The Midnight Archer

Summer 2017, Week 8

To Date ...

This week

We've just finished week 8 of the Summer session - our second week of review - which means we have done a complete review of every technique. Recalling the evasions, throws and pins:

The Catch

- Kokyu-nage (Back shoulder throw)
- Shiho-nage (4 way throw)
- Sayu-nage (Left-right throw)
- Zenpo-nage (Forward direction throw)

The Guard

- Irimi-nage (Front shoulder throw)
- Kote-kaeshi (Wrist turn, 3 palms pin)
- Ude-nage (Arm throw)
- Tenchi-nage (Heave-earth throw)

Car Crash

- Ikkyo (Straight, bent, straight, Ikkyo pin)
- Nikyo (Straight, bent, bent, 3 palms pin)

Next week

Next week is independent practice. Be sure to come to class with some idea of what techniques you need to work on. By the end of the week, you should have a pretty good handle on which evasions go with which throws and which pins go with which techniques.

Styles of Aikido

If you've read books or articles on Aikido, visited websites or have seen videos, there is one topic that comes up fairly often - Aikido style. In general, style itself is usually described in two different ways - through lineage (the sequence of teachers going backwards in time) and through the execution of techniques (hard vs. soft).

Regarding lineage, Aikido has two main branches:

• early Aikido (pre-WWII)
• modern Aikido (post-WWII)

• Aikikai, which traces its lineage back directly to Morihei Ueshiba (the founder of Aikido - who died in 1969)
• Ki Society, which traces its lineage back to Koichi Tohei (one of the founder's more accomplished post-WWII students - who, after the death of Ueshiba, split with Aikikai in the mid-70s)

So where do we stand here at BHC?

With respect to lineage, we would be considered in the Ki Society branch of the modern branch of the Aikido tree. One of my teachers was Shizuo Imaizumi, who followed Koichi Tohei when he formed his own Aikido organization back in 1975. Imaizumi Sensei eventually left Ki Society to create his own Shin-Budo Kai organization. I eventually left Shin-Budo Kai to form Both Hands Clapping. It may sound like a lot of intrigue, but in many respects, this is the natural progression of the martial arts.

With respect to hard or soft, I believe that a third category is necessary. That category would be: flowing. In Japanese, there's the term go ju ryu - go (hard), ju (soft), ryu (flowing). The art of Aikido is by nature circular and spiral. But I would argue that only a flowing style actually guarantees the circular and spiral execution of techniques. While hard styles may indeed be circular, the circles are often too small to be recognizable and are too easily turned linear. And while soft styles may also be circular, the lack of intelligent resistance that accompanies many soft styles means that non-circular techniques will often work as well.

So, if asked, our style is go ju ryu (hard, soft, flowing - or small circle, half circle, full circle). We primarily study and practice as ryu (flowing, full circle), but we are just as able to demonstrate go (hard, small circle) or ju (soft, half circle) as circumstances require.

In The Dojo - Aikido

Space and Stance

Early on in learning Aikido techniques, the big picture is just a blur. But slowly, slowly, slowly within each technique we must start to get a fuller appreciation of Aikido space and stance. In a very real sense, Aikido space has four dimensions - four degrees of freedom. They are:

1. Distance
2. Movement
3. Balance
4. Breath

And within each technique, we must also appreciate the importance of stance. A proper stance at the proper time ensures the proper management of Aikido space - resulting in the proper execution of technique. There are three stances we need to stay aware of:

1. Starting stance
2. Intermediate stance
3. Finishing stance

Starting stance:

As the name implies, this is how we accept an attack. In the starting stance, feet are turned out at 45 degrees, weight is about equal on both feet. As we don't know in which direction we will be moving - front, back, left, right, we are equally prepared to go in any. Last, we are naturally exhaling. From the perspective of Aikido space, we are:

• Well away from the attacker
• Completely still
• Fairly balanced (able to go in any direction)
• Exhaling

Intermediate stance:

In response to every attack, we simply evade. And for many, many techniques, after evading we often appear to be in yet another starting stance. Realize that the mindset here is about the same - that we still don't really know what direction we will go next. However, the distance to the attacker has closed and we have just finished inhaling. From the perspective of Aikido space, we are:

• Much, much closer to the attacker, possibly in direct contact
• Momentarily still, paused between the evasion and a finishing move
• Fairly balanced (still able to go in any direction)
• Momentarily not breathing, paused between an inhale and an exhale

Finishing stance:

There are two basic finishing stances - the forward horizontal stance and left-right stance. And we practice these every single class. Both stances have this in common: One leg bent, one leg straight, exhaling nicely and extremely well-balanced. From the perspective of Aikido space, we are:

• Completely disengaged (for a throw) or fully engaged (for a pin)
• Completely still
• Extremely balanced - like the mountain
• Exhaling

In The Dojo - Zen

Been there, done that - for what it's worth.

Like many Zen students, early in my practice I used to love reading about all stuff Zen. But after a 30 year career as a professional skeptic (aka electrical engineer) and, coincidentally, after nearly 30 years of Zen and Aikido practice, I have to admit that most of the Zen websites, articles, interviews and videos that I come across these days just make my stomach hurt. And so I thought I'd jot down some guidelines for you to consider if you're out and about in Zen land.

1. Time is your friend
2. Consider the essence.
3. Zen is practical.
4. It's always about the mind.

Time is your friend:

First, reconcile yourself to the fact that there is a bucket load of crap out there, especially in the self-improvement and spiritual domains. If you are intent on reading anything Zen, make sure that it's been around for at least a hundred years or so. If you are watching a video, make sure the teacher looks like he/she's been living their teaching for thirty or forty years. (My teacher entered a temple at the age of 14 and was  close to 90 when I started studying with him.) Consider, that if you put the half-life of crap at about one generation - it means that even after 50 years, there's still a significant amount of it laying around. If you do wander into some newish Zen, make sure you're wearing a hazard suit.

Consider the essence:

In Buddhism, there is, essentially, just one teaching. (And we should understand that Zen is but one path in trying to get students to reconcile this teaching.) That teaching is about what already exists within us - it's about helping us open our eyes to what's already here. And, hopefully, what modern Zen teachers bring to the table is a fresh, updated perspective - a new way of presenting this same old thing. In his talks, my Zen teacher, one of the most innovative teachers of our time, would invariably preface about a quarter of his sentences with the words "As the Buddha taught ..." So, if what you read or see or hear doesn't ultimately make it back around to the fundamental teaching that we all have the same nature - one that isn't learned, but only realized - then you should run.

Zen is practical:

Recall that we have discussed the problem of even trying to talk about Zen. Without shared experience, straight talk rarely makes sense. And so, teachers naturally rely on allegory and metaphor. (Jesus used parables almost exclusively.) But the bottom line is, that despite the sometimes paradoxical and seemingly nonsensical stories and verses and poems, never lose sight of the fact that the teachings of Zen are always immensely practical. My teacher would often talk of "disappearing in love". To my engineering mind, this was just a bit too close to crystals and aroma therapy. I couldn't have been more wrong. What if, rather than "disappearing in love", he had said something like "manifesting the mode of mind where awareness is without subject or object - without self or other - ultimately resulting in a pure and candid relationship?" Would I have been more satisfied? Would I have better understood? Zen is always immensely practical, it's just nearly impossible to talk about.

It's always about the mind:

It's so fortunate to be alive today. With the vocabulary of natural selection becoming an integral part of discourse and with the emergence of evolutionary psychology, we can better appreciate the genius of the Buddha and the Bodhidharma. While they had no way of explaining why the mind creates problems for us, they did understand that it does. Make no mistake, everything you read will ultimately find its way back to the workings of the mind. Whether it's a stone statue, the wind, bubbles on a stream or weeds and flowers ... it's always about the mind.