Tag: Doctrine of Aikido

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Aikido in Daily Life: September 2018

We come to our dojo to train so that we’re better able to apply the principles of aikido in our daily lives.

The harder things are often the right things to do. Perhaps this is giving an apology, giving a co-worker uncomfortable feedback, or getting up early so that we have enough time to get ready for work without racing around. There are many examples of situations where we’re faced with a difficult option and an easy option. So, how does our practice help us choose the harder thing/ the right thing?

The practice of Aikido in daily life is generally about applying the fundamentals of relaxing completely, focusing on our center, and extending ki as much of the time as we’re able to. If we diligently practice doing this, it becomes easier and we spend more of our time living in this capable state. Additionally, we develop our ability to maintain relaxed, centered, awareness when circumstances become challenging.  Through that, a couple of things tend to happen – first, in being relaxed and centered we generally do a better job of making the right decision, and, second, by being centered and extending ki we are more easily able to enter into the harder choices.  As a bonus to our practice, we learn to approach challenges and obstacles with an open heart – both considering the well-being of others and having compassion for ourselves. This provides a unique advantage in our personal resilience as we choose harder things and learn from them.

 

By Nate Weed

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Aikido in Daily Life: August 2018

We come to our dojo to train so that we’re better able to apply the principles of aikido in our daily lives.

The first beginner class of each month Aikido Olympia instructors begin with some talking about what Aikido is and typically take a moment to describe the kanji of Ai, Ki, and Do as a way of living in harmony with the energy of the universe. These classes are fascinating in that you can attend them almost every month for years and learn something new each time. 

When we talk about energy in a physical sense, we are also talking about its relationship with both power and work. Reviewing high school physics class, the basic idea is that energy is contained in all sorts of things (even the atoms of nitrogen in the air surrounding us) and when that energy is applied to making something happen, it can be considered power. 

In our training we discuss energy as the material we use to do our arts, the same way a painter might use paint or a potter might use clay. And we typically use the energy with our partners to make something happen  like a kokynage or ikkyo (to do work). So, from a certain perspective, Aikido practice has a focus on recognizing and working with power. 

Power is a such an interesting topic- especially when we think about it from an interpersonal perspective. Many of us often look at power as though it has some moral value. In many cases we view it as a negative thing, something that others use to force us to do things. In many cases, we look at power as something that certain people have and that those people use to achieve their goal.  However, if we consider that our practice is to help us live in harmony with the energy of the universe, that energy is contained in everything, and that the application of that energy is referred to as power, than living an Aikido lifestyle requires us to accept that everyone (everything) has power and to respect everyone’s application of their power. Once we can truly embrace power (whether it’s physical power, the charismatic power of a certain person, the reward power of an employer, perhaps the coercive power of yonkyo, or the expert power of an instructor) then we can constructively work with it and apply our practice to all of the relationships in our lives. 

Aikidoka should consider the relationship between energy and power when we think about the nature of our practice and when we consider how Aikido can be applied to our daily lives.

By Nate Weed

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Doctrine, Strategy, and Tactics- Martial Arts

November brings several cultural opportunities to be thankful. (Even though we can actually choose to be thankful every day.) One of those opportunities is Veterans Day on November 11th when we can demonstrate our appreciation of our veterans. Within the martial ways, there is a connection among the concepts, mindsets, training objectives, and approaches to combat and warfare. As 21st century Americans, it’s common to look at these concepts and automatically turn our mind to violence and destruction. However, we, as martial artists, apply the perspective of budo and armistice – both words meaning peace, setting aside arms, and restoring harmony.

Within any martial endeavor, doctrine shapes how those involved will behave. Commanders use doctrine and turn it into leader’s intent – a description of what what success will look like. From the leader’s intent, officers select strategies that can be applied to meet the leader’s intent. Finally, the martial practitioners develop tactics to implement those strategies.

In every martial art and every martial discipline this logic establishes a decentralized and empowering path. The Aikido doctrine is to maintain peace and restore harmony where it is missing. Senior sensei’s craft clear leader’s intent describing how aikidoka will develop awareness to a level that they can recognize conflict early and resolve it without injuring any party. Senior students, informed by the leader’s intent, select strategies for teaching, enabling, and reinforcing key principles among their fellow students. Finally, as individual martial artists, we apply the techniques in the dojo and struggle to apply the principles behind those techniques in our relationships and our lives. And, through this process each of us is doing our part to help our communities realize the doctrine of Aikido – creating peace.