What the heck is Aikido?

by Mark Binder
Copyright 1999
First published on WholeFoods.Com

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He takes one step and tries to hit her. She shifts her weight, moves her body slightly to the side and extends her arms. Suddenly, the attacker is flying through the air. Rather than slamming into a wall, he executes a perfect roll, spins on the balls of his feet, and charges her again. And again he goes flying.

That's what Aikido looks like after you've practiced it for a couple of years. Two people working in harmony. Attack, throw, roll. It's like an improvised ballet -- dancing on the edge of danger.

Invented around the time of World War II, by a Japanese martial artist named Morihei Ueshiba, Aikido is known as "the subtle art," "the deadliest art," and "the martial art for peace." It is strange that way, a warrior way that has at its core the goal of harmony. If you ask an Aikido teacher, "Will that work on the street?" he or she might answer back, "Are you planning on getting attacked?"

On the one hand, students of Aikido practice throws and joint locks (painful wrist control techniques). On the other, most of them will never use any of their knowledge to hurt someone else. That's not the reason they study.

They learn how to move their bodies, how to gauge a situation, how to maintain distance, to center themselves, how to breathe. On a day-to-day basis, a lot of time is spent on rolling and not getting hurt. You can't practice Aikido if you're injured, so the first thing you learn is how to take a fall safely. After a while, usually a year or two, falling can become great fun. Sort of like flying for a very short period of time.

Terry Dobson used to say that Aikido wasn't about self-defense, it was about protection -- protecting yourself but also protecting your attacker. He liked to site an example of a drunk an out-of-control uncle at a wedding. You'd like Uncle Ned to settle down, but you don't want to bash his brains in.

Students of Aikido learn how to measure and control their reactions to violent or dangerous situations. In every class a series of techniques are taught and practiced. You throw me four times, and then I throw you four times. We try and figure out what the teacher is showing. How does she makes it look so effortless, and why the heck can't I do it the same way?

Chances are if you can't do a technique you're trying too hard. It's counter-intuitive. The more muscle strength you put into a throw, the less likely it is to work smoothly. At the same time, it's embarrassing to be unable to throw a guy half your size, so chances are that in the beginning you'll grunt and muscle your way through.

But that's part of the learning process, too. Most of us have taken decades to learn our bad habits, both physical and mental. We think that strength is good. We think that in combat there is always an attacker and a defender.

Aikido means "the way of harmony with the energy of the universe." It is a martial art that teaches that everything, every person, is part of that harmony. The logical extension of that is the question, "If we are all one being, that means everybody else is an extension of me. And if that's true, then why would I hurt myself?"

Aikido isn't a religion. We practice the martial aspect of the art -- the throwing and being thrown, as a physical metaphor for the principle of harmony. You can't practice Aikido by yourself. You need a partner to give you a committed attack, and then you take care of that partner even as you throw him or her. Because strength doesn't matter, anyone can study Aikido. Men and women, children and seniors, able and disabled all work together and learn from each other . We also toss each other around because it looks cool and it's fun. Sometimes we can even remember to apply Aikido principles to arguments with our husbands and wives, and in those instants, the fights dissolve and there is only a problem to be solved.

My enemy attacks
But does not hit. I am him.
We are together.

BIO: Mark Binder is the author of two books, and chief instructor of Way of Harmony (http://www.wayofharmony.org). He holds a third degree black belt in Aikido.