The Thoughtful Sensei-Aikido Musings

159. Shin Shun Do Gen - New Year Statement of The Aikibudokan

Welcome to the Aikibