The Fifth Guideline: Aikido should be healthy.

         Thank you to Stanley Pranin who gave his permission for me to use this image.

 

"In daily training, begin with basic movements to strengthen the body without overexertion.  Spend the first ten minutes warming up, and there will be no fear of injury, even for old people.  Enjoy yourself in training and strive to comprehend it's true purpose."  Budo

"In daily training, begin with basic movements to strengthen the body without overexertion. Warm up properly, and there will be no fear of injury, even for older people. Enjoy yourself while training and strive to comprehend its true purpose." Best Aikido: The Fundamentals

"Daily practice begins with light movements of the body, gradually increasing in intensity and strength; but there must be no overexertion.  That is why even and elderly person can continue to practice with pleasure and without bodily harm; and why he will obtain the goal of his training."  Aikido

 

When Kisshomaru Doshu expounds on this in Aikido, "The fifth rule is not to contradict nature.  Excessiveness is to be avoided in anything.  Moderation is the key.  No matter how little the excess is, the whole posture and the condition of the body will be unbalanced.  Young, lively students are apt to have the idea that they will not be strong unless they force their power.  This is not true.  Natural practice creates true strength.  For this reason, it was possible for Dr Niki, a man of more than 80 years old, to practice Aikido."

From the 1997 issue of "The Aikido" by Aikido world headquarters in Tokyo.  Volume 34, #4.  (Really, from the walls of the men's change room at our dojo):  "Daily practice should commence with Tai-no-Henka (Turning), and should proceed gradually to stronger techniques without placing undo strain on the body.  Practice should be performed in a joyful manner in which even the most elderly can participate without suffering injury.  In this way, training will enable achievement of the ultimate goal."  

As a long time health care worker, I didn't expect this to be the most difficult of the guidelines for practice to write about.  Is Aikido healthy to practice?  I found great examples of longevity here, here, and here.  Some days I have my doubts.  I have had other teachers say as much.  I know many Aikido people who were injured on the mat.  As Aikido became very codified and fractured after these guidelines were written, any drift from this guideline is not really something to lay at Morihei Ueshiba's feet in my opinion.

Does Aikido promote health?  I have seen more than a few people who are moving stiffly and slowly, or have sustained injuries that are aging them before their time.  My one arm never healed properly from an injury sustained in an Aikido class, and I have seen several students quit following shoulder and neck injuries.

Yoga and Tai Chi are well accepted as complimentary classes in hospitals and clinics; Aikido is not.   Janet Rosen's work with at risk patients teaching them how to safely fall is the closest I have seen to Aikido performing a valuable service to the medical establishment.  She also has a great article on knee health.

Not every Aikido practitioner is automatically a paragon of mental, emotional, and physical health.  Some Aikido can be health promoting, some is probably not.  I like this article by Pat Parker on performance standards.  "Are club members sustaining avoidable injuries?"  Not every dojo where I have trained has this mindset to evaluate their practices, and no dojo I have been to has this explicitly in writing that I am aware of.  At the minimum (in my experience) most dojo pay at least lip service (often more) to machismo instead.  I have met people who sustained significant enough chronic injuries from routine practice that causes me to doubt their remaining martial ability. The majority of instructors I meet aren't trained health professionals (Pat and Janet are), able to evaluate the training in an informed scientific fashion.  I started in a dojo with several health professionals.

I would love to say everyone who ever taught a class was worthy of the level of praise found in this poster - but not even close.  The poster itself is just about money, insulting students who question their fees with the justification being claims of abilities equating to certified medical professionals.  This myth deserves to be seen for the garbage it is.  Anyone claiming to be a dietician or psychologist who isn't is breaking the law.

                               

Warm ups
Stanley Pranin has an excellent video on supplementing warm ups for health, and this article touches on the politics of suggesting it.  I like what he says about Yoga and Aikido.  While I have had teachers decline to lead stretching, another of Mr Pranin's excellent blog entries has photographs of O Sensei stretching.  This an example of O Sensei's warm ups courtesy of Aikido Journal.  (Some of them, I do not do anymore particularly sitting in seiza and laying back).

Kawahara sensei didn't always lead warm ups.  It was expected for a weekend seminar that one of the dojo sempai would be leading warmups before Sensei arrived on the mat.  The head instructor for the dojo would be assisting Kawahara sensei.  Sensei would observe what we taught for warmups, and I always had the sense that I was being tested on my teaching ability and my warm up exercises.  Sensei would walk around the mat and watch how we performed movements like Kokyu Ho and Tai no Tenkan; we needed to have done both before class proceeded.

