Aiki Institute Of Spokane

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.

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The Founder Gardening

On a cool and damp May day the young students of Roshinkan Dojo applied their ki to the planting of a  vegetable garden at a house for veterans undergoing treatment at the local VA hospital.

The week preceding the great planting affair we spoke with our students about the connection between Aikido and gardening. How earth, water, and sun blend to grow the seed into a life giving plant.  How the plant contributes to the ever flowing breath of life exchanging co2 for oxygen.  How a plant is centered, rooted deep in the ground while extending for the warmth of the sun, all the time remaining relaxed to bend with the wind and keeping its weight underside so as not to topple over. How we must care for our plants just as we must care for our training partner if they, we, are to grow.

Yes to truly understand Aikido we must in some way touch the very nature of our being.  Feel the universal ki that flows throughout the natural world.  Get our hands dirty with earth, taste the freshness of a cool mountain stream, feel the ocean’s breath on our cheek.

I lived for a while in the big city.  After a couple of years I felt out of touch.  Something was amiss.  I came to the realisation that for those two years I had not walked barefoot in grass.  I had not layed down on the earth and looked to the skies.  For those two years I had walked only on concrete and asphalt.  Never seen the sky that was not cluttered with the skyscrapers that surrounded me.  The air I was breathing was conditioned by hvac systems.  I needed to get out.

Regaining my health and sanity came with spending time in the mountains and ocean front, laying in a meadow of grass and flowers, walking on grassy slopes and sandy beaches, feeling the ocean breeze on my face along with the stinging of rain.  Refreshed and recharged I returned to a feeling of connection.  Even more so now that I realised what it meant to not have this.

Not long after I lived on a sailboat for a few years.  Never before had my senses been so alive.  My life and the survival of my boat were contingent upon my awareness of the winds, currents, tides, water, and earth that were always a part of my consciousness.  I began to feel the universal ki running through my life.

It is important that we do not separate ourselves from the earth we live on.  My brother is found of saying that we are “just critters on this planet”.  Insulating ourselves from the universe is a path to disaster.  Take your shoes off and bury your toes in grass and earth.  Get your fingers dirty in the soil, feel the rain and wind on your cheek.  Plant a garden and rejoice in caring for the plants that feed us.

James Landry

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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.

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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.

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I have practiced Aikido for almost three years and my life has benefited in numerous ways, some are  tremendous, others more subtle. So it is always a pleasure when a circumstance provides for vivid example of these benefits. Being a full time line cook, I work in fast paced and changing environment. There are many daily challenges that allow me to put my training to use; breathing , focusing, efficient body movement, timing, etc. These are conscious aspects of training that I put to use daily.

About a month ago I had a far more unexpected situation arise. On an average Monday night, I and a fellow co-worker (who also trains Aikido) were finishing our closing activities when I had a slip and fall in a narrow cramped area of the kitchen. My co-worker who observed this remarked that I had fallen in “ double -slap”. The years of falling practice took hold and I went with the energy which had taken me clean off my feet and a few feet in the air. I walked away without any injury from the fall. This was the most vivid example of how my body has accepted my training in a purely responsive way.

I have, ever since beginning Aikido, heard that ukemi is one of the most determining parts of training, and have taken that deeply to heart. I am sure that without that ingrained body response I would have suffered tremendous injury. So practice ukemi whole heartedly, you never know how it will help you.

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In reading an interview of Toyoda Shihan I was particularly struck by this phrase, “to catch with your body.”  I knew ukemi translated into something like that but didn’t know exactly what the translation was mostly because the business of ukemi is usually filling my mind when I think of ukemi.  This statement, to catch with my body, reminds me of the personalness of Aikido.

To think of really catching the energy of the throw is almost intimidating in the personal exchange it suggests.  I know that I have put my entire self into my throws from time to time, when the moment is great and I am no longer thinking about the footwork and I am just putting all my thought, energy and focus into a throw.  The thought that in doing ukemi my partner is catching all this energy and so much of the essence of myself is very scary.

Imagine all the things on a conscious and sub-conscious level we are really learning and feeling about our training partners when we choose to catch with our bodies everything they throw.  I sense more tension in one of their shoulders than the other which brings about the conversation about that summer they volunteered in Ecuador fixing a house and injured themselves.  Someone grabs with “fish hands”, a soft flabby grab with sweaty palms, and I immediately respond with an internal “eww.”  Someone jumps up laughing from my throw and I feel a connection in energy and motivation that I wouldn’t otherwise get to realize with a teenager from a small town in Montana, Aikido making the world smaller one connection at a time.

These realizations and thoughts are all relevant to the energy I put into training and I can be intellectual about them but this raises the scarier question of what about all the things they are learning about me?  Do they feel in my throw the bad day I am trying to cover up with my smiles in class?  Do they understand the fear I associate with releasing my energy in a throw, the fear of hurting someone, of not taking proper care of them, of not showing them the respect and love owed to another person living in the same art I am?  Do they get a clue about all the stress I’m storing in my shoulders, my secret store house of stress and frustration?

All the things we offer one another and all the things we can learn just by using our whole bodies to catch what someone is throwing.  Think about the possibilities if we apply this level of awareness to all parts of our lives and lived in a way where we are catching all day.  Could I do it without throwing up a guard to protect myself from the pain and anger often thrown out by the other inhabitants of my world?  Would I throw up that wall if I really knew all the things I was missing by really catching that other persons pain and living in it with them for a moment?  So many questions and all of the answers being sought each night on an Aikido mat in downtown Spokane and all inspired by one little quote from Toyoda Shihan.  Aikido is a powerful thing.

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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?

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Rely on Peace
To activate your
Manifold powers;
Pacify your environment
And create a beautiful world.

When I first ran across this quote I struggled with the line “Pacify your environment”. In my time on earth to pacify has taken on a meaning of stepping on, holding down, subdue, bring to submission, as in “pacify the resistance”.  It wasn’t until I took some time to think about the meaning and origins of pacify. Pacify comes from the Latin p?cific?re; to make peace.  This led me to the thoughts; to ease, to appease, to quiet, to calm.  I don’t really know why in my experience pacify took on a negative connotation, maybe too many news reports on war.  It was just my experience.  Yours may be different.

Now this quote has some strong meaning to me.  To rely on peace to activate my many powers.  To be relaxed, centered, extended, to be at peace so that my true power may come through me.

Pacify your environment.  To be at ease with; to be calm, to be comfortable with, to be one with the world surrounding my center.  In this way I can have a positive, productive, influence on creating a beautiful world each moment of my life.

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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.

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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.

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