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.

I love to train: cycling, running, swimming, skiing… After some time practicing at the Dojo, I started to have small epiphanies during my daily life in and outside of the Dojo. Some of the things Sensei says come to mind during seemingly non martial art activities: relax, weight under side, lower your center. Prior to doing Aikido, if a problem arose, I use to clench my teeth and force my way through everything.

Recently, I started to set goals for myself. Some of them seemed easy, others very difficult. For a long time I wanted to run a marathon. However, I disliked attending public events: fearing people, doubting myself. However, I enjoy training. A lesson I learned during Aikido was that going through the motion without a purpose does not lead anywhere. So I started to sign up for short distance running races.

After a few races, I became so engrossed with the goals I had set for myself that everything and everyone was in my way: the slow runners blocking my way (there is such a thing as running and cycling etiquette: indeed reigi is everywhere).

One day, I was at the pool and I saw a talented swimmer being incredibly mean to a less able swimmer: the less apt swimmer was in the way. To my horror, I realized that the mean and rude swimmer was a reflection of myself. For a while, I decided to pull away from competing in athletic events, I felt that this was exacerbating my worst traits.

Landry Sensei places great emphasis on volunteering and community service. An opportunity presented itself and I volunteered for an athletic event I would normally compete in. “Spectating” was interesting. Physical achievements are nothing without the people who organize and volunteer just like there is no nage without uke.

Some time went by and, even though I was still pursuing training, I was stagnating. I was plagued by fear, uncertainty and discontent. Once again, I was going through the motions but I lacked purpose. Finally, I decided to sign for up a running race. I trained hard. Something odd happened: 2 weeks before the race, I suffered a minor injury to one of my legs. One of my cycling friends suggested that I downgrade to a ½ distance or at least try to use a run/walk strategy. Doubt and fear came back: a few months prior, I had been injured after misjudging myself. I was ready to quit before the race even started. Three days before race day, I made up my mind: I was going to participate. I let go of my ego and decided that even if I did not finish I would at least “step foot on the mat”: throws won’t work if you don’t believe they will.

Just like testing, a race is a celebration not of “I” but of “we”. For every step taken, one is happy and thankful to be there. I smiled, talked to other runners, waved at spectators and thanked as many volunteers as I could. They were my Uke, and for the first time in my life, I was happy to have them. Mile after mile, I was enjoying the connection I had with people.

During the run more Aikido came to my thoughts, but they were not the usual ones. Thoughts of bokken and jo practices arose: concentrate on one point. For the first time I understood some of the concept of selecting one point as your target during suburi, yet I was still able to remain aware of my surroundings, I briefly thought of jusan. Finally, half way through the aptly named “Doomsday Hill” around mile 22, I felt my energy was nearly depleted. Bokken kata # 1 popped in my head. I had never ran this far in my life. I needed something familiar to ease into. I focused my attention to my center, and started to visualize bokken kata # 1 in my head. Shortly after mile 24, in spite of a volunteer telling me there were less than 2 miles to go (he might as well have said the race had just began but I just smiled and thanked him) bokken kata # 1 wasn’t enough anymore: doubt, fear and pain were about to overwhelm me. Out of all things I started to picture bokken kata #1 backward in my head. I kept on going, still thanking and smiling the people volunteering on the course. I crossed the finish line still thinking of bokken kata # 1. On that day, I broke my personal record for the ½ marathon and finished my 1^st full marathon.

This year I have done triathlons, biked and ran up mountains, ran a 25k and marathon: and yet, nothing is as challenging or as rewarding as Aikido. I don’t think that one is ever off the mat: Aikido is with us, wherever we go and can be found in whatever we do.

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.

Before bowing in our kids class my assistant instructor, Mary, usually spends a few moments in a light hearted and animated conversation with the kids about some aspect of Aikido in daily life.  The topics have explored the similarities of a growing plant and Aikido, how an Aikidoist handles a problem, what is ki, what is extension, what does it mean to be a good partner, and what is etiquette. These five minute dialogues always get a laugh from students and parents alike, and me too for that matter.

This past June the tables were turned.  We asked each of our higher ranked kids (orange belt with two stripes and above) to get up in front of class and tell us something about Aikido.  The range of topics included, Aikido is fun, Aikido helps me when I take tests at school, Aikido is self-defense, and more.

I would like to share with you one presentation I found particularly profound, this from a 13 year old.

“Aikido is not about strength or looking good it’s about strengthening your ki and having the will to do what others will not.”

The next time somebody asks me, “What is Aikido?”, I just may borrow the words of a wise 13 year old I have the pleasure of training with.

Please help us document the benefits of training.  We all know it is good.  Now let’s prove it to the rest of the world.

If you would be willing to volunteer a few minutes of your time to fill out a brief survey, please click on the link below. It will send you to the UNCW Aikido club’s website where an online survey is posted. It should not take more than 5 or 10 minutes to fill out.

Only through research like this, can we learn empirically what benefits our training may have.

Thank you for your time,

http://uncwaikido.sports.officelive.com/Mindfulness.aspx

John Lothes

UNCW Aikido Club

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.

In the beginning of or lives our interactions are fairly limited, as babies we only interact by crying and some facial expressions, as kids we are able to start talking but are often in the role of the learner and depend on our care takers. We have very few interactions where our roles aren’t clear.  This is our education in social normalities.  We have these structured teacher/student relationships, parent/child relationships that help us learn and know how people should treat us, how we should treat them, what our role is in the world.

