The 9th International Aikido Federation Congress

By Hiroshi Tada, 9 dan

INTRODUCTION

National Olympics Memorial Youth Center September 10, 2004. This document was originally written for lecturing the participants at the Aikikai summer trainings held in Switzerland and Italy. The document bas been partially revised for today. The Path of Aikido---Shingaku no Michi and Shinpo no Michi.

JAPANESE BUDO

The Japanese budo had made a profound impact on the Japanese culture during the 700 years of samurai politics. The samurais, especially from the Muromachi to Sengoku era (from the mid 14th century to the early 17th century), devoted themselves to unimaginably severe trainings. Moreover, due to the nature of martial arts being directly involved in the life and death of human beings, samurais deeply studied human psychology and learned the teachings and methods of Shinto. Buddhism, Confucianism and Lao-tse to master the path of samurai. However, with the establishment of the feudal system at the end of the peaceful Edo era (from the mid 18th century to 1868) after the Sengoku era, besides its practicality of technique trainings, budo becomes valued as a method for cultivating bushido which respects truth and spirit of loyalty, along with Shinto virtues, selflessness and purity of heart, and teachings of Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming. After entering the Showa era (1926 to 1.988), budo became a method of cultivating loyalty and patriotism. This new aspect of budo left a widespread impression on the Japanese population. This is why many consider budo spirit as Confucian spirituality even today. This new aspect. generally referred to as "Shingaku no michi" (strict moral values) was developed to suit the needs of the time. Besides this Confucian discipline, there is another path latent within budo throughout the ages. The hidden budo spirit, referred te, as "Shinpo no michi" (the training of mind and spirit), is a rule based on the universal truth given to all people throughout thé ages. which requires us to search for the method of refining and applying the force of life and to exert ability provided to us all by the universe at the highest level utilizing budo. "Shinpo no michi" is a ride that has developed from the method of philosophies such as Shinto. esoteric Buddhism. Zen and Lao-tse, and a path that has merged practical oriental philosophy, which practices meditation based on the premise that the body and mind are one entity. with martial arts. "Shinpo no michi" shows us how ro maintain and apply the force of life based on [,lie perspective of the Eastern view of the world and life. It is a path that llows through the heart and supports the view of the universe, life and technique that Japanese people hold today. Irrespective of what kind of technique you are practicing, if you want to spend your life training to the extreme to further improve yourself and seek to acquire "synchronization of mind, technique and body," you should have a profound understanding of this "Shinpo no michi" and refine your skill. The important point here is the différence between the Japanese traditional training method which values the "Shinpo no michi' and the training method of sports, physical exercises and competitive budos practiced in the west. Under oriental training method, budo is practiced as a method of "purifying martial arts," "moving meditation" and "moving zen," apart from contest and power gap. Situations referred toas "unfettered mind" and "unity of spirit of zen and spirit of sword" naturally result from these training methods. These states are together a path to be utilized by all people not only in budo but also in every aspect of their life. Aikido is a path which practices "Shinpo no michi" in a modern way.

INTERPRETATION OF TECHNIQUE

Here is my definition of technique: If human being is a big tree, technique is its branches and flowers. If you want a tree laden with fruits, it is important for you to watch closely of the root of that tree. Only trees that are taken good tare of will have deep root, great trunk, branches and leaves that can produce masses of flowers and bear fruits. It may seem to be a roundabout approach for improving your "technique," but you must first accomplish a set of "mind and body" necessary for improving. Différent path consists of different principles. Therefore, after choosing what you want to master, you must thoroughly master its basic principles, take time to practice them repeatedly and plant them deep inside your mind and body. What you need to lie especially careful of from the very beginning is the two states that exist in your mind while training to master and exercise the technique. The denshos (technique scrolls) of budo strongly remind us not to engage in practices in which we might slide into a bad habitt of letting the partner or object captivate our mind. AI Shunpukan. Yamaoka Tesshu (1836 fo 1888) had taught his students that "Fixing your mind means to open a suki (a break in composure and concentration)." This thought is too difficult for young budo beginners to comprehend when explained in words. Therefore. it is important, Chat the instructors prepare a practice system that naturally leads those beginners to the correct way of practice. Now, explaining this thought to the general public will be even more difficult but Nakamura Tenpu Sensei (1876 to 1968) had given us an easily understandable explanation. The following figures show the différence between relative concentration and absolute concentration. The above figure shows a normal state of mind. In this situation, the object becomes the malter and the mind becomes the slave. This result is yielded when your mind is caught by the object and consciousness towards the object arises and your mind gets fixed to it. In the above situation, it can be said that the mind is "facing and fostering enemies." In the densho, this state of mind is expressed as "staying, stopping and fixing" and reminds us to avoid the situation. In the above figure, just like the word of Chuang-tze (BC 369 to BC 286), "the mind of the sage is like a mirror which reflects of the entire universe," our mind is free from the object where the mind is the master and the object is the slave. This teaching was acquired through his expérience in oriental meditation. In the above situation, your mind is always free, or "not facing or fostering enemies." This state of mind can only be acquired through practice. You must train your ki with breathing exercise, control your perception and practice meditation utilizing whatever method. The founder of Aikido, Ueshiba Morihei Sensei (1883 to 1969) said that "with movement is born skill" and "skill is created." These words teach us to clear our mind of conscious thought when practicing techniques, in order to have them naturally flow out from the bottom of our hearts at important moments. I believe that these words, including his other teaching, "Aikido is misogi (purification technique)," all are developed from the mental state of dhyanam. In the word of "Kongo Hannya Kyo," this teaching is described as "Free the mind without fixing it," which is popularly framed in Zen temples. "Synchronization of Mind, Technique and Body" is not a principle only shared among people engaged in budo. art and sports. Skilled labors support;ing their factoriels, doctors and researchers with excellent. skills and top corporate managers all share the sanie principle. The synchronization of "mind. technique and body" is a word derived from the oriental teaching, the synchronization of "ki, mind and body" which is the result of synchronization of mind and body.

