Learning To Be Silent

To follow Buck’s excellent post, I thought I’d republish our training guide, which you can also find in a printable format on our class information page.

1. Sink with every movement: Martial arts proficiency depends on a solid base from which to direct energy. Postures should have a continuous structural connection between the base, the waist, and the extension of the arms/hands.
2. Maintain good posture: This connection depends on the back being straight and the elbows and shoulders being sunk.
3. Maintain center alignment: Keep the hands and arms in front of the body and direct the movement from the waist. When turning, also turn the hands in toward the center of the body to maintain the alignment. Head and eyes should be facing in the same direction as the hands.
4. Move from your center: Do not try to execute techniques solely with the hands and arms. They are only energetic extensions of your hara, or physical center of gravity. If your posture is good, your hands and arms are in correct alignment, and you move from your center, then the technique will unfold.
5. Breathe: Kokyu, or breath, is one of the fundamental tools of the Aikidoka. Ki is also sometimes translated as breath. Breathe energy into your hands as you execute techniques and take ukemi, and your arms and body will be filled with that energy.
6. Extend your idea beyond the target: Visualize your movement extending beyond your opponent’s body. Extend out and gather in as if your partner is not there.
7. Maintain your balance, take your opponent’s: Aikido works because we sequentially and progressively take our opponent’s balance without compromising our own. The best uke is one who attempts to maintain his/her own balance as long as possible.
8. Do not rely on strength or speed: Internal martial arts such as Aikido develop the ability to direct energy with the mind in order to take an opponent’s balance without the use of strength or speed. If a technique is not working, examine your movement with respect to the principles; do not use more strength or speed. Aikido techniques are very effective and safe for your partner when done correctly, but can be injurious when done incorrectly, too strong, or too fast.
9. Face your opponent: Move in such a way that you do not turn your back on your opponent when he/she has his/her balance, as nage or as uke. Relax and enjoy – Aikido is a path, a journey. Don’t be hard on yourself.
10. Take your time: Continuity of training with good intentions is more important than exertion. Focus first on the principles, then on technique, and last of all on throwing or being thrown. In this way your practice will be more meaningful, more rewarding, and safer.

By Buck Pittman

Much has been posted over the years on training and the inevitable injuries that follow. Aikido has its roots in brutal martial arts designed to kill and maim, tested and refined under combat over centuries. Despite Aikido’s goal of harmony and non-injury, it remains a very powerful martial art that can cause serious injury in short order.

I’ve seen a lot of different injuries on the mat over my 15 years of training, from stubbed toes to broken bones. Fortunately, even the worst of these injuries were manageable and not permanent. But they all require attention and cause for concern. Any injury represents a setback from training, which for Aikidoka is The Way, our path to enlightenment and our contribution to restoring harmony in the world.

I was the cause of a recent injury that took my uke off the mat holding his shoulder. It looked bad at the time, like something that would keep him off the mat for a few weeks at least, probably more. I’ve heard since that the injury wasn’t so bad, but I still haven’t seen him back on the mat. I feel responsible and I should, because I am. Despite uke’s insistence that they took bad ukemi, I want to make the point strongly that it is up to nage to take care of uke—always and without exception.

I think this is the first time it has happened on my watch. I didn’t realize when it happened; it was jiu waza and we were training fast. But I clearly lost my focus and a bad injury resulted. My apology cannot make up for uke’s lost time on the mat or their discouragement.

I would offer a few suggestions to help avoid injury:

• Take care of your uke, especially if you are the senior student. Take control of the attack and maintain control throughout the technique.
• Know your limits. It is important to understand where your limit is and know how to push to the limit and pull back from it depending on the circumstances.
• Remember that the intensity of uke’s attack determines the intensity of nage’s response. Don’t attack with more intensity than your ukemi can take. Beginners who don’t know should attack slowly as this signals to nage to respond slowly.
• Never stop working on your own ukemi. It can always be better and the better it is, the better insulated you are from injury, the better you can train, and the more you help nage.
• Don’t forget to breathe. Breathing helps you relax and not hold tension. It also keeps oxygen in your blood, brain, and muscles so you can train longer without getting tired. Tired and lazy ukes are more likely to get injured.
• Eat well. Having energy for an hour or two on the mat demands a diet not made up of simple sugars and fats. Again, pooping out makes one prone to injury.
• Get in shape and stay in shape. Regular training is the best way to build a body that can respond to Aikido techniques, but supplemental training off the mat to improve strength, flexibility, and stamina may be needed, especially if you can’t make it to the dojo enough. Carrying extra pound also adds stress to your bones and joints and puts an additional load on your vascular system.
• Pay attention! Never lose focus.
• Have fun! Look at the picture of O’ Sensei on our Kamiza while you train—he’s smiling. Happy Aikidoka train with confidence and compassion.

Editor’s note: As well as teaching at the dojo, Buck is the President of Pittman Landscape Architecture, a Jacksonville based land planning firm.

Editors Note: This is the second in a three part interview with Seabolt Sensei, chief instructor at the Aikido Center of Jacksonville. The full interview can be found under the Sensei tag.

Jerry: Let’s talk a bit more about the early days. Why did you decide to move from the dance studio?

Sensei: Well, we left Mark Spivak’s [the dance studio - Ed.] because our training time was being cut. The space we rented was also being used by cheerleaders. They would stay during the evenings, which left less time for us.

Jerry: And then where did you go?

Sensei: We moved to the JCA [Jewish Community Alliance - Ed]. They were renting space to community groups.

Jerry: How did that work out?

Sensei: At first it was great — we had a really nice room. The problem was that when the JCA rented space for special events, we would always have to move. And the space we were moved to was really small. It became clear to us that it wasn’t working out.

Jerry: What did you do?

Sensei: Well, at that time I was getting my Masters in Psychology at UNF. I looked into organizing the school as a UNF club and moving there.

Chief Instructor

Jerry: Were you the chief instructor at that point?

Sensei: Yes.

Jerry: What was it like to take on that responsibility?

Sensei: [Laughs] It was a lot of work! When Chris moved, he left the school pretty disorganized. Little things, like a mailbox, our own phone number…these things weren’t really planned out. If we were to keep training, I would have to step up and put things in order.

One of the first things I did was make sure we stayed a USAF dojo. For me, it was never a question, but my fellow students didn’t have the experience I had going to seminars and training in New York. I had to convince them that it was important.

Jerry: At that point were you a student of Yamada Sensei?

Sensei: Yes, that happened when I first stayed in New York for five weeks.

Influences

Jerry: Who are your main influences?

Sensei: [Laughs] All my teachers!

I obviously owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Yamada Sensei. And of course Sugano Sensei. I also owe a lot to my other teachers in New York, especially Donovan Waite, but also Steve Pimsler, Jane Ozeki, and Douglas Firestone.

And of course Peter and Penny Bernath, and Grady Lane. Grady especially has been a great help to me over the years.

Jerry: Who are your influences regarding your weapons training?

Sensei: I’d have to say I learned the most from seminars with Kanai Sensei and Claude Berthiaume. And of course Sugano Sensei’s classes in New York.

When Mike joined the school he also brought a lot of weapons experience, which was very helpful.

Jerry: You’re obviously grateful to your teachers. How important is it to receive this type of personal instruction?

Sensei: Very important. I’ve always believed that if you want to learn Aikido, if you’re serious, you have to put in your time with the shihans. You need to apprentice yourself, over a period of years. If that’s not possible, then you need to find an instructor who has that experience. And then you need to attend seminars. Lots of them. I’m a big proponent of seminars.

Jerry: Is that also your experience with weapons?

Sensei: Absolutely. With weapons there’s a lot of subtlety which you really can’t see unless it’s personally demonstrated. And again, you need this experience from a shihan or shidoin. When you’re receiving instruction from someone with thirty or forty years experience, over time it informs your technique a lot.

My job as an instructor is to bring these insights back to Jacksonville, to my students.

To Be Continued…