In an ideal situation we learn that we should be treated in a way that promotes our dignity, self-respect and self-efficacy, we should learn to treat others in a way that allows them to grow as an individual and honours them.  We should learn that we might make sacrifices for others, like sharing our peanut-butter and jelly sandwich with our younger sibling when they drop theirs, but that this should happen in a way that is still healthy for us.  However, the real world is hardly ever ideal and this delicate relationship balance is rarely learned completely or perfectly without some real trial and error for many years, even over a lifetime.  I as a human interact with other humans and want to do this in a way that is healthy for me, I need to set boundaries as I have learned from those early interactions that are clear and show respect for myself and the other person in the relationship, clear roles.

In the beginning of Aikido the role of uke is very clear. I know nage will throw a certain throw and I know I will fall a certain fall. I know I will put my foot here and my hands there.  This is the beginning of my education in how to set boundaries in my ukemi that will keep me healthy and help my partner.  Ukemi is the art of taking the fall safely.  As uke I am called upon to accept the energy of a throw and fall in a way that keeps me safe and is relevant to the throw.

Sometimes, in ukemi I may sacrifice my spacing or put myself in the best spot for a safe throw or to help nage learn.  I am never called upon to sacrifice myself in a way that may be dangerous.  As my understanding of this role gets better I may be called upon to take ukemi when I don’t know what throw is coming. This requires me to take energy without sacrificing my center no matter what happens, in other words to set a clear boundary and not give it up.  I must compromise but not forego my safety. This is the same as growing up with those set relationships and understanding how people should treat me and how I should treat people.  I need to learn to set a clear boundary that helps us both learn good Aikido which in every form is a role model for how to treat people well.

Further into my Aikido I may be called upon to take ukemi for kashiwaza and as roles change I must be willing to adapt. I must not assume that my partner will be uke, I must not assume that I will be nage. The roles become less clear and I must rely on the things I learned early on and continually learn while taking ukemi.  I must protect the core of who I am, my center, while allowing myself to give up that which isn’t necessary to my safety. In ukemi I can’t just give up and, knowing I am going to fall, plop down on the mat as soon as nage moves.  Instead I am called to understand what I can give and what I must keep to be safe and engaged in what is happening.  I’m not helping myself or nage learn by being “easy” to throw, throwing myself, or fighting.  Instead, I need to be able to set the boundaries of this relationship based on what I’ve learned from years of taking ukemi.

In relationships that are important to us we sometimes sacrifice things because of fear.  I might be scared to dissapoint my parent, I might be scared my partner will leave me, I might be scared my friend might not like me.  From Aikido I know the key to the uke nage relationship, my pivotal relationship in external Aikido, is to set clear boundaries and to treat myself in a way that shows I and my partner are equal.  This needs to carry over into my other relationships.  I can’t be scared to fall, I have to know what I can give up and what I need to keep and set that boundary and not give it up.  Relationship ukemi is just as essential as Aikido ukemi and boundaries are how we keep ourselves and our loved ones safe on and off the mat.

Challenge yourself to treat the people in your relationships off the mat with the same respect we show on the mat. Know that they are taking relationship ukemi for you and allow them to set healthy boundaries.  Understand that as when you are the leader people will have things they aren’t willing to give up, their centers, respect that and respect them for being strong enough to know what they need.  When you are being uke in your daily life try to take ukemi with the same level or grace and integrity you use on the mat.  Don’t just give in and set your own healthy boundaries.  Always practice good Aikido which in every form is a role model for how to treat people and yourself well.

How can an Aikido class for your office help at work?  We have seen in the article ” How Aikido Made Me a Supervisor” the benefits of applying our understanding of Aikido to the work world. What might the benefits of an entire department, work group or agency training in Aikido be?  While teaching in Chicago we had a software company that encouraged their employees to participate in a company sponsored Aikido class held twice a week during an extended lunch period.

What did these people exchange their lunch hour for?  They built a very high functioning team.  They learned to communicate better.  They laughed (a lot) together.  They learned to support each other.  They challenged their limits.  They stretched and worked out their tension.  They returned to their office energized, with a connection to each other that could not have been made through the partitions of their cubicles or email exchanges that made up their work day.  A fair exchange.

What did the company receive?  More productive workers.  A happier work place.  Less sick time.  A good investment.

Looking at a recent poll by Money magazine regarding the best places to work one thing that stands out is that companies that take care of their employees by investing in programs that support healthy living and respect the personal development of staff outside of the office are reaping the rewards of staff retention, greater production and employee buy in.  How can your company benefit by supporting training such as Aikido, Yoga, Qi Gong?  How can your company become more productive by providing personal and professional coaching, training opportunities, and family support services?

In class the other night I was instructing irimi nage.  In doing so I said to bring uke’s cheek and nage’s bicep together.  Interestingly this was interpreted as forcing uke’s head to nage’s arm.  This of course set up a struggle.  Uke fought, nage pulled harder, tensing the shoulders and stiffening the next movement of tenkan, pivot.

This is not all together unknown in our off mat lives… What he said is we need to get together on this project.  What I heard was you need to get over here and follow my direction.

How do we get together?  We must each make a move.  A drowning man can’t be saved by yelling at him to get over here.  We have to go into the water, and help him.  We must lead him, guide him, and if necessary hold him up while we make for shore.

So often we force the challenge to come to us and fight with it until it has been beaten into compliance.  Let’s give our challenge a name, Zeke.  Zeke may not take the road we wish, Zeke may make a bumpy journey, Zeke may fall down, get bruised, wet, cold, tired, and angry.  Imagine if we walked out and guided Zeke along a path, a road that we would wish to walk.  In so doing Zeke feels more relaxed and secure.  Zeke is better able to understand us, to understand our guiding, nurturing, compassionate side, to understand where we are going.  Having walked the same path we now have a friend, a ally, a shareholder, a partner, we are in concert, we have come together.

Meet you nage part way.  Go on the journey with them, hand in hand, center with center.  Show them the way.  Move together as one, then send them on their way, renewed, invigorated.