This is a list I have been adding to ever since I started aikido. It’s idiosyncratic. You’re eavesdropping on my mind, and I might not be able to explain what I mean by a particular line. But what are blogs for? If other aikidoka have such reminder lists, please post or link!
every time
- obtain and re-obtain a signal – relax/pay attention until you get one
- continuous breathing
- upright posture, comfortably standing, centered
- retain sword posture and extension/readiness
- imagine center in motion, often below ground, as on tightrope
- imagine circular saw with gyroscope at its center
- zanshin 360 (observe, interpret, relax, be attentive, see without looking)
- whole body/mind ready
- when time to act, no mind
- when finished, leave nothing behind
- ready to guard your center
- ready to move center in any direction
- blending, you disappear, then assert, like water undermining earth
- if you know the technique well, add ki flow, i.e., smoothness of motion, fluidity, natural reaction and compensation for uke’s micromovements
rising from the mat
- should be centered, easy, solid architecture, quick, with zanshin
simple sequence
zanshin – ma’ai – invite/hiss – blend, shift, blend, shift, … – break balance – keep off balance to ground – pin – release – zanshin
first contact
- unless it is a block, should be soft and stealthy, matching speed and rotation with the attack, contacting and hijacking uke’s momentum more than half way through its natural movement, when it is too late for uke to effectively resist
- first contact can be entering–with assertion of space via arm/ki/hara/atemi
atemi
- focus briefly and intently on the target of atemi – so that warning bells go off in uke’s mind
- occasionally go slow and actually hit uke if uke is not responding (are you not convincing or is uke not paying attention?)
- with rapid small shifts, find paths of no resistance and start coaxing toward ground
- try blend with vector, then shift it perpendicular along z-x plane, then downward along y-?, etc., in wave motion
- working backward from anticipated kazushi point, intend to resist along uke’s strong axis so that uke unconsciously feels and resists, then curve vector while gradually intensifying ‘push’ to spiral into kazushi point.
- ghost atemi: you can give off an atemi without actually initiating an attack (uke will stiffen or change posture slightly as reaction); play with how much of a feint it takes
balance-taking
- occupy the good angles
- incremental variable-speed conveyor belt carrying away uke’s balance
- turn hips in direction you want to channel uke’s momentum
- let hips lead your movements
- guide uke to kazushi points
- weight is dynamic, with multiple centers, vectors, rotations
- your weight can come down via uke
- rear kazushi points are generally more effective
- incorporate ki-flow (willow/water)
pins
- knee should come down to mat with inner shoulder
- heels together, up on toes
- wrap and control at elbow
- capture hand palm up in crook of elbow
- pressure and torque can be applied in either direction along path from shoulder to head (rotational perpendicular to that axis and generally with a feeling of into the ground)
- across and uptown is usually good
- think of what you are going to do next to set up the next attack/response
after pin
- move laterally into uke’s blind spot
- initiate the next attack/response; no downtime
physicality
- arms whiplike energy (dynamic tension, but with no tension)
- hands relaxed but awake
- grip like magnetic glue, not vise, starting with pinky
- wrists and forearms like 20′ sword/searchlights
- shoulders relaxed
- cat-like, but a big cat
ukemi
- punch/strike straight with first two knuckles
- keep eyes on nage amap, even when falling/rolling
- prolong the relationship
- bend
- use nage for support in slow ukemi
- ready to protect from / avoid atemi
- bend head toward nage in shiho nage
- turn head away in irimi nage
- tuck inner leg under
- how to fall softer
- relax as much as possible into pins
- follow nage with your center, staying upright
- attack intelligently — you are practicing your strikes and ability to seize opportunity
jiyu waza
- take time with each throw
- keep moving
- keep observing attackers
- keep all attackers in view AMAP
- throw each uke at attackers
- protect attackers
- pick and attack attackers
- split attackers
- learn direction of throw that follows from each technique, starting with the atemi
ma’ai
- forced commit (if uke tries to creep forward gets attacked)
- subvert uke’s next obvious move, and the next, and the next
- jam up uke’s fighting mechanism
- prevent uke’s natural rotation
- augment uke’s natural rotation
- reestablish presence in blind spot, just within or outside of uke’s peripheral vision
principles
- keep center
- relax and smile genuinely
- continuous 360 awareness
- rotation on multiple axes
- force begets force
- elbows in and down
- invite with open palm
- occasionally do the unpredicted and observe reactions
- snake hand
- one scoop
- if too fast, ratchet back the speed and seek more details
- half speed is close to the maximum you need for daily training
- move as if holding katana, or a medicine ball, or a pack
- move as if wearing a skirt
- lose the ego
- it’s a practice, not a contest, not a performance
- keep your attention constantly moving, internally and externally
my approach
- pragmatic
- simplified
- direct and crisp
- out of the blue – no tells
- anything could happen
- highly targeted atemi
- without ornament
- based on natural analogs (climbing, drinking, catching)
the best students are thieves
