AIKIDO – make the most of your leaders

A very nice piece by George Ledyard.

I just heard the news that Sugano Sensei had passed away. Another direct student of the Aikido Founder whose lifetime of experience is no longer available to us. Here in the United States we have lost A. Tohei, Toyoda, Kanai, and now Sugano Sensei. That leaves Yamada, Chiba, Saotome, and Imaizumi Senseis from that generation of post war uchi deshi who trained directly under the Founder.

The depth of experience these teachers possess is truly irreplaceable, they are an “endangered species”. As these giants pass away, one bu one, I can’t help but raise the question once again of who takes over when these men are gone?

I don’t mean who runs the various organizations presides over testing, etc. That’s just administration. I mean who takes on the responsibility for the “transmission” to the next generation? Who is even capable of taking on this mantle? Did any one of these teachers manage to pass on what he knew? Can you look at the succession and say that any of these teachers created any students who were as good as they were / are? And if not, why not?

In my opinion, many of us senior students, direct students of these giants who trained with the Founder and then pioneered Aikido’s growth overseas, have failed our teachers and failed our art. We squandered the time we had with these people, always acting as if there would be another class, another seminar, another chance to master what they knew. And now, increasingly there will be no more chances. And who amongst us has measured up?

There has been a lot of discussion about the failure both the Founder and many of his most talented students to develop a systematic teaching methodology for transmitting the art. I agree that this was the case. But once realizing this, whose responsibility was it to fix the issue? Once I realized that my own teacher was doing Aikido on a level that he could not break down and explain, whose job was it to figure it out?

If we can honestly and dispassionately look at what our generation to teachers has achieved in 35 to 45 years of practice and find that we are forced to admit that none of us is as good as our teacher, then I think we have to really look at the hard fact that we failed to do our jobs. We can blame our teachers for not doing a better job, we can content ourselves with excuses based on some “special” capacity or experience on the part of our teachers, which we could never measure up to…

We got in the habit of ceding control over our own Aikido destinies to the senior teachers. We waited for them to create training events, do seminars, tell us what they wanted us to know… If they looked satisfied, then we ere satisfied. Just as long as Sensei was happy. But did any of us feel like we had really mastered what our teachers were doing? If we actually did feel that way, did we move on and find the next teacher who could take us to the next level? Did we simply content ourselves with knowing more of what our teachers were doing than the general membership within our organization and give up on trying to be as good or better than our teachers?

I think that the passing of our teachers, one by one, is a wake up call for the community of senior teachers. As tragic as it is to have our teachers passing on, retiring, etc. the one positive is that its our turn now. We can’t blame any failngs on anyone else. If Aikido fails to measure up, it’s our fault. We can’t blame our teachers, blame Hombu, blame Kisshomaru, or O-Sensei. It is our art now and our responsibility. If we don’t feel like we have measured up to our own teachers, well, what is stopping us? The sources for taking our Aikido to the next level are out there. There are very high level teachers who are in the process of entirely retooling their Aikido, even after 40 plus years of training.

It is time for us to start acting like the leaders we will need to be to assure the transmission. I do not think we should any longer be waiting for our Shihan to create events, teach seminars, determine the direction of our training. I think we should be doing so. I think we should basically dispense with all this “style” or organizational nonsense and begin to support each other as senior American teachers. Collectively we have a vast experience which, if we shared, would benefit each other. We have connections to teachers from outside the art who offer some of the “missing pieces” that could take us all up to or even past our teachers. If we network with each other and share these connections, rather than horde them as giving us some advantage over the others, we could get our own training on the right track and model a far superior modus operandi for the next generation.

I look at Ikeda Sensei traveling all over setting up cross style and organizational “Bridge” Seminars and I ask myself, “why do we need to wait for someone like him to do this?” We should be doing this! We simply do not need to wait for someone senior to initiate positive change. It is our job to do so, starting right away.

When one of the giants like Sugano Sensei passes away, if people have to cast about ion their minds for who could fill those shoes, then we have not done our jobs. I do not mean whether the general membership has accepted someone as a future leader… I mean do we as those future leaders feel we ourselves could train another student to fill those shoes? If we do not feel we could do so, then the transmission is broken.

Most of us are getting to be around sixty now. We have perhaps 20 years, if we are lucky, to pass on what we know. If, in our questioning of ourselves we decide that we are not what we could or should have been, then we have only that twenty years to both take ourselves up to that level AND pass it on to another generation. We need to step up to the plate and become the leaders we have been trained to be. If we start now, perhaps we will actually be ready when there are no more uchi deshi left to fall back on and it is entirely up to us.

Every time we lose another treasure like Sugano Sensei, a greater burden of responsibility falls on us. We need to make sure we measure up and we need to make sure we are in position to pass it on. If we are not, then we need to do something about it, right now, not later. Later is too late.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and I hope it makes you want to find out more about Aikido
http://www.aikido4beginners.co.uk

THE HARA – OUR SECOND BRAIN?

A great artcile by Nev Sagiba.
Perhaps there is more to HARA than “Oriental superstition.”

Did you know? There are almost as many neurons firing in the gut region as the brain?

I would venture a guess that they are not there just waiting for the next bus, but serve a vital purpose. Deemed to be “controversial” cutting edge research, also suggests that peptide cocktails formed in the gut region are responsible for moods and contribute to the chemistry involved in effector/receptor functions and immediate physical responses.

Really? I thought they were just hanging about ‘cos they had nothing better to do. Controversial? Why? Because they don’t fit in a conceptual box made by some sedentary theorist in a lab coat? Guesswork and rigidly calcified preconceived notions do not win survival situations, contribute to discovery, evolution or achieve any constructive value! Facts do.

Predictable strategic flexibility that can be tested and based on observation and experience over aeons may have some merit after all. Combat, as with so-called meditation, indeed all skills, are sciences as much as they are arts. What works, works because it does. Not because of an opinion. After testing and trialing and the R&D of many centuries, certain predispositions emerge as indisputable, despite the theories and ideas of myopic pseudo-intellectuals.

Perhaps there is more to HARA than “Oriental superstition” after all.

The HARA, a point of reference in the body which can be used as the seat of “mind-flow,” may be more than just an anchor for the mind or a point of focus in the present time moment for engaging in physical activity. Indeed, it does come into play when the physical body is in action mode interacting with the varied aspects of gravity. But it may also contribute to the processes which enable life, mobility, sentience and consciousness as well.

The focal point of HARA is said to be situated at what was thought to be an undetermined point midway between the navel and the top of the pubis (pubic bone), in the centre of the body but can encompass the whole solar-plexus region. This was largely considered hypothetical, notwithstanding the fact that skeletal charts denote the region where the centerline intersects at a point parallel to the Lumbar Vertebrae 4 and 5, as being “the centre of balance for the human body.” (I suspect that there is an inner ear, balance factor or some form of mental or internal biofeedback or meridian connection as well, but this remains to be further researched.)

The solar plexus region, among other things, also incorporates a rather unique network of nerves including the celiac plexus which is an organised infrastructure of nerve ganglia arranged to function as a centre of influence, energy storage, distribution and activity of bioelectricity as it interacts with biomagnetism through fluids and lymphatics to produce the feeding of signals throughout the body in conjunction with the adrenals, kidneys and other glandular secretions, interactions and mechanisms relevant to instant reactions, survival and life.

Natural people are very good at noticing the obvious. I think we call it “insight,” and then we talk a lot, label everything in sight and get lost in a clutter our minds make with often unnecessary and irrelevant complexity, much of it invented by the irrationality of “rationalization,” such as nature does not care about. I too often hear men in ill fitting suits attempt to smother valid debate using inane catch-phrases such as: “complex,” “no evidence” (based on a strictured definition of the word evidence) or “anecdotal” and other gobbledigoop to obfuscate valid discussion and smother research. This egotistical attitude adds nothing of value. In principle, perhaps things are not as complex as some would like to manufacture, or lack the mental capability to grasp. Details and side effects can always be analysed later. And, “no evidence” equals exactly that, nothing to crow about. Nature deals in existing factualities, not ideas. The sun “rises” and “sets” DESPITE OUR OPINIONS. As do all the other processes which hold the universe together. Nature can manage quite well without “experts.” My suggestion is get rid of that tie. It has been proven to restrict blood flow to the brain.

Why did ancient oriental warriors and monks (with comfortably loose clothing, good circulation and lucid thinking) choose this region of the body as a centre of mental focus for meditation? I do not think they arbitrarily invented it because they were bored on a Sunday. It would be self evident to make a reasonable assumption that THEY NOTICED SOMETHING OF VALUE.