It was the Summer Camp, or some other major seminar when Sensei ran the warm ups himself.  This was a special time.  He had dozens of exercises that were very powerful supplements to our training.  This is when the "recipes" would come out - "If you want to be good at (some technique or skill), do (Some specific exercise) A.  100x/d for 100 days or, B.  Ten minutes a day for 100 days."  Far from not valuing warmups, he kept the treasures for these times.

Training

Kawahara sensei also made several comments that sounded like something I heard in Yoga classes.  Just as a Yoga class has back bends, forward bends, and twists follow each other, Sensei would often vary the techniques taught.  Kokyu Ho back stretch might be followed by Ikkyo.  Shihonage back fall would be followed by Kaitenage forward rolls.  Sankyo and Kotegaeshi in the same class.  Koshinage was a once a seminar technique.  Hijikime was less frequent; I seem to remember him saying only once a month.  In the old CAF test requirements Ikkyo to Yonkyo, Shihonage, Iriminage, and Kotegaeshi appeared for every test.

 

There was a different pin for each technique. A Nikyo kneeling pin that twisted the arm down and back, for example, might follow a Shihonage pin that lifted the arm up in the opposite motion. This was in part to promote shoulder health. My shoulders miss the variety some days: I have had teachers spend the entire class on Nikyo, and I needed time to heal afterwards. Another school ended nearly all movements with the same standing pin and I remember looking around the room with many senior students having the identical shoulder injury.  I have trained where Nikyo pins are common and Shihonage pins are not done, and shoulder injuries seem more common.

 

Unpopular techniques are trained less often, leaving students less prepared to practice them. A technique that is seldom practiced but needed for a grading results in students attempting marathon sessions of unfamiliar movements in last minute desperation.

 

The downside is that Sensei had a long list of basics, which was daunting for beginners.  I still prefer this approach and I think it leads to a more balanced development.

Following on warm ups exercises, there is also a huge amount written on the importance of cool down stretching - something I saw in most high school sports, karate, and Tae Kwon Do classes, but very, very rarely ever see in an Aikido class.  Many dojo now seem to have a 60 minute class format, and warm up and cool down exercises take up time. Kimeda Sensei in Toronto, when I met him a 60 minute lunch class had only 3 techniques.  Most instructors in my experience seem to try to teach more. This leaves little time for repetition, preliminaries and cool down. 

Basic Technique
By the late 1990's, Morihei Ueshiba had been dead for decades.  The stricter definition of basic techniques in the 1997 version would have come from Kisshomaru Doshu probably, and might have been a little political - the Koichi Tohei Ki Aikido Aiki Taiso; the Tomiki/Shodokan Aikido Tandoku, the Hanasu/Releases, and the Junana kata, the Yoshinkan Kihon of Hiriki no Yosei Ichi and Hiriki no Yosei Ni, Tai no Henko Ichi and Tai no Henko Ni, Sumatsu Doza Ichi and Sumatsu Doza Ni, and many other basic empty hand forms from different teachers were not taught to me as a beginner.  Weapons work is even more disparate, and certainly not uniformly part of the basics of every style of Aikido.

With Koichi Tohei setting the stage for the Aikikai early on with his own exercises and then separating in 1974, the basics some early Western Aikido pioneers learned were then disavowed.  The politics associated with the various practices seems to supersede the health or utility of the practices.  While the Guidelines were written prior to any notable schisms, the 1997 revision specifically defines basics away from other traditional branches.  By 2002 in Best Aikido, the third Doshu has left the concept of basic techniques more open again. Certainly during my brief time in Hombu Dojo there was a very wide variety of techniques.

We are told to start with basics, but the larger Aikido community very much does not agree on a list of the basics.  Some movements and practices carry less risk of injury than others.  Some can be practiced for extended periods with high repetitions with little risk for relatively new students or students who are injured.  Some practices carry relatively high risk for injury.
 
Seiza
We all do ask for seiza, which is not a healthy practice for absolutely everyone at every time.  Nor is the related practice of Shikko, the importance of which is often predicated on the prevalence of Seiza.  It is not a posture that we build our way up to, nor warm up for.  Some articles point out that Seiza is a relatively new practice, and that Seiza is not the only traditional way for Japanese people to sit.  

The lessons to be learned from seiza eventually should transfer to standing and walking - so why not progress to standing?  Marathon seiza sessions are not health promoting whether the issue be venous stasis or joint pressure.  While most Aikido schools meditate in seiza, older meditation systems like Yoga, Taiji, and Qigong will use a variety of positions as well as the use of cushions or benches for extended periods of meditation.  Hours spent in seiza are likely to cause damage, hours spent in the corpse pose carry far less risk.

On a related note, while I had needed to learn a variety of pins for grading, I came across schools that said I had learned less traditional Aikido.  I was told by some teachers that traditional Aikido only did seated pins, with live toes and both knees on the ground.  Not only is this a very one note control game, but a cursory look at Daito Ryu, Yoshinkan, Shodokan/Tomiki, Judo, and really any of the early teachers shows otherwise.  Saying all traditional pins resort to the one position, seiza, simply isn't true.  Older schools contain a wide variety of controls. Kawahara sensei also referenced the Yogic practice method of doing opposite movements.
 
On the other hand, seiza is a good posture for teaching structure and moving with power.  Ukemi from seiza is also less likely to result in an injury when practicing a technique that leads to a more awkward throw.
 
Ukemi
We do all require a variety of falling practices.  While this is the most useful martial skill in my opinion, and it can prevent deaths and injuries, this is also probably the source of many Aikido injuries.  I do think there are many worthwhile skills that can be practiced with no falling, like exercises for kuzushi and control.  It is interesting for me to go over the list of basics from other styles of Aikido - many of these basics are solo practices, and the many do not require the student be able to roll from the very beginning.  Some falls, like falls for Ikkyo or back falls, can be done slowly and cooperatively.  From there, the falls can get more advanced and can carry a higher degree of risk.

In some styles, a falls-free class sounds like cheating, or fake practice.  I have known students who thought it wasn't possible to teach Aikido without falls.  Between weapons, kata, Kokyu Ho, and Aiki Taiso there is a huge curriculum in Aikido that is not completely dependent on the student's ability to fall.

Adapting for challenges
A friend of mine who was a Judo student blew out his one knee prior to an extended trip to the Kodokan.  He was ordered to do newaza or ground work classes by the instructors and not allowed to do any weight bearing throws.  He benefited hugely from his time in Japan.  He did not get marginalized.  He learned a ton of material that made him a far better Judo player.  Is there an obvious shift in the curriculum in Aikido for people with knee injuries?  I usually see people with sore knees made to feel second rate.

I have known several high ranked Aikidoists with undeniable skills, people whose ability I personally had the pleasure and honour of experiencing, who would not be able to do all the requirements for a USAF sixth kyu test.  Two men in particular I trained with had acquired severe back injuries, both in motor vehicle accidents after they became yudansha, leading to chronic pain and restricted activity.  The spinal damage made falling painful and risky to practice for both of them.  Both of them are capable of tight solid control and frighteningly fast power, and they are both good and powerful examples of the of the art and it's benefits.  But, neither could do all the elements on a beginner's test for all that any black belt would find either of them to be a wealth of information and skill.  I find myself critical of the test and not these two accomplished teachers.  These two people had already acquired sufficient rank as to be able to teach, or participate on their own terms before their challenges.  What would happen if they were beginners starting tomorrow?  I am not sure they would be allowed to train. Stanley Pranin theorized that Saito Sensei modified his practices for his own painful challenges (check the comments, not the article this links to).

There is such a thing as Wheelchair Karate, and Wheelchair Tai Chi.  For sheer authenticity and volume of material, there is no beating Ninjaxtx.  Molly Hale is a yondan under Hombu Aikikai and her work on adaptive Aikido and her determination is something inspiring.  When I was asked to bring a woman using a wheel chair into my cancer center Taiji group, I spent hours on the net researching the idea without finding Hale Sensei's name.  (I was doing research not because I had any intention of declining to have a person using a chair, but because I wanted to do well by this new student.  Three years later, I have a 45 minute long all seated class that is more popular than my standing one).  It is still my experience that someone with personal challenges - challenges much less than a chair - are more likely to be turned away at the door of a dojo.  I am so glad that there are more sources of information out there now.  As I spend more time sitting on a chair than sitting in seiza in my daily life, this practice even feeds back into being more martially prepared in everyday life.


I would feel badly if I aged a student before their time and robbed them of a good quality of life.  When am I being unfaithful to the art and to the training?

John McCain was right

Not about everything, but I think he was right about this.  John McCain was military, and was asked about military strategy in Iraq, and he answered from a position of military history.  100 years in Iraq might be required for peace.

Unfortunately, no one wanted to hear it.

When John McCain's comments proved to be so unpopular, he was forced to backtrack.  I remember watching the various news reports and candidates, and the clear "right" narrative for the election started to form.  Namely, run for the border.  Election promises became a race to abandon Iraq and Afghanistan.

I remember wondering if too many people believed the final fight scene from the Karate Kid.  I mean, one lucky kick to the face of a guy who jumps back up, the ref declares the winner, Daniel gets the girl and the trophy and his bully tells him, "You're alright!"  Great.  Kick someone in the face and you have sex appeal and made friends of your enemies.  One kick in the teeth can bring the whole world together and make everything right again.  Who says violence isn't the answer?

Kick an attacker in the face once to make everything better - versus outside of the ring.  Someone phones 911 wanting an attacker stopped.  Police subdue them.  Courts try them.  Sentencing happens, incarceration happens, rehabilitation is attempted.  Many hours, and many expensive resources committed and maybe failing.

Following the bloodshed in Paris, there is talk about returning to Iraq again.

I'm nobody, and I have little background to draw upon.  I have made this a little simple (so have others who think leaving the refugees to starve or get shot will make the world a better place, or just let the marines leave scorched earth, or just ignore reality a little longer.)

The Soviet war in Afghanistan was lost by the USSR due to CIA manipulation and partnerships.  The USSR withdrew in 1989.  No significant funding or resources to rebuild infrastructure or provide stability in Afghansitan was ever provided by the US, just lots and lots of weapons left in the hands of a people ravaged by war.  The goal was never peace, just an attack on Communism.

Iraq invaded Kuwait in July of 1990.  After extensive multinational talks and following diplomatic channels, George H. Bush's Desert Storm started in January 1991.  By March, the first American troops started to return home.  The brief war was criticized, and Bush Senior did not have two terms as president.  The goal was often portrayed as securing oil for the US, not creating peace.

September 11th 2001 was the USA's second day in infamy, the attack on New York and the Pentagon.  We soon learned this was from a group based in Afghanistan.  By November 2002, the US was invading Iraq again following has become a widely criticized failure of intelligence gathering.  In 2011, the US was leaving the region again with an equipped and trained local military.  By early 2014, ISIL controlled portions of Iraq and by June was invading portions of Syria.  The US did little to stop the advance, largely for a lack of political will.  The attacks in Paris happened only a few days ago.

I do not agree with people pointing out ISIS organized terrorism is the work of a few malcontents. ISIS, while not representative of the larger Muslim population, has become an army and a nation.  They are not a provincial threat; they threaten the world.  Important and once challenging functions of a military like communications and logistics - are now a fact of life.  We are now in a time when a civilian of modest means can be anywhere in the populated world in a day with little difficulty.  Compared to Columbus, who lost nine ships in four voyages, or the dangerous rigors of sea travel in the days of the Vikings, or the months of hardships faced by the pioneers - my last flight to Osaka was very leisurely.  The difficulties involved in launching the Crusades due to logistics and distance have been surpassed by technology - many people travel further for a Thanksgiving or Spring Break weekend.  North America is an easy target, as is Europe.

I do not agree with people who suggest we should not involve ourselves in others affairs will make the situation better and safer.  Ignoring and not investing in the rebuilding of Afghanistan, the rebuilding of Iraq, or the stability of the Middle East has not improved the situation.  Ignoring the situation in Syria has not helped.  Not providing stability for Iraq; backing off after an investment in resources and blood, has not helped the cause of peace.

Blaming the refugee victims has become a popular meme this week.  Even the Premier of Saskatchewan has vowed to protect the frozen empty prairie from any terrorist attack, as if we are a serious target!  While the old joke is you can watch your dog run away for three days, if a militia invaded we might never notice.  

                                                          Not a military target

World War 1 ended on November 11th, 1918.  The Armistice Agreements that followed left Germany in economic hardship, but not sufficiently disarmed.  France and Belgium took control of German industrial territory following a failure to pay reparations in 1923, and they continued to occupy portions of Germany until 1935.  The goals at the time were never to create a lasting peace, but rather to leave Germany wounded.  

In 1939, World War 2 started with Germany again rising to military power.  By 1945, Hitler had suicided and the Reich had fallen.  America and Russia started to carve up Germany.  The US established control of some areas in 1945, and continues to have installations in Germany to this day.  France and Germany are now allies, of each other and the US, after having been at catastrophic war twice in less than a century.  It is a peace inextricably tied to the Cold War and many deaths and hardships.  It was a very costly peace, but a peace none-the-less.  Germany is now a respected ally.  Many years and resources.

North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950, and fighting ended in 1953.  The US maintains a military force in the region.  It is an uneasy peace with much saber rattling and overt hostility, but that is still peace.  Many years and resources that will continue for years to come.

The attack on Pearl Harbour that brought the US into World War 2 happened in 1941.  (Again, ignoring the Germans and Japanese was not a useful strategy in the long term).  Japan surrendered in 1947, and the Allies occupied Japan.  There is still a military presence in Japan, and Japan is now a valued and respected ally.  It is a peace born in the shadow of the atomic bomb but a peace that has grown to be so much more than simple intimidation and violence.  Many years and many resources.

Rome invaded and occupied large portions of Europe for centuries.  It was a bloody peace based on cultural destruction and genocide that gave us politics, roads, formal education, and many other contributions.

If the militaries of the world have to return to Iraq again, don't just commit to blood.  Don't just vote to "blow 'em up real good."  Don't be stupid enough to think a bullet in the eye socket will solve everything. 

If we go back, we need to commit to decades.  We will need to commit to the Middle East until Bagdad is a fun relaxing place, an assignment for a soldier to take his wife and kids along.  We need to commit to peace and stability.  We need to commit to education, and resources, and rebuilding.  We need to commit to huge sums of money, and huge resources.  We need to be willing to never be thanked.  We need to work together with the world, because we are all responsible and vulnerable.  Otherwise, be ready for the fourth Gulf War in a decade.

Creating peace starts with committing to peace, not just committing to payback.

Fourth rule - I am responsible for what I learn.

"The teachings of one's instructors are only to provide a minimum of assistance; applying these through one's own training is the only means of making these teachings one's own."  From the 1997 issue of "The Aikido" by Aikido world headquarters in Tokyo.  Volume 34, #4.  (Really, from the walls of the men's change room at our dojo.)

"The instructor can only impart a small portion of the teaching; only through ceaseless training can you obtain the necessary experience allowing you to bring these mysteries alive.  Hence, do not chase after many techniques; one by one, make each technique your own."  Budo

 

"The instructor can only impart a small potion of the teaching. Only through ceaseless training can you obtain the necessary experience to bring these mysteries alive." Best Aikido: The Fundamentals

 

"The teachings of your instructor constitute only a small fraction of what you will learn.  Your mastery of each movement will depend almost entirely on individual, earnest practice."  Aikido

 

Kisshomaru Ueshiba expounds on this in Aikido:

"The fourth rule relates to the assimilation of techniques.  Aikido has a few thousand variations in its techniques.  Some students are apt to chase after an accumulation of quantity rather than quality.  However when they look back on themselves, they are sorry to learn that they have gained nothing.  Soon they lose interest.  As innumerable variations of each technique are possible we instructors always emphasize the significance of "repetition" to beginners.  When you practice each basic technique, over and over again, you master it and then are able to use the variations.

 

"When the Founder first came to Tokyo, among his earnest students was Admiral Takeshita.  He wrote down all the techniques that he had learned under the Founder.  They amounted to more than two thousand, and yet there were more.  He was deadlocked, finding that he could do none of them well.  After careful consideration over several days, he understood the Founder's advice, "you should study, using the seated exercises as your base."  He practiced it and then at last became able to manage the techniques so well that he could acquire others which he had not yet been taught by his instructor.  For an elderly man of sixty years, it is the same:  repetition of the basics is the secret of improvement, no matter how awkward or unskillful one may be."

 

The exposition is a little perplexing to me in parts.  Pieces of the bare text refer to me of the importance of personal effort and exploration, and that the instructor is not the source of all knowledge.  When discussing the rule, Kisshomaru Doshu focuses on telling the student to not try to acquire more and to constantly repeat the basics, to do what we were shown and not embellish.  He does write that the first rule for practice is obedience, and maybe this extends from that.  If I tell a student to explore, I expect to see a few different things happen on the mat.

The one part of the fourth rule I think gets a little abused.  As martial artists, we have minimal training on how to teach.  No one else can do the work for you, very true.  If I do my absolute best to imitate the sensei, I am a poor copy.  I am not able to absolutely perceive everything that is happening with my eyes, nor am I able to feel absolutely everything being done when I take ukemi.  I cannot read any minds, so there is a great deal happening mentally that I do not have access to.  Maybe the teacher can tell me what the principle beneath the surface movement is, but that's no guarantee that I understand what I am being told.  I need to learn to feel what Aikido is, and then constantly hunt for it.

 

I know beginning teachers who would use this rule to divest themselves of responsibility.  If the student is confused, they just need to train harder and it's the student's fault.  Tell them, Just keep showing up.  Lessons and understanding get withheld because "that's not basic enough for you."  I was told once, "I had to figure that out for myself, so you should to."  I feel the student has the responsibility to train, teachers have the responsibility to teach.  My student's failure is my failure.  The best teachers can see how to guide you to your own potential, or they can give you ideas that will help you find your own way.  

The story of Admiral Takeshita was very inspirational to me.  (I've wondered at what made over 2000 techniques - did he write katatedori Shihonage, Shomenuchi Shihonage, and Yokomenuchi Shihonage as three different techniques?  Maybe count every single variation as a separate technique?). Get a sense of a good Shihonage, and every Shihonage starts to improve.  Get a good Kokyu Doza, and a million things become more possible.  There is a level of fundamental body movement and integration that is at the core of many basic techniques.  In Takeshita's story, I saw there was a short cut to learning an infinite number of responses - study the basics.  The spontaneous creation of technique could be possible through understanding the basic tools. (I tried to not think very hard on how Shioda, Tohei, and Tomiki all had very, very different basics from what was given to me.)

