On Training: "Aikido doesn't work."

A family member was coming with me to take a class and casually remarked, "You know, Aikido doesn't work." Seeing my look, he quickly said, "Look, I'm glad you like it but I do BJJ and we all know aikido can't be used in a fight. Everybody knows it's useless to defend yourself."

I seem to be having this same conversation every time I say I teach Aikido. People used to not know what it is, now they just know it doesn't work. The art is so questioned, I fear for Aikido's future. We cannot fight the criticism (believe me I have tried), and instead, we must look internally for an answer.

Finding a solution starts with acknowledging this is a valid criticism. People think Aikido does not work because many Aikidoka and sometimes even instructors cannot use the art to defend themselves. Part of the reason is that Aikido has expanded from its original teaching to become a lifestyle art. Aikido for business, exercise, socializing. These things are important but in many cases, it has come at the cost of a loss of martial effectiveness.

The solution is a return to traditional training values and second, an emphasis on the martial and spiritual aspect of the art.

"Aikido is the defeat of evil and maliciousness from within."

TRADITIONAL TRAINING

Aikido comes from jujitsu, which is used in combat. In fact, in the 1930's what the founder taught was known as aiki-jujitsu or aiki-budo. The name Aikido was attributed to the art when it was registered within the Japanese government years after its founding. Traditional Aikido training was so intense that the dojo earned the name "hell dojo." Training was rooted in martial effectiveness and cultivated an emphasis on harmonization of energy and personal development.

Traditional Japanese instruction consisted of the instructor demonstrating a technique that students had to observe and strive to imitate. There was little explanation. Students had to practice, experiment, and commit themselves to uncovering the secrets of what was demonstrated through hard training. O Sensei's guidance was often confusing to his students because it was heavily laden with spiritual philosophy; however, he made it clear that Aikido was founded on effective martial technique, which also served as a bridge to personal development.

Everything begins with O Sensei. His rules for training were:

• Aikido decides life and death in a single strike, so students must carefully follow the instructor's teaching and not compete to see who is the strongest

• Aikido is the way that teaches how one can deal with several enemies. Students must train themselves to be alert not just to the front, but to all sides and the back

• Training should always be conducted in a pleasant and joyful atmosphere.

• The instructor teaches only one small aspect of the art. Its versatile applications must be discovered by each student through incessant practice and training.

• In daily practice first begin by moving your body and then progress to more intensive practice. Never force anything unnaturally or unreasonably. If this rule is followed, then even elderly people will not hurt themselves and they can train in a pleasant and joyful atmosphere.

• The purpose of Aikido is to train the mind and body and to produce sincere, earnest people. Since all the techniques are to be transmitted person-to-person, do not randomly reveal them to others, for this might lead to their being used by bad people.

[* Additionally, Kisshomaru Doshu, left several important instructions that should be read and followed as well, which are at the bottom.]

How Can We Use Traditional Methods to Develop Stronger Aikidoka?

Using O Sensei's rules on training as a starting place, we can reintroduce traditional practices that are rarely seen in today's dojos:

Silence. Training should be silent. As much as possible, we should strive to conduct our training without talking. I started in Chiba Sensei’s lineage, and during the summer I spent living and training at his dojo in San Diego, there was almost no talking during training. It was explained to me that this was traditional Japanese training where a person must make their path. In other words, one must actively observe carefully, explore and study the art, and develop through constant training.

When I became Yamada Sensei’s uchi deshi, one responsibility was to teach beginners. Yamada Sensei was very strong in saying that we were not supposed to talk or explain techniques. “Show them, do not talk. Let them find their way,” I remember his instruction.

Sugano Sensei said that he never spoke to O Sensei during the years he was his uchi deshi. "Not once?" I asked him, incredulous. He shook his head. I asked him how this was possible as he said he would travel for weeks at times as otomo for weeks taking care of O Sensei. It was from being otomo that he said he received his understanding of O Sensei's weapons training that became Sugano's unique weapons system. Sensei said O Sensei never spoke to him, he was just expected to know what to do, including being suddenly awake if O Sensei awoke or wanted to train in the middle of the night.

This kind of silent training forces a person to be aware and rely on finding answers through observation. Sugano Sensei said that part of silent training is to train the ego. He said training is to correct the ego, to make humility by correcting ourselves and not others.

Breaking Silence. There are 3 important times to break the silence of training with a partner:

1. If a partner is going to be hurt

2. If a partner is going to hurt you

3. If a partner requests assistance.

There are two teachers on the mat - the instructor and the student. The instructor teaches the technique through silent demonstration. The student teaches him/herself through exploration and practice.

It is on the student to learn by themselves without the interference of others. There is a cardinal rule of training: Do not instruct a partner. In some dojos, to do so is an insult to the school and the instructor, not to mention one's partner. To instruct another is to force one's ego onto others. Don't do this.

Work Hard. Students must first train hard in the dojo and on their own if they want to improve. One of my fellow New York uchi deshi, Tristam Derham, was part of a dinner with Yamada Sensei just prior to his passing. A number of teachers and students were lamenting the fact of how badly MMA and BJJ were taking away students from Aikido. Yamada Sensei told them, “Look at Jujitsu guys,” he said. “They work hard! Aikido people have to work harder and stop complaining.”

In addition to regularly teaching, both Yamada and Sugano Sensei would do their own physical training. They would come to the dojo to do rolls, calisthenics, sword cuts, and Sugano did hundreds of knuckle push-ups. This was maintenance work on the foundation they had laid down through hard training. Hard physical training was important to keep the body strong and healthy.

REESTABLISHING MARTIAL EFFECTIVENESS

Aikido must be martially effective, but this is being lost due to the many directions the art has gone. I believe each person should have their own unique interpretation of the art, but we cannot lose the budo -- Aikido's martial aspect -- because this is the vital center of the art.

I believe the loss of martial effectiveness has contributed greatly to Aikido's decline. Through hard training that upholds Aikido's martial foundation we can reverse this decline. We can sharpen what we do and retain the budo in our practice, while expressing the art in other ways as well. As instructors, we have a moral responsibility to do this. Our students must be able to protect themselves and those they care for as a result of their training.

If instructors do not want to teach martial aspects of Aikido, they should consider whether they are still teaching Aikido at all. Furthermore, instructors should make clear to students whether their practice will truly prepare them for the street. It is better for students to know not to use the art if attacked than be under any illusion one can defend themselves.

One Second. In a real attack, a person has one single second to make the art effective or not. A person must have the art in the body, not the head. What is mean is that through dedicated practice over time one moves from knowing the mechanics of a technique to understanding a technique well enough to use it.

Here are examples from my experience of what training should yield:

• While Yamada Sensei was traveling, Donovan Waite asked Sugano Sensei to come to the dojo. A Japanese man showed up watching Donovan's private class and then proceeded to go in the changing room, put on a member's gi and was wandering around the mat speaking Japanese. Sugano Sensei came in, and Donovan said he went to the man on the mat and spoke very gently to him in Japanese. Sugano and the man sat in seiza together, Sensei talking quietly to the man and suddenly with a shout, the man jumped forward attacking Sugano. Sensei seized the man mid-air by the throat, smashing him down, instantly rendering him unconscious.

  
  

• A former uchi deshi was on the NYC subway when two larger men got on. It was late, and one of them surprised the deshi by saying he was sitting in the man's place. No one was on the train, so he just moved down. The second man then said the uchi deshi was sitting in his place and to give money for his spot. The two men badly misjudged the uchi deshi as a victim because of his smaller size. The deshi told them they were getting nothing. Both of them attacked, and the deshi kept knocking them down. He said he would knock one down, and the other would attack him, and back and forth he kept taking them down. Finally, he stuck one of them in the eye with his thumb. It was nothing he was taught, but it ended the fight, and he got off the train unharmed.

  
  

• I finished training at Tamura Sensei’s dojo for several months and was traveling with my uncle before leaving France. A couple was arguing in a corner of the cafe we were in. Something about the intensity of the man's look and manner drew my focus on them over the mayhem of the bar going crazy with the World Cup. The woman suddenly threw up her hand and got up leaving. As she got to the exit, the man grabbed her thick dark hair and went to smash her face into a metal pole. As he gripped her hair, I was on him from behind, wrapping my arm around his throat. I had seen his violence developing and moved exactly in time with him, rendering him unconscious before he could harm her.

  
  

• I was with soldiers protecting several hundred thousand dollars being given out for a teacher salary payment just after the Iraq war ended. Suddenly, one of the teachers who was not being paid that day started making trouble and shouting demanding money. The temperature was very hot in the room, and the man and the crowd of teachers started to move forward toward the cash piled on tables we were protecting. One soldier, clearly frightened as we were pinned in with no exit, pointed her weapon at the crowd. Throwing my weapon to her, I jumped forward, grabbed the man by his suit collar and the seat of his pants, turned and threw him down the stairs to the dirt outside. A dangerous situation was suddenly diffused for us and the teachers.

These real examples demonstrate how Aikido is to be used martially, immediately and effectively. This only comes through budo-focused, deliberate training. I agree with Yamada Sensei that we must look internally to why Aikido is diminishing.

SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. The last reason for training traditionally is spiritual progress. Aikido is a spiritual path, but O Sensei didn't require others to follow his spiritual path. As Sugano Sensei instructed me, "People must find something deeper." People need that "something deeper" Aikido can give. We should pass on the avoidance of conflict the art teaches and the lessons the Founder gave to “defeat the evil and maliciousness within.” It’s a process. No one is going to wake up the Bodhisattva tomorrow. The hope is in time through a process of struggle and learning that we one day, step by step, become Bodhisattvas, become better, kinder, stronger people

That’s why I'm still on the mat.

* Kisshomaru Doshu's rules for training:

• Proper Aikido can never be mastered unless one strictly follows the instructor's teaching.

• Aikido as a martial art is perfected by being alert to everything going on around us and leaving no vulnerable opening.

• Practice becomes joyful and pleasant once one has trained enough not to be bothered by pain.

• Do not be satisfied by what is taught at the dojo. One must constantly digest, experiment, and develop what one has learned.

• One should never force things unnaturally or unreasonably in practice. One should undertake training suited to his body, physical condition, and age.

• The aim of Aikido is to develop the truly human self. It should not be used to display ego.