start again. For each lesson I took one
point only and explored it to the full. The curriculum was simple, ”How can we make our
aikido effective without injuring others”.
I started slowly. People obstructed a technique quite easily, but now I was the one that had
to make the technique work and, unlike Sensei, I was concerned about hurting ukes. (To
be fair, he never hurt anyone.) However, what I noticed over the period of about a year
was that there were several mechanical structures that could be added within the
technique that cut out many of the escapes.
Mechanical Structures
These points all explain variances that exist in kihon dosa without a partner, with a partner
and with a bokken according to the power being supplied to the contact point. They also
explain variations in contact point location and how best to maximise technical efficiency.
Closed Armpits
This refers to utilising the latissimus dorsi muscles to maximise
a stable wrist orientated contact point as well as variations in
contact point position and elbow location.
Contact Line
This is a line from the rear foot to the contact point. It is
impossible to make a straight-lined body structure between
these points but technical structures that emulate a straight
line, increase efficiency.
Contact Point
This is the point at which attacker and defender are united. It
can change throughout the technique but it is either on the
central plane (envisaged like a thin sheet extending in front of
shite from the middle of the forehead to the front knee in an arc
of a hand strike), over the balance line (the straight line passing
through the heels and extended forwards, best envisaged as a
tight-rope) or in front of the relative hip.
Form
Form is taking kamae into basic movements allowing technical
constructs that improve effectiveness and efficient. Overtly
employs: stretched hands, the power line; square hips; and
kamae eyes.
Heavy Front Foot
This is a good point when the front foot is heavy but the
meaning becomes evident when the foot goes light, showing
that correct weight distribution was not maintained. Often seen
in nikajo and irimi nage.
Height Drop
This is where each movement, forward or rotational,
incorporates a drop in height which will equate to a weight
transfer into the attacker or an impaired body structure.
Long and Short Levers
This refers to the contact point being moved with respect to the
centre of gravity, vertical rotational axis or extension. Long
levers work against uke and short levers assist shite.
Power Line
This is a stretched, straight line from the rear foot to the head.
The spine is facing forwards, and the hips need to be square to
this line to maintain body structure.
Sliding Feet
This describes the way the feet never leave the mat when
moving forward or rotating. This forces the centre of gravity to
be located in the correct position and evolves efficient and
stable movement.
Square Hips
When all the vertebrae of the spine are facing forward along
the balance line, technical transmission of power from the rear
toes to the contact point is maximised.
Straight Spine
This describes two points: the way in which the pelvis is kept
straight, relative to the power line, in order to make the small of
the back have as little curvature as possible; and the way the
spine is stretched rather than held rigidly.
Thirty degrees
The optimum change of direction of the balance line is 30
degrees. Any less and displacement is ineffective, any more
and power is weak. This also explains many of the rotations in
basic techniques…210 (180+30); 150 (180-30); even the 270 in
kote gaeshi as it is a change of 30 degrees off uke’s line.
Toe Power
The toes are the source of physical power being in contact with
the ground. The rear toes are dug into the mat, hence toe
power, not foot power.
Triangulation
This is the way the contact point is located within the central
plane. It is most easily visualised as an isosceles triangle from
an overhead camera whose base is the width of the hips with
the arms as the other two sides holding the contact point at its
apex. Later, it will be observed from the side and seen as the
extension of the forearms to the hips, a poor geometrical
triangle, but an efficient body structure.
Vertical rotation
This describes the central axis rising from the front foot with the
mass of uke and shite balanced either side of this axis.
Weight Distribution
This takes the 60/40 intuitive description of weight distribution
and redefines it as the point at which the front knee does not
require to make a movement of re-distribution prior to executing
a forward or rotational motion.
These were executed as additional movements, which meant that, firstly they had to be
remembered and secondly that they broke the flow of any technique. When we started to
incorporate these movements within the kihon dosa, imagine our surprise that nothing
extra needed to be remembered and all techniques flowed.
Subliminal Movements
Next came the revelation of subliminal movements. These, unlike mechanical structures,
were movements, and again they were largely unnoticed. However, their inclusion within
techniques made a positive difference to transitional movements and kept uke moving,
whereas prior to these, uke’s movement was continually stopping and re-starting.
Concurrent Movements
These situations constantly occur in kihon dosa. The more
numerous the moves embedded, the more you will see that the
power of aikido grows exponentially.
Contact/strike
The way uke is engaged, contact is soft and capturing rather
than harsh and inhibiting, strike has no extension.
Displacement
A global term for a variety of movements that displace
attackers’ centres of gravity or break the integrity of their bodystructure through extending their point of balance. If they are so
displaced, then their ability to counter or use upper body
strength is impaired.
Extension
Moving uke from stable to less stable.
Height Reduction
This is the way the front knee lowers your height to come under
the attacker’s centre of gravity, or drops weight onto uke or
breaks uke’s body integrity.
Hip Rotation
The use of the hips to displace an attacker or to enhance a
directional change.
Imbalance
The point of displacement between balance and
unbalance.
Sequential Joint
Manipulation
until
The process of controlling an attacker by targeting a specific
joint and then manipulating subsequent adjacent joints
uke’s energy is controlled and or body integrity is
compromised.
Sword Cuts
The way the sword was used to cut, the way weight gave it
additional power, the way power from the lower
body and rotational movements were transmitted to the
blade, are vital insights into the kihon dosa.
Variable Radii Control
The way the contact point is moved by shortening or
lengthening radii created by the arms and or shoulders.
Weight Re-distribution
When the front knee is used to create a displacement of the
attacker’s centre of gravity.
Once again, incorporation of these into the kihon dosa further reduced squirming and
belligerence. Furthermore, with the new curriculum and ukes no longer fearing injury,
testing was part of everyday practice and as students now had tempered bodies,
techniques were tuned more finely. This time we searched the kihon dosa as each new
subliminal movement was discovered. It became a competition to find the next one and
there were a few crazies. However, these were easily sorted as we knew the correct
feeling of embedment. Moreover, the students were able to eliminate the crazies through
discussion. Next came conceptual movements, but these had no tangible connexion to the
kihon dosa. They were movements that existed, for example, due to a height disparity, or a
mobility disadvantage (short legs versus long legs). We classify these as imperceptible realignments in kamae and the kihon dosa due to physical attributes. With this came the
realisation that suwari and hanmi handachi waza could help us with these and put them
back into the curriculum.
From these early years, the language has evolved still more. I appreciate that many of my
colleagues will be wondering what it is that I am smoking! Much of modern physics,
particularly cosmology is underpinned by mathematics and as our knowledge grows,
mathematics is there to show we are on the right path. I have liked Dr. Harris’s articles on
The Principles of Aiki in the Aikido Times. I was hoping he might next take some simple
differential equations to prove optimum performances. Unfortunately, as soon as I mention
moments, vectors, or accelerative curves, my audience switches off. I appreciate this
philosophical approach proves nothing. It simply defines principles and rationale. However,
the language has given us new paths and depths to explore, consolidated aikido, it has
been there to show us we are on the right path, and, when the road splits, it has shown us
which branch to take rather than waste time or rely on luck.

Download Report