Kawahara Sensei told us at Shodan we should be self-correcting.  Not running off and doing whatever, but that we had learned enough to know what a bad Shihonage felt like, or that we knew when to switch to kaeshiwaza or henkawaza.  When something went wrong, we could examine our timing, our placement, our structure and balance.  We could move beyond, "This doesn't work!" or, "I can't do this!" and arrive at "How can I do this better?" With this understanding, it's a short leap to improving techniques I think I already do well.  

 

I believe with a good understanding, I can also dissect a basic technique and see the possibilities within.  Yokomenuchi Shihonage contains a dozen other techniques like udekimenage and kokyunage.  

 

Good understanding of a basic also means that I can extrapolate - a basic idea can be slightly modified, or done in reverse, or used in combination with other movements to make something more advanced.  Yokomenuchi Shihonage is Yokomenuchi Koshinage.  I can see how movements relate.  Empty hand or weapon do become the same.  Kansetsu, Koshinage, Osae and Nagewaza are the same movement.  Musashi tells us one to one duels and battles with 10000 a side are the same.  I can't avoid acquiring more when I look at the basics.

 

So how did Shioda, Tomiki, Saito, Tohei and so many others ended up so thoroughly different from each other?  Different body types, different times and needs, different thoughts on what was important?  For beginning students in these systems, there are very few basics in common.

How do we as students know when to follow, and when to explore?  How do we as teachers know when to back off and let a student know they can head off on their own?  How do we tell when a student is - or more importantly, isn't - ready to drift off on their own?  What criteria are we applying, and can we communicate it?  

The One that Extends to the Infinite

This is a second piece of random thoughts about the Rules for Practice.  This one rule is by far the most concrete.

"Aikido is based on the Way of One which extends to the Infinite - practice should always be performed not only concentrating on one's front, but while keeping aware of all sides at all times."  From the 1997 issue of "The Aikido" by Aikido world headquarters in Tokyo.  Volume 34, #4.  (Really, from the walls of the men's change room at our dojo.)

 

"Aikido is an art where one person learns to face many opponents simultaneously.  It therefore requires that you polish and perfect your execution of each movement so that you can take on not only the one directly before you but also those approaching from every direction."  Aikido

 

"Bujutsu is an art in which the one is used to strike the many.  Therefore, train yourself to always be mindful of, and alert to, opponents in the four and the eight directions."  Budo

 

"Aikido is an art in which "the one" is used to strike "the many." Train yourself to be mindful of attacks coming from four and eight directions. Best Aikido: The Fundamentals

 

While these rules are attributed to O Sensei, the English translation is not.  Kisshomaru Ueshiba is the author of the first two sources above, and the fourth source is from 2002 so even the second Doshu had passed by this time.  In Aikido, the Doshu does offer some further interpretation.  "Budo is for countering any attack from any direction at any time.  When you are merely ready for only one opponent, without being prepared for others, it will only be a common fight.  A tight, on-guard posture with an immovable spirit is the basis of every exercise in Budo.  People generally say, "that man behaves irreproachably," or "An excellent artist is completely on guard."  Those who study Aikido should thus spend their daily life thoroughly on guard, even if they are not consciously watching every direction around them."  

 

The four different sources may appear very different because of the translator and the times.  The One that extends to the Infinite sounds maybe like a basic idea with infinite applicability.  The Doshu referring to being "irreproachable" sounds like etiquette, social mores, and a desire to never give offense.  Irreproachable is a word usually reserved for people of high morale character, but maybe a better word for this case is unassailable.  If I never leave an opening for an attack, or to cause offense, then I already have the upper hand.

The four translations do agree on one point.  We keep awareness of our surroundings.  We are always aware of the other attacker. The most recent translation does talk about the Four and the Eight Directions, and I am not clear what is specifically being referred to. I do practice some exercises I have come to call the four corners. I encourage students to learn lifting up and down on each corner - does that make 8? I see Judo exercises with eight lines drawn on the ground, and this is all before paying attention to Jodan, Chudan, and Gedan. I have heard of 36 directions, and no amount of quasi-mathematical torture of concepts has me defining this. The idea of multiple directions makes sense anyway.

Omote and Ura are about our relationship to our partner, and our environment.  I stand in left hamni and Uke attacks Shomenuchi.  I respond with Ikkyo Omote.  Uke now shields me to the right side, and I can move to my left.  If I respond with Ikkyo Ura, Uke now shields my left side and I can move to the right.

I stand in left hamni and Uke attacks with katatedori.  I respond with Shihonage Omote.  Uke is turned, but falls in the direction he was originally traveling.  He shields my left side, and I can run to the right.  If I respond with Shihonage Ura, Uke falls back the direction that he came from.  He now shields my right side, and I am free to move to my left.