PRACTICING METHOD

Practicing Aikido is just like going on a ride. The goal must be set before starting off. Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 to 1519) laid, "When you plan to execute or experiment something, you must have a well-supported methodical theory. Person that, executes and experiments without it is just like a boat drifting on the sea without, a compass having no chie where to land." In basic practices. a method that, keeps the mind free from the object must be established. Practice methods following the Japanese tradition all teach their students to completely master the basic principles developing the techniques based on how we should maintain and apply our mind. Yagyu Jubei (1607 to 1650), the masterswordsman, once said that "the root of art of warfare lies in the understanding of the reason of the mind and its underlying principle. Therefore, the root of art of warfare is based on the training of mentality" in "Tsuki no sho." The following list, excerpt from the "Tsukimi sho," consists of 12 warnings by Yagyu Jubei<

Letting your mind confront the enemy.
Dragging your feet.
Dull strike.
Loose grip.
Having doubts about the enemy.
Feeling restless by trying to hurry while having too much concentration on the details of the movements.
Breaking the rhythm.
Harboring anxiety.
Bending forward at the waist.
Feeling tense in the shoulders.
Tense body.
Trying to look good

Keep ail 12 bad movements listed above firmly in mind. Mien a beginner rail mto a bad habitc il; will be difficult to correct. Practice to acquire a flexible mind.

Clear and sharp sirike.
Speedy and dexterous footwork.
Having gracefulness in movement.
Unconstrained movement.
Strong will to dedicate yourself in to trainings.
Moving without hesitation.
Relaxing body and having no tension.
Natural, upright posture.
Relaxed shoulders.
Striking without rhythm.
Having perfect control over your body.
Having a free and pure mind

12 items listed above are ail good movements. When vour mind is fixed, your movement becomes awkward. All bad habits are result of your mind being f'ixed.

IMPORTANT FACTORS IN STARTING THE PRACTICE

One of the most important parts in practice is controlling of ki by breathing exercises. To improve techniques and refine ail of our activities to a higher level. we must first refine our force of life. Your success depends on your level of knowledge and skill in receiving the wisdom and power of the universe. For example, once, there was a person suffering an incurable disease. Since lie did not give up and continued his breathing exercise at his Aikido lessons, lie was able to cure the disease. These stories are not that uncommon. To utilize the techniques at will, you must train your verve throughout the body to naturally respond to the mind's request. Therefore, to synchronize the "mind, technique and body," mastering of the breathing exercise, which is the essence of training methods researched and experimented in lndia. China and Japan for thousands of years, is an indispensable training. In modern physiology taught, in schools. die breathing exercise lis explained as a method Co take in oxygen and carry out carbon dioxide. The most important thing in oriental breathing exorcise is the wonderful system of breathing Chat bas evolved on earth. This breathing system is a method Chat enables us to refine our force of lite to a higher plain by receiving the power of the roof of the universe and its wisdom, ki throughout our nerve system. The breathing system is the root of our lite. Many of our forerunners have mentioned the importance of daily ki training with breathing exercise. Toru Shirai (1783 to 1843), a famous swordsman in the Edo era, whom Katsu Kaishu (1823 to 1899) extolled by saying, "I've always wanted to become a good swordsman like you, but unfortunately, I couldn't," was one of them. Gong through intensive trainings, Shirai damages his health. However, he makes a full recovery with the refinement training of Hakuinzenji (1685 to 1768) and opens up his own swordsmanship. Shirai said Chat "refinement and ki trainings are to be practiced by all people pursuing art." An interesting point of Hakuinzenji's breathing exercise is that this exercise is conducted just before going to lied when we are highly susceptible to suggestion.

