Aikido from the Inside Out
The Martial Aspects of Aikido
Intent and practicality
Two martial aspects of aikido are important to include in your study. These are intent and practicality.
Intent determines the seriousness of the outcome, and practicality determines the efficacy of the outcome.
When you apply the martial aspect of aikido, you have a range of choices from being very protective to devastating your opponent.
After you achieve a degree of proficiency, the difference in a response that is protective from a response that is devastating is only the difference in your intent.
Let's state this again: The difference between protection and devastation is not one of technique or method. It's only a difference in your intent. The very same technique can protectively disable an opponent or physically devastate an opponent, depending on what you intend.
This truth engenders both a sense of security and a sense of responsibility. There is security in knowing that you may deal with any situation with an appropriate degree of force. There is also responsibility in knowing that excessive force may result from losing control or losing your temper. The best maxim in working with intent is to strive to produce the greatest effect with the least force. This practice tends to temper intent so that it doesn't devastate.
The martial aspect of aikido is a good reference point to use when judging the practicality of the technique. From the martial point of view, you have to ask "Does it work?" and "Does it create any openings?"
When you ask "does it work?" you're checking to see if you're able to redirect your partner's force and energy in a simple, harmonious way, without excess force on your own part. It's not enough to just knock your partner down. Much of the importance is in the "quality" with which you knock him down!
Openings are times and places in your sphere where you're vulnerable to attack. Openings also allow your partner to regain control as you try to neutralize him. If you consider that you have a sphere around you about the diameter of your outstretched arms, you can think of an opening as a weak point in this sphere. It is through these openings that your partner will attack effectively or escape. When you perform a technique, it's always important to observe whether you create any openings. In learning to observe your own openings, you'll learn to see the openings in your partner's techniques as well.
