by Mark Binder
Rule Number 1: Don’t get hurt
Rule Number 2: Don’t hurt anyone else...
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We live in a world that has become accustomed to violence. Wars are fought over insults, over ideals, over sugar, opium, money, and land. One violent action produces a retaliation which escalates into widespread bloody conflict. What if there is a way to interrupt this pattern? The cycle of violence begetting violence, is now accepted as a fact. This cycle is especially well-documented in the area of child abuse. What tool does a parent who was beaten as a child call to mind in a crisis? When violence is acceptable (and even "recommended") can other solutions even occur to him or her?
Aikido offers other options.
"The techniques you learn in Aikido are not weapons. They are tools which can be used to save a life. If you use them as weapons, you will get cut by them. You will hurt somebody or get hurt."
- Terry Dobson
I have been told that ikkyo, a control technique that doesn’t involve pain, was Osensei’s favorite technique. When a student of Aikido practices ikkyo she can effectively lead any sized opponent safely to the ground. There are tricks to it -- "cranking" the elbow, or controlling the wrist, but ninety percent of ikkyo’s effectiveness involves getting out of the way and leading the opponent’s balance out, away, and down. The speed of impact, the velocity at which the opponent hits the mat is entirely up to the person performing the technique. In other words, if you want to slam someone, you can. In fact, it’s easier. Much more difficult is to take a vicious committed attack to the head and gently ease the attacker to the floor.
In the dojo we like to look good. Once in California I went to a late night Aikido class, and the teacher told me that not only was Friday night about practicing technique, it was also about looking cool. It’s really cool when somebody goes flying across the room. And when they hit the mat with a really loud slam, it looks even better. Advanced students of Aikido train very hard to fly through the air and land safely. We call the art of taking rolls, ukemi. If there’s someone in the audience you want to impress, get a flexible in-shape black belt to take ukemi for you and no matter what you do, it’ll look good.
Slamming opponents to the mat, whether done with an ikkyo a kotegaishi (a wrist throw) or a koshinage (hip throw), looks cool. It definitely impresses the chicks (or so most guys would like to think). And when done safely, with trained ukes (the person who attacks and then gets thrown), it’s a heck of a lot of fun. It’s even fun to get thrown.
When done in this spirit of joy and play, throwing people around like toys is a strong and vital component of Aikido training. Like an experienced skier hopping moguls, or a diver learning to somersault into a swimming pool, it is an expression of joy at the ability of human beings to escape momentarily from the pull of the earth -- and survive.
It is, however, essential to learn control, gentleness and restraint. If these dynamic techniques are performed on someone unsuspecting, or who isn’t trained, they can be devastating. "On the street" they could be used to break arms or necks.
I have not heard a single story of any high ranking Aikido teacher putting dynamic practices into action "on the street." In the lower ranks, however, there is a danger that the slamming and the pain inflicted by a strong nikkyo will be interpreted as the true expression of good Aikido. Ikkyo, performed with compassion, can effectively control someone without pain.
And perhaps in real life there is no need to perform any technique. Sometimes in my classes I teach a series of techniques that I jokingly call "run-a-waza." They are escape techniques, designed to quickly put as much distance as possible between the attacker and victim. One technique (the "irimi-derchi") is particularly difficult for many students to learn. It begins like a regular iriminage. Uke attacks with a shomen cut to the head. Nage enters deeply. But then, instead of throwing uke, nage immediately runs like hell -- without looking back.
The difficulty most students have is their attachment to throwing. From the first day of Aikido class, they have learned how to throw.
An excellent Aikido technique is not to fight.
"Maybe the reason you can’t roll is because you can’t leave your feet. You can’t go for it. You can’t trust enough to just jump the hell into space.... Once you make the decision to go for it, it is dynamite."
- Terry Dobson
On the first day of Aikido class we also begin to teach students how to roll. We don’t tell them on day one that rolling is harder than throwing. If we did, they’d probably quit. Most people are terrified of falling. It will often take years to get beyond this fear and begin to experience the joy.
Obviously, for me, learning to fall safely is essential to my Rule Number One, "Don’t get hurt."
When I was starting to roll, my teacher told me to keep my arms out and extended. I nodded, and then focused on throwing. Eventually my shoulders became so sore I had to have three X-rays to believe they weren’t broken. Then I listened to him and learned how to roll.
Falling safely has protected me when I slipped on the ice, and when I fell down the stairs holding my infant son. And on the mat, I’ve never been out because of an injury for more than a few days.
Without ukemi there would be no Aikido practice. If Aikido is a hand, then technique is the front and ukemi is the back. You can’t have the front of the hand without the back.
Within the partnership of Aikido, uke agrees to attack nage. Nage agrees to receive the attack and throw uke. Uke falls. There are many ways for uke to resist nage, and many ways for nage to hurt uke. If this battle begins on the mat, very soon no one will be left to practice.
The biggest barrier to a good attack is the attacker’s fear of falling. There are only two ways that someone is going to give a committed attack. First, if they think they can get away with it safely. Second if they’re not afraid of the repercussions.
It is in every teacher and senior student’s interest to train the beginners to fall well. Everyone’s Aikido will improve.
A mind to serve for the peace of all human beings in the world is needed for Aikido and not the mind of one who wishes to be strong or practices only to defeat an opponent.
- Morihei Ueshiba Osensei
Aikido is a paradox. A martial art (budo) for peace. Daily training to protect yourself against any unexpected violent attack. Learning to deal with these attacks swiftly and effectively. And at the same time, behind these practices are elements of control, compassion, and love.
Observe the joy in the face of a senior student as a beginner finally learns to apply a painful joint lock. "No, no. A little to the left. YES! YOW!" It’s not just masochism. In that relationship is the transmission of the degrees of control. Optional levels of pain that can be applied -- or not -- at the user’s discretion.
We live in fragile bodies. Violence is easy. Hurting one another can be quick, sudden and senseless. How much more difficult to manage the situation so that it resolves sensibly.
Terry Dobson wrote that, "The purpose of conflict is harmony."
Through Aikido training, we literally are learning "The Way of Harmony With the Energy of Others and the World."
It ain’t easy, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun.
Author’s Note: Within days after writing this essay, the United States retaliated against terrorist attacks on its embassies. To some, this surgical use of force seemed appropriate and justified. To others, more specifically the opponents of the United States, it seemed to be a provocation, a challenge, and the second shot fired in a potentially escalating conflict. As of this writing, security throughout the United States is being tightened. Airports are being carefully watched. Tourists abroad are warned to be cautious. Right now, we don’t know what will happen next. I believe that the next step for Aikido students everywhere is to find a way to apply Aikido’s philosophy to global conflicts.
Quotes excerpted from "It’s a lot like dancing… an aikido journey" by Terry Dobson, Riki Moss and Jan E. Watson. Frog Ltd., 1993.
Essay Copyright 1998 by Mark
Binder.
All rights reserved.