It's a nice little mental exercise and a bit of variety, but the point really hits home when I think about where the exit is to the room, where is the weapons rack, where is the second attacker.  If I have a wall to my right side, I cannot move to the right and I cannot move my Uke to the right for any significant distance but I can make Uke have a forceful impact to my right.  The whole environment, including Uke, is my shield and my weapon.

I see this needing a different level of awareness, both of the environment and of the practice.  What we really don't need are different techniques.  The same basic movements let me travel in the environment, turn to face or move in other directions, throw Uke in whatever direction is useful.  

When a student talking about practicing some more combat effective stuff, invariably I see them take an MMA or boxers pose and develop tunnel vision on one partner.  Nothing wrong with these other arts, but if you've only trained in aikido your boxing will probably suck.  From there, take a Kotegaeshi and finish with jujigatame.  Drop to the ground from standing, losing many striking options and mobility. 

Our usual pins leave us safer and more able to respond to someone else - they're just not as forgiving to apply.  Pinning with one hand is not for style points so much as for making use of a tool or for manipulating an incoming attack.  I'm not saying Judo's (and many other arts) Ne waza isn't great stuff, and fun to practice, and high level.  

                                          The guy on the bottom is winning.

The little Judo I did, I had great success with this pin.  Against a second attacker - with my face on the ground and my testicles and femoral arteries raised up and exposed, I'm in trouble.

The next six pictures are all locks that straighten and hyperextend the elbow joint.

This pin has Nage's leg pinned, his other leg engaged to lock the elbow, and both hands on the other arm.  It's a great lock.  Nage cannot disengage quickly, cannot defend against another attacker, can't punch or kick without letting up on the pin.

This lock attacks the same joint and controls Uke in much the same way.  If Uke was holding a knife, sword, or club the pin wouldn't change much if at all.  The surface doesn't matter for Nage.  Disengaging can happen instantly.  Nage is gently kneeling beside Uke, but the knee could be dropped on Uke easily.  Strikes are possible, seeing the whole room is possible.  Versions on this pin are used to handcuff an assailant.

This is the same elbow lock again

And again.  Hamni Handachi and Suwari Waza are practice in fighting from this pinning posture.

And again.  This time, Nage has all four limbs tied up attacking one of Uke's limbs.  The influence of MMA in the martial arts world today has made this pin much more prominent.  I feel Nage is more vulnerable with a second attacker.

This is another version of the same pin, and this time Nage is face down with one leg pinned underneath Uke.

I love practicing all of this stuff, and it is important to know.  But, as dojos are coming into competition with MMA and BJJ, we're letting other businesses define what combat even looks like.  Then, we apologize, and we say we are less combat oriented than the local strip mall.  Where they train for the Octagon - one on one, no weapons, in a controlled environment on a safe surface with a referee.  The skill sets are so different that they need not be mutually exclusive.

When I talked with a friend recently who has an Aikido dojo close to a large military base, he was clear about what the soldiers he taught told him:  going to the ground in a war zone with sharp shrapnel, explosive devices, unpredictable terrain, knives, and guns is unthinkable to a soldier in Afganistan.  I've heard the same thing from a contractor in Iraq.  They want to be mobile, free to use weapons, free to disengage, free to take and provide cover, free to work as a unit.  They don't approach one attacker as a one on one confrontation, even when they don't see a second attacker.  Everyone is also a potential suicide bomber.  I'm not military, but I spent time working in corrections.  I wouldn't lay on my face to pin one person in that environment.

When other arts like Baguazhang say they are for multiple attacker situations, this defines what techniques are Baguazhang - always in control of the relationship to their environment, rarely going to the ground, rarely getting entangled.  

I find it interesting that apparently modern soldiers don't argue much with tactical recommendations from military trainers like O Sensei and Tomiki sensei.  (Aside from the part where "fighting" means helicopters and firearms). Saito Sensei had exercises for fighting a larger group, and Shirata Sensei had a series of exercises based on Shihonage against two swordsmen.

The questions now come from ourselves.  I think we break this guideline a little too much.  We don't train a committed two on one attack.  The best randori I ever saw was done by a basketball coach who played a great 2 on 1 game.  It was rare to see.  

On my Sandan test, the examiners ordered my attackers to come one at a time and avoid any collisions in a huge open mat with all yudansha attackers with great ukemi.  Five attackers coming in quick succession is not as hard as two coming at the same time, particularly if the two are trained to work as a team.  It's hollow to claim we're more useful in this regard than other martial arts when we've never actually trained this ability.  This awareness of the environment and the ability to manipulate it to advantage is maybe the most self defense oriented skill of all.

Green Papaya Salad

I first came across this dish in at a Vietnamese restaurant in Calgary. It was briefly available in one restaurant in Durham that sadly closed down.  Every time my wife and I go to Atlanta, we go to Com which has a fantastic version of this.  I'll buy extra to take home for breakfast.  This is my primary Atlanta Aikido seminar food.

Green papaya is not actually a different papaya, it is a papaya that is not ripe yet.  The flesh is firm, almost crunchy, and a faint greenish white.  Many stores in Durham don't sell them.  I have heard nasty rumors that some stores won't put them out until they've turned orange and much softer.  There is one large Asian market that has helped me out on several occasions.

I once had a version of this in Saskatoon with sliced raw cabbage, and I think the green papaya is similar to jicama.  The Com version isn't pure papaya but also has green apple, shredded carrots, and rice noodles.  It's probably the same as trying to firmly define a salad in any culture - there are variations.  You can skip the papaya altogether (and I've even done it once with red papaya but the outcome isn't the same.)

If you can get a green papaya:

I take the skin off with a potato peeler.  The inside is full of white seeds and some threads which I don't know if they are edible; I just throw them out with the peels.

An ice cream scoop will take out the seeds and clean the inside out a bit.  I bought a tool to help with cutting this up.  A hand mandolin?

So I end up with a bunch of long slivers, which I usually see in restaurants.  If you can do a good julienne, good for you.  I used the shredder on my food processor before I got this, and I think the pieces need to be small.

This is about five cups of shredded papaya, so I add one peeled green apple and three small carrots shredded.  This is optional, and if I am eating alone I tend to just do the papaya.

Now the herbs.

Apparently what is sold as Thai Basil isn't the actual herb of choice in Asia for this dish.  It is still better to use than basil for Italian food.  It's also a more heat resistant, faster growing perennial that Japanese beetles do not eat (I use no pesticides, and this plant seems to have no predators in my garden).  I also think it is a prettier looking plant with white flowers, purple stalks and smaller leaves.  There is a licorice aftertaste that I love.

(Notice my regular basil looking yellow, sad, and dwarfed immediately to the right of the Thai Basil plant.)

About one cup of Thai Basil leaves for a whole papaya, chopped.

Mix this with about 1/3 to 1/2c of chopped mint leaves (the variety doesn't make a difference for me with the mint).

Then as my wife doesn't like peanuts, I use 1/2c of toasted and ground pistachios.  Other nuts are probably fine, but peanut is still my favorite.  Throw the peanuts and chopped herbs in, mix them around and put this aside as you make the dressing.  This can last covered in the fridge for a few days, so this is easy to make in advance and then add the dressing when you are ready to eat.

The dressing is mostly citrus juice. 

3tbsp of lemon

1tbsp of lime

(The person who gave me this recipe did four tbsp of lemon.  I have done four tbsp of lime and I love the mixture of the two.)

1 tbsp of fish sauce (smelly, but great)

2tbsp of sugar (you can do less, and you can substitute Stevia but use maybe only a 1/2tbsp.

A dash of ground pepper

1tsp chili garlic sauce (a cheat I have started doing, but I was originally told to use two garlic cloves and two Thai chilies).  My wife can't stand the heat, some people need more.  You can always add more if you're one of them.

Mix the lemon/lime, fish sauce, pepper(s), and garlic together.  If I am using solid garlic and chilies, I use a chopper or food processor again.  This mixture lasts well for a few days too.

Some meat!  My wife does not eat red meat, but beef is common.  Really, I have seen tofu, shrimp, scallop, salmon, beef, chicken, pork and any mixture of the above.  Often I see barbecued meat, and I love it but the originals I had used JERKY!  There are special Vietnamese jerky recipes out there, but I swear the one place just had cut up a very basic teriyaki beef stick like I could find in the gas station.  365 Brand has a very nice teriyaki flavored jerky, and we eat the teriyaki turkey with this the most.  If I get a proper barbecue together for this, I'll post it but probably something Asian and heavy on the lemongrass.  If served with barbecued meat, the meat is usually served hot on top of the cold papaya, but the meat could be cut up cold for a nice hot summer meal.

Sliver the jerky, throw it on top (if you are using jerky, it can sit with the fruit.  If you are doing hot meat, keep it separate until you are ready to add the dressing and eat.

You can add rice vermicelli that has been cooked up and either hot or cold.  Because I want the papaya to shine, I do half as many noodles as papaya.  Maybe a cup of noodles to two cups of papaya, but I didn't use noodles on the day I took the pictures.  Add the noodles right before the dressing, especially if you are using hot.  If you are using noodles, you may need a little more dressing.

And, whenever you are ready to eat:

Add the dressing and mix all the ingredients well and you have a party in your mouth!  Throw some more chopped nuts on top to garnish.

This is what I ate the night before, and the morning of my Sandan test.  I love it!  I was having some difficulties finding a simple recipe for this, so here y'all go.  Some uncommon ingredients, but amazing flavor and healthy.