If you’ve been a competitive athlete you will have noticed the pre-event tension, jitters, nerves and so called “adrenal rush” as well as the post-event release, highs etc., all evince a “gut response” and this is no different in public speaking, acting or other required or chosen social tasks which test us and put demands on us, such as exams, etc. not to mention a real assault.

We interpret this as “pressure” or “stress” but it is a natural function. Pointedly, all such challenges stimulate this mechanism automatically and involuntarily via the sympathetic nervous system and triggers muscles, glands etc. especially those connecting the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral regions of the spinal chord also including those of the brain, in particular the limbic system and brainstem as it concerns the basic emotions i.e. survival fight/flight etc.

In Aikido training, we consciously and positively activate this dynamic in simple ways that not only effect a positive response but also puts you in charge, clearly and perceptively instead of stressed, as you learn to become more calm and centered despite external influences. For example, we free up the breath (most people hold their breath when “under stress”) and sometimes also through the use of imaging we may picture the arms and legs beginning at the hara as we move mind and body united and coordinated in harmonious interrelationship with energetic flows and dynamics.

Since mind and body are inseparable in the true sense, such visualisation may help activate the natural, pre-existing processes. Almost immediately a difference is noticed in the way we move and feel. Hara immediately integrates breath and balance at each moment in a functionally integrated way related to survival. The mind, body and emotions function in symphony as on under the direction of the superconscious mind active in accordance to the need of the moment when you need to act spontaneously. This immediacy expresses faster than the thought processes and is usually above and beyond the conceptual, analytical intellect.

Therefore, in the midst of action, you do not need to try to consciously catalogue and remember each and every attribute. Rather, as the much criticised by the unqualified; Tohei Sensei coined the phrase…. “KEEP ONE POINT,”… which means to ‘remind’ the one point or hara by momentarily focussing on it, relaxing and getting “connected.” “WEIGHT UNDERSIDE, EXTEND KI…” etc. And then perhaps we better notice other necessary attributes such as zanshin or maai or just staying present with what is, using the mind as a mirror. The rest will follow naturally, timelessly and immediately to your advantage as it instantly computes and causes you to act appropriately for that time and circumstance in accordance to the harmony of the universe, as it is, in that split millisecond.

Each centre of function has its respective purposes and functions. The head centre is more suited for calculation, computing, cataloguing and conceptualising and as we have evolved it is rather well developed, albeit not too well balanced through the rigidifying attrition of the school system. Although I hear they are now starting to treat kids as human beings instead of machines. If that’s the case, it is a good thing. About time. The heart centre is, among other things, the balancer between thought and action, the source of harmony and responsibility and that essence which reconciles opposites. For the main part, all our internal centres are beyond our conscious manipulation. Yet by becoming more conscious of them and their function through exercises designed to unfold and awaken our awareness of ourselves, we become more alive, happy, balanced and functionally dynamic. The three main centres always act in synchronicity and concert during each moment of life. Depending on circumstance one will predominate or take the dominant role and the others assist. E.g. Whilst sitting studying, reading etc. the head centre will predominate. Whilst physically active in sport, work, self defence, combat, emergency etc. the hara will predominate especially if skill is required or there is urgency or danger. If we are still here in the next million years, the heart centre on this planet will eventually dominate all our activities but is now prevalent in more humane and compassionate persons yet momentarily comes alive even for wild animals during moments of warmth, intimacy, closeness and sharing with those which are deemed close, such as the pack, herd, tribe or family.

Breathing, balance, relaxing and a conscious awareness of HARA are vital. I have a feeling that the “juices” our bodies make, those which naturally make us high, low, happy, sad and all betwixt, which enable consciousness, feeling, action, sleep, thought, instant responses and so much more, are akin to a complex vibratory (Kotadama) mechanism (comprising the Hito Jinja), a veritable receiving and transmitting instrument for the whole universe and the endless dimensions it contains.

By discovering yourself and vivifying all your attributes through regular personally motivated discipline, you reclaim yourself. RECLAIMING YOURSELF EMPOWERS YOU and immunises you from external manipulation.

On this basis we can all say, “I am the universe!” But more so when we ongoingly and properly care for the awakening of our united body-mind, clarifying and distilling the value of our existence through the misogi and shugyo of regularly training on a Way or Do.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and I hope it makes you want to find out more about Aikido
http://www.aikido4beginners.co.uk