This weekend has reminded me how grateful I am to have a multiplicity of teachers. At my dojo Payet Sensei is my Head Instructor but their are two other junior instructors who I regularly train under as well. All three of my main instructors have different strengths and thus by learning from all of them I am gleaning different insights into how to improve not just my technique but also my posture and control over my own body. Yesterday I was under the tuition of my English sensei who I find to be particularly good at showing me the weakness in my posture and centre of gravity. Yesterday was also my 4th Kyu grading...to my surprise!
It is one thing to learn the movements of a technique, to commit them to memory and to practice the basic mechanics of the technique. While clumsy, one can still perform the technique even with little understanding of the underlying principles at work to make the technique effective. It is the internal element of all techniques that truly makes them effective. Once the principles have been internalized the techniques will become more effective and more powerful. Brute strength can overcome lack of skill in many cases, but only once the principles have been internalized and they have become embedded into the muscle memory will the technique be executed to its maximum potential.
The centre line is profoundly important to Yoshinkan Aikido. Aligning your body through your centre line increases the potential effectiveness of the technique. Aligning your hips and torso along your centre line is crucial to Yoshinkan Aikido techniques, as is channeling your power through your tanden or centre. In Yoshinkan Aikido your power comes through your hips not your arms or upper body. Consequently, your upper body and lower body (namely your arms and legs) need to work in unison, never being used separately. This is very difficult when practicing techniques for the first time or while you are still learning them.
Yet this should be the aim of all Yoshinkan Aikidoka. As I listen to, watch, observe and even feel my instructors` technique I see this internalization and connection being made. Their technique`s are strong, powerful and effective and yet they never rely on strength. They are strong without being strong. They do not concentrate their power in their grip or arms and yet their techniques work and their techniques work because they are focusing their power through their hips, their posture is perfect and they are continually moving and operating through their centre lines.
Naturally there is a massive difference between the world of the dojo and the world on the street. In a dojo the purity and perfection of the technique is sought and can legitimately be attained. In the street things happen in an instance and one`s reactions may mean the difference between life and death. I do not expect my instructors to be able to perform a perfect technique in a real world self defense scenario. But through their years of training and honing their skills and internalization of the principles of the techniques, I believe their instincts and body movements would be enough to preserve themselves. It is this thought that gives me great encouragement. Without training or a practical and experiential understanding of the principles underlying the techniques I would be very ill-equipped to defend myself. Even if with adrenaline pumping and a survival instinct awoken I would not be in control of my own body and possibly even my mind.
By harnessing the power that comes from aligning the body through its centre line and keeping my centre of gravity low, it is then possible to execute powerful techniques without resorting to brute strength. This is the application of Aiki.
