A beginning student asked me today, “So when do you guys, you know, get to…”
“Let loose?” I said.
“Yeah.”
He seemed to think that the ‘advanced’ students (and I don’t even consider myself that) were inconvenienced by having to slow down and be careful with the beginners. I have to admit I was a little stumped by the question. I said it was like playing music. Most of the time you’re just practicing, staying attentive and in the moment, and sometimes the jam happens.
But that doesn’t answer the real question in his mind, which I suppose was, “How the hell can you stand teaching idiots like us when you could be training with higher level people?” At least that’s the question that was in my head for the first few years I did aikido. And there ARE people who avoid beginners but I don’t think it’s for that reason. Probably they feel like they need to improve their own technique more before they instruct others, and the only way to do that is to train with people above your level.
But back to beginners’ frustration. There are so many details to the correct movements, you can’t possibly learn them in even a few classes. When you learn them, it takes at least a few dozen hours of training with a technique to start doing it naturally. At that point, it is indeed like riding a bike… until you uncover yet more ways to improve. But the really good moments feel like a musical improvisation. Then you are doing the technique with full martial intent, and it just happens–even if your partner changes their attack, your response just adapts and flows.
We don’t mind working with beginners because aikido is about adaptation, connection, and yes, safety. I’m collecting data from all my senses when training. If it’s with a beginner, I’m learning:
- how novices react to the techniques – aikidoists go with the flow of joint locks, whereas novices tie themselves up worse and endanger themselves, or sometimes escape too easily, and this what can happen ‘on the street’. It’s good to be reminded that a basic joint lock can do serious damage to someone who doesn’t take it properly.
- how intensely I can torque a beginner’s unconditioned joints – this is helpful when the beginner wants to feel a technique more at speed, or they just don’t believe it. You can only get a feel for joint locks by applying them to lots of different people, and it’s important to automatically sense how far you need to go to get the effect. Not far enough and you’re going to get reversed. Too far and you’re going to needlessly hurt someone or piss them off.
- how this person moves – everyone is different and no matter what level you train with them, you learn about where they are strong and weak, where their balance flows to, etc. Learning to read people is part of aikido and you can do that with any training partner.
- most importantly, how can I help this person to better understand and do aikido without talking much, but just showing and doing?
When I’m training with someone more advanced, I’m generally in a thief mindset:
- how is she breaking down this technique? that is, what is this person’s idea of the technique?
- what is he doing that causes me to lose my balance at that moment?
- where is her footing, hips, rotation, balance, transfer of momentum?
- am I staying connected martially?
- am I going to get smacked in the face? a little adrenaline is always good.
- how much resistance and variation should I provide to make this interesting for both of us?
I vividly recall the first time a black belt was doing shomen uchi ikkyo ura with me and told me to let loose. “No. Really hit me,” he said. “I want you to hit me hard, right here, come on.” And he stuck out his tongue.
So I really hit him. Only he was no longer there and I was airborne, sailing to a grinding halt on the mat that nearly took my nose off.
“Can we do that again?” I asked, hopeful.
