Aiki Institute Of Spokane

When I go running I hate hills.  Even the littlest hill makes me strain. This is certainly an affect of my mindset, thinking that it will be hard or more difficult makes it harder.  However a long flat distance seems much easier.  Even after a recent hiatus from running I was able to go out for my first run and cover a distance just under 2 miles.  (I know this doesn’t seem like a long run to most people but for me, 2 miles took some training)

This long flat distance is like a plateau.  Because it continues on in the same way, I can continue on doing the same thing.  This accomplishes something.  It allows me to cover the distance I want to cover without distraction.  I become familiar with my route and can excel at running it without injury.  I know what I’m doing, I know that I am able to do it, I know how far I have run.  My belief in my ability to run increases and I can increase my distance.  In the long run (pun intended) this plateau allows me to increase my health, my self-esteem.

Living in Spokane means I can’t plateau for long.  Downtown Spokane is a valley with a river running through it creating tumultuous though beautiful terrain.  This valley has a hill both north and south.  Eventually I have to run up a hill.  No more plateaus for me. It’s difficult, I have to change my timing.  It’s uncomfortable, my breathing changes and this is often the time my knee or ankle will hurt-as if the hill wasn’t punishment enough.

Of course this accomplishes something.  It causes me to bring my focus back to my stride, my breathing and my body.  It challenges me and increases my understanding of my own endurance.  It makes my breath control better and makes the flat area seem more inviting when it might otherwise seem boring.  It also means I run down a hill, eventually.

From my house there is a hill in every direction – literally.  No matter what direction I choose I have to run up a hill on my way out and run up a hill on my loop back without exception.  This has forced me to leave my plateau.

We plateau in our Aikido training all the time.  This is the time it is most important to come to class.  To face the repetition, face the challenge, some days even the most basic technique may seem a challenge.  But without the plateau to increase my self-esteem I’ll never be prepared for the hills or challenges related to training.  A lot of students get frustrated at this time “plateauing.”  It’s hard (just like running) but I need to remember this is a time to practice without distractions and avoid injuries.

No matter what Aikido class I go to there is a Sensei there – no exceptions.  Senseis are just like hills.  They force you to come back to the basics, regain your focus, concentrate on your breathing,  your stance, build your endurance.  They are challenging you-forcing you to change your timing, to struggle.  It’s uncomfortable, sometimes Sensei yells at me to bring my mind and focus back, I might even feel embarrassed.  But after all that’s what hills are about, increasing my understanding of my own endurance.

We all have something to overcome whether it be a struggle in our personal lives, an Aikido test we’re preparing for or a physical challenge of our own.  The time on the plateau is what gets us ready but the hills are what will get us through these challenges.  Now of course this means that to be prepared I have to run up the hills, not run away.  I have to meet my Sensei’s challenges not brush them off or avoid them.  So just keep training; plateau or hill they both accomplish something.

It is Spring Fling Time!!

April 5 – 7, 2013

This years instructor will be Monell sensei!

Join us for our annual spring gathering.  Shrug off winter and jump start your spring with spirited training.  Register early to help us prepare.  Pot luck dinner Saturday night at 7:00pm!

Here is the registration form.

Spring Fling 2013 Monell sensei

AIKITOTS

Aikido for 4 and 5 year olds.
Tuesday 4:30pm – 5:00pm
Saturday 9:30am – 10:00am

Plus we now have kids class 6 days a week!

Check out the new schedule

This year we are excited to be hosting DeGraff sensei as she returns to the Northwest for the annual Fringe Dojo Association SPRING FLING!  Be sure to set aside the weekend of March 30 – April 1, 2012 so that you can join us at Roshinkan dojo.

I know what you’re thinking moving across country alone to a city I didn’t know or going to Japan without knowing any Japanese (except Aikido Japanese) should prepare anyone to go to a simple Aikido seminar, but you’d be wrong. Getting on the plane Wednesday morning to head to Chicago for Kangeiko was nerve wracking. I was worried I wouldn’t make my flight, worried I would mess up on my ukemi when Sensei called me up to demonstrate, worried I wouldn’t be able to find my way in a place I had never been before… let’s just say I was nervous.

Kangeiko 2012 marked my first “alone trip” to a seminar. Landry Sensei and I had talked about me going alone as a good way to express my serious intention to test for shodan later this year and also as the next step in my development as an Aikido student. In theory this sounded great but, standing outside Midway Airport eight hours after I boarded my plane, this sounded stupid. The skyline was foreign, the city looked huge and everyone was honking (there were people directing traffic outside the airport!). I wanted my Sensei or a dojo mate standing next to me, what was I thinking coming alone.

Landing Wednesday gave me 24 hours on the ground in Chicago before Kangeiko began and I suggest this tactic to anyone travelling for a seminar. I got to visit Navy Pier, eat Garrett’s Popcorn and ride CTA (public transit) all before heading to the dojo on Thursday. Chicago for those of you wondering was cleaner than I expected, beautiful with a sense of history not found in Spokane and full of people talking on phones/texting on phones/playing corporate scavenger hunts with their phones/hey tagging with phones (whatever that was) and generally being focused on their personal technology devices. In other words the scenery was beautiful and there was excellent people watching.

As always Sato Sensei and DeGraff Sensei made sure I was well cared for (arranging a ride from the airport even if it was Midway grumble grumble) and welcoming me with smiles, hugs and jokes when I arrived to the dojo on Thursday. The training was, of course, excellent. We worked mostly in groups which gave me a lot of opportunity to ask for help when I needed, introduce myself to people I didn’t know (which was almost everyone) and ask absolutely everyone to come to Northwest Summer Camp (the first weekend of August in case you didn’t know) but still made me break a sweat and focus on taking good ukemi and performing technique just as Sensei had shown it.

I’ll be honest I was most worried about all the breaks between training on Friday and Saturday, wondering what I would do with my time. I’m an avid reader usually reading a book or two a week and had armed myself with my defense-mechanism before leaving Spokane. I’m proud to report I read 20 pages the entire four days. Everyone wanted to hang out. We shared stories about Price Sensei’s police work, Dom’s beautiful bronze dog, Wolverine’s research into self-defense classes and aggression levels – in short we shared ourselves with each other. We went to the Golden Angel, the Potbelly, the Starbucks; we went just about anywhere in walking distance, and we went together. No one was left out (my secret fear), everyone was valued and had something to share from their experiences in life and Aikido.

The training was diverse. There were entries I had never seen before into techniques I knew well and familiar entries into techniques done a new way. We did interesting weapons work defending against two attackers (armed and unarmed) that heightened our awareness and really brought out the skills needed for randori. We did slow technique using them to stretch one another and I saw partners working together on sore muscles and aching joints to get the most out of this time. It was wonderful.

I travelled to Kangeiko alone to build relationships with people through Aikido on and off the mat without my support system to fall back on and accomplished my goal. I travelled to Kangeiko alone to show my dedication to training in the art that binds us together and strengthens these relationships. I woke up Saturday with sore muscles from laughing and woke up Sunday sad to go to the last session. I asked Sensei for an afternoon training session but he said he had an appointment with St. Mattress (I didn’t see that church when I googled it in Chicago but Sensei wouldn’t lie). So I travelled alone and it was scary but I found out I could make it through all 18 hours of Aikido without being able to ask my sensei for help and was reassured with the kindness and companionship of my fellow aikidoka and delicious cupcakes from Molly’s. So I suggest you travel alone and go to a seminar. You’ll discover a lot about yourself and your Aikido abilities and learn a lot about other people you wouldn’t learn with a group of your dojo mates or your sensei to fall back on.

I also suggest you come to Northwest Summer Camp (the first weekend of August in case you didn’t know), you can come alone – I’ll hang out with you.

Aikido Open House

at Roshinkan Dojo

February 25th
10:00 –-12:00
at
2209 N. Monroe

Ever heard of Aikido?
Want to try a class?  Want to watch a class?  Want to enroll your child in a healthy physical activity that teaches compassion and discipline?

Free Introductory Class
10:30 –-11:30
ages 6 and up

Japanese snacks and hot tea will be served
Questions?  Contact the dojo at aiki@aikispokane.com or call 325-7348.

It is time for NW Summer Camp.  The dojo will be closed August 11 – 14 as we will be at Chewelah Peak for the First Annual Northwest Summer Camp.

Saturday August 20 join us at River Front Park as we take part in the Unity in the Community event. We will be on stage at 10:30.  After that we will be found in the cultural village.

We will not hold regular class on Saturday August 20 so come down to the  Park!

You may have recently seen or heard of an incident where a Seattle law enforcement officer punched a 17 year old girl. The video is all over the Internet.  I am not so interested in discussing if this officer was justified or not but instead what about our society has led up to this incident happening at all.

The police are a reflection of our society.  This action takes place in one fashion or another daily in one city or another in this country.  The law enforcement officer is reacting according to the norms of our society.  We are increasingly willing to react with overwhelming violence when confronted with a problem.  This is a reaction of being in fear.  We are afraid to lose what we have or we do not have the tools to give us options when confronted.

What does this have to do with Aikido?  On a very simple level the officer if trained and proficient in Aikido would have been able to apply a simple wrist lock technique to the first young lady rather than hand fighting with her.  This would have subdued the situation quickly.  Secondly when the second girl shoved him he would have been able to either throw her to the side or control her without having to resort to punching her in the face.

On a higher level, before this episode got physical, training in Aikido and awareness would have allowed the officer to not even get into the situation that was bound to become volatile.  He put himself in a dangerous position to do what???? Hand out a ticket for jaywalking?  Could he have better de-escalated the situation?

What of the young women?  What would have brought this violent behavior toward the officer?  What about our society teaches these young women and men to behave in this way.  This violent, reactionary, disrespectful, disregard for people is instilled in us through out our lives in the media, games, competitive sports, our language, schools, business practices, and gangs.

I recently spoke with a gentleman who was inquiring about Aikido class for his son who had trained in another art for a short time.  When I mentioned that we do not teach punching and kicking as a self defense but rather how to control the situation with body movement, throws, and joint locks the father went silent.  When he regained his composure he was unable to conceive of defense without punching or kicking.  This is the society that we live in.  Again the police are a reflection of our society.

Aikido teaches us a way to live in peace and without judging others or engaging in needless, meaningless competitions that amount to pissing matches that often turn bloody, and demanding of vengeful attacks of retribution.

As disturbing as the video of this incident is to me, equally disturbing were the comments that supported the violence and encouraged the next officer to do more than throw a punch if confronted with this situation. Again the police are a reflection of the norms of our communities and of our society.

How do we change this?  Train our law enforcement officers better.  We teach Aikido both physically and philosophically to them.  We use Aikido training and peace training to encourage people to work together rather than competitively.  It will take generations to make the changes so we need to get started NOW!  We are very good at using the primitive lizard brain.  It is time to make the most of our rational thinking brain the neocortex.

Not that I would ever want to admit that doing kids classes is good for me but I feel it only necessary to attribute the beginning of the following concept to being in kids class.  Consider yourself warned.

Often in class I will see a technique or opening and think I’ve done that one before or oh thats just like the one we did Monday.  I believe this to be a common part of the human existence, to make things more palatable to my mind I connect it to something my mind is already familiar with.  I accept that this is a strong skill to have when I’m looking for something in the fridge because I can look for the package that looks just like what I remember and it totally works out.  I also accept that this thinking closes off or limits what I can see or understand of the uniqueness of the technique I’m looking trying to learn.

Now this whole thing started when I was lined up in kids class.  The kids are doing really well and Sensei no longer needs to use me as an uke, he calls the kids up and they do a great job.  This however presents the situation where I need to pay attention and, more importantly, I need to look like I’m paying attention while Sensei teaches a technique I have seen and done upwards of a dozen different times.  I am there after all to set an example and it better be a good one or Sensei will “demonstrate” the bad behavior right out of me. So, I created a new way to watch each technique and each version of each technique and for that matter each time Sensei does each version of each technique, a state of openness where I actually watch to learn.

I know this sounds like what we are all doing all the time in class but I mean really learning something from each time Sensei shows the technique as if I had never seen it before.  Looking at the angle Sensei slides off the line, the way Sensei anticipates movement and puts himself in a position so that the next step is faster, easier, smoother.  Essentially I maintain beginner’s mind with the added benefit of not always having to watch each thing because I know a little of what is going to happen.  I can watch Sensei’s hands on a technique every time he demonstrates and learn something different each time.

I guess a piece of this is a desire to stay in the moment.  I’m not good at meditating, it is a struggle for me.  Aikido as meditation seems much easier.  Staying in the moment not thinking about how I am going to do the technique.  Staying in the moment not thinking about how I did it last time.  Not asking “Is this on my test?”  Staying in the moment and learning a technique by watching it for this moment.

Now you might say what is there to watch or learn the 50th time you’ve seen the same technique taught by the same instructor.  Well, there are always the little things like angles, hands, breathing, energy emphasis, weight placement, you know the things that make Aikido effective.  But, beyond this, there is also the idea of the broadview.  The big spiral that starts at the grabbing hand and runs all the way to Sensei’s knee as he pins.  The vertical pop that takes someones balance as they step (oh but keep your center down while you pop). The way an entry presents a target that is never attained but constantly sought by uke and leads them in an ark of destiny that ends **splat** on the mat.

I also find my moment taking me to a contemplation of real life application.  Now please don’t confuse this for Kyle’s “What would you do if I did this?”  I mean a real life application.  Ichyo is kind of like a graceful conversation.  I know you disagree but a slide off topic over here puts us in a position where we look at things the same way, then I take control of the situation by making my point (below my center) and then zigzag around the topic until you can at least see my point of view if not agree, if I’ve done it well.

So I challenge you to keep a state of openness to each demonstrated technique and try to stay in the moment and watch it like you’re actually going to try and learn something. Not only that but find some little thing and some big thing that enhances your understanding of the technique. Then, when you really feel adventurous relate it to a real life situation.  I promise we can talk about it over a beer or root beer sometime and you’ll find we’ve been learning and imagining the same things in different ways all this time.

Potentials…What are all the potentials of all the good things that we listed regarding our Aikido training? In part 1 we listed some of the good things that come about because of our training in the Aikido dojo. Now it is time to take the next step in this process of PPCO; Potential. What are the potentials of our actions? Where might all this good stuff lead?

A positive that was listed is Increased Awareness. What might be all the future benefits of increasing our awareness?

• I might avoid that accident when the other driver slides through the intersection, unable to stop in the icy road conditions, thereby saving injury and money in repairs.
• I might avoid being mugged by the sketchy looking guy hiding in the entry way of that dark building, keeping me physically safe and my cash in my pocket.
• I might make a connection with a work partner that will be of benefit to my work making me a star to my boss and earning me that promotion and raise.
• I might see an opportunity to invest that will increase my wealth and lead to that vacation in Fiji.
• I might see that my relative needs my help but is unable to ask. This leading to a closer relationship with that relative and a good feeling for doing something helpful.
• I might see that my supervisor is having a challenging day and that it would not be a good time to press him on an issue, saving me from being chewed out.
• I might see that my supervisor is feeling light, happy, and powerful today, giving me the opportunity to positively present an issue to her. This leading to more interesting challenges at work.
• I might feel the pain in my stomach that may indicate that I need to cut down on my coffee intake before I end up with bigger health problems.
• I might have less conflict in my day, which will result is less stress resulting in a healthier life.
• I might get more work done.
• I might find more time to spend with my family.
• I might find more time for me.
• I might find new ways to teach that have a positive effect on my students.

Let’s look at the potential of another positive of our Aikido training; Social Network.

• I might meet people I would never have talked to if I did not meet them on the mat.
• I might learn about a new job opportunity that will increase my salary.
• I might find someone that can help me with that project that I am stalled on.
• I might learn about an author that I have never heard of but sounds like something I want to read.
• I might find support in solving a child rearing issue that will reduce my stress and help my child live a more productive life.
• I might laugh more making my day more fun in general.
• I might try a new beer opens my taste buds to different styles of brewing.
• I might find new, better ways to solve problems that leave me more energized and with more spare time.
• I might meet someone that opens a new path for my life, leading me to more fulfilling work.
• I might fall in love.
• I might find new perspectives that keep me interested, increasing my lust for life.
• I might be challenged to open my mind, which opens up all sorts of possibilities.
• I might meet someone that could help me get my message out to a larger audience, thereby, positively effecting more lives.

This is the short list of just two of the positives we listed regarding our Aikido training. Take a few minutes to add your own thoughts to these lists. Then think about why you train in Aikido. All of the positive reasons for coming to the dojo. Then list all the potentials, the benefits, the spin-offs, the opportunities, of those positive reasons.

Now you are beginning to see the true substance and power of our training. Now you begin to see how training ourselves effects the community around us. How the community of our dojo, the community of our Aikido Association, the community of Aikido Practitioners, effects the community that is our society, our civilization.

Next up…How to deal with concerns in a positive and constructive manner.