SELF, MIND, BODY

The most important thing in practicing the Japanese traditional training method is to clearly understand the relationship of self, mind and body. Without understanding, the act of practice itself will not work out. In oriental philosophy, the "mind and body are equipments necessary to lead to the stage of upaya to enable the life of Crue self to survive the world of phenomena" and they must be skillfully controlled to promote complete exertion of their capability. Regarding the relationship between the mind and body, the founder of Aikido, Ueshiba Morihei Sensei had explained to us to "understand the mind as a person under training and body as the dojo." When explaining to the general public, I would tell them to train themselves while considering the mind as a musician and body as an instrument. It is important for us to improve our skill as a musician while also working out our body (instrument) into a more accurate and sophisticated instrument. The level of our keenness will probably improve infinitely according to the needs of time. It is well known Chat today's latest science and technology is supported by the manual labor of the skilled labors. For example, at a famous precision optical factory which one of my student (K of Aikido Kirenkai, Tokyo University) visited for his practical training, when manufacturing a new precision lens, the vert' first one is madeby the hand of the skilled lens grinder based on the new blueprint. Ile told me how impressed ho, was to watch them complote their micro-level job only with therr bands. The equipment that the skilled labors are using is the saure equipment chat, was used a hundred years ago. The standard error of the lens described in the instruction manual provided by the company is only 0.05 micron. Kan no Kenkyu written by Ryo Kuroda. published from Iwanami Shoten, used to be an essential book for those practicing budo. The sequel to this book includes a section writing about the character, , pronounced "ki." The meaning of the character j i leads to the meaning of the character ` , which is also pronounced "ki." expresses the situation of a hall which is trying to bounce off from the floor at the moment it reaches the floor. F'' expresses the moment of the arrow leaving the bow. Each character expresses extremely subtle motion taking place instantly. To capture these moments, we must be prepared to respond to them. For example, the following report on microscopie writing research shows the capability of human being acquiring a mind and body that can respond to subtle movements by experiencing specific job and training. The result of the experiment, conducted by the Department of Science. University of Kyoto, was announced in "Seirigaku Kenkyu," vol. 10 in 1935 by Sosen Miyake. In the experiment, at first, Miyake wrote 1,000 kanji characters inside the square centimeter frame using Japanese ink and brush within 2 or 3 hours. Then, lie wrote oui, 100 poems of Hyakunin Isshu, an anthology of 100 poems by 100 différent poets, and drew the portrait of each poet in color within a square, 15 mm a side. As a result, lie was able to complete his tasks in 5 hours. In the report, Miyake says that lie makes the tip of the brush naturally write out the characters by gazing at the tip of the brush, holding it still and drawing an image of character between the paper and the eyes. Although there are différences between individuals, the report shows us that the more we train ourselves, the more we become capable of exhibiting amazing ability. "Synchronization of Mind, Technique and Body," an Ideal Situation for Human Being Aikido is a budo that was developed and studied in the Showa era. Originally, Aïkido was a practical martial art for effectively beating opponents in the battlefield. However, today, Aikido overcomes the killing, destruction, confrontation and competition that it had experienced in the frontlines of the big wars. Aikido is "a budo for the modern period" having the objective to make a positive contribution (progress and improvement of the universe) through mutual training of ki, mind and body based on the Japanese traditional concept, "Banyusoai" (the love completes the whole univers(,), and t.he spirit of Yamato (the country name of ancient, Japan which means to have harmony among all people). Today, many people from many countries are in sync with the spirit of Aiki.

Basic posture.
Controlling by breathing exercise.
Kokyu soren.
Kokyu in the morning.
Kokyu that activates the verve system throughout the body.
Kokyu that vibrates life and raises the level of life power.
Kokyu that stimulate the costal and respiratory muscles and increase breath power.
Kokyu that increases breath power while expanding the chest 6. Kokyu that promote blood circulation.
Kokyu for purification.
Kiai, or a shout delivered with sarong Ki for the purpose of focusing all of one's energy.
Breathing exercise in 6 sounds (a, i, u, e, o, un).
Having a free and pure mind

Voiced Voiced - Unvoiced Unvoiced C. Breathing exercise for training "tanden" (the focal point of the body's energy) Upper tanden Middle tanded Lower tanden. D. Breathing exercise that spreads "Ki" throughout the body. E. Breathing in unison