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. 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?
