Aikido from the Inside Out
The Techniques:
The value of techniques
The best way to use new techniques is to try to understand the principles within them. If you develop a habit of learning to feel the inner content of a technique, you will soon be able to discard its form and simply practice with the content.
This brings up one of the key axioms of technique: learn to throw away your technique as soon as possible. The sooner you can move away from the rigid form of a technique to the aikido "feel" of the movement, the sooner you will make aikido a part of yourself. Even if it takes you years to make a technique your own, if you train with the understanding that the "map is not the place" -- in other words, that the technique is not the truth -- you will have the most effective approach.
Learn to throw away your technique as soon as possible.
If you train endlessly repeating the same form, your technique will only work in the limited range of conditions for which that form is suitable. As soon as you run into a situation where the form no longer works, you'll either have to leave the principles of aikido and resort to force or tricks, or you won't be able to perform the technique at all.
It's better to go after the inner aspect (the principles) of the technique. Once you've gained a sense of the principles, you'll be able to apply them, regardless of the situation. And a funny thing happens when you start incorporating the principles of aikido in all your practice. Suddenly the specifics of the hands and feet become much less important. You can still perform the practice even though your hand and feet are very different from a previously-learned "form." And finally, you'll notice that your "form" is created as a result of the expression of these principles. In other words, each time you practice, you create anew your form of ikkyo or kote gaeshi. The principles give expression to the form.
The techniques embody knowledge as well as feeling. Because aikido is a martial art, it uses tactics to achieve its martial end. When you learn a technique, it is important to understand the tactics involved. The application of the principles of aikido according to these tactics enables the success of the technique.
Each aikido technique embodies a number of tactical issues. Some may be general and are found in all the techniques and some tactics may be specific to the technique. Try to identify and master each tactical aspect.
For example, the technique of tenshi nage embodies a number of tactics. One tactic is to draw the attacker's ki out of his lower attacking arm and moving it to the "weak" spot at the floor behind him. Another tactic spirals the ki of his upper attacking arm around itself and then extends the arm though the elbow up and over the attacker's shoulder. Another tactical element of the technique is to split apart the movement of energy of the attack. Yet another tactic is to pierce the attacker's centerline with ki from both hands as your arms form a triangle just before the attacker grabs your wrists.
These are just examples. Suppose there are ten tactics that are important in properly performing a technique. You want to include them all if you can. Fortunately, the tactics of aikido are intelligent enough that, even if you don't use all of them, the technique will still work. If you only used seven out of the ten tactics for a technique, it will probably still work without too much trouble. If you only use five of the tactics, you might also have to resort to using strength along with your aikido. If you only incorporate two or three tactics, the technique will probably fail. When you practice all ten tactics regularly, if you are ever put on the spot, the chances are that you'll include seven or eight of them in your technique and everything will turn out ok.
You won't find the specific tactics for techniques detailed here. They really need to be taught initially through direct transmission. That is, directly from a teacher with whom you work. But they're not particularly esoteric or hidden. Once you recognize the patterns you can discover the tactics for a given technique yourself. You just have to analyze it as a martial form to discover what is important. What do you have to do to keep from getting harmed by the attack? In other words, how do you move to minimize your openings and maximize your partner's weaknesses? What do you have to do to lead the attack to neutralization? What do you have to do to control the situation? These things determine the tactics of a technique.
In the course of your practice, learn to combine the tactical elements of the techniques with the principles of aikido. This lets you place the martial aspect of aikido in the service of the benevelent application of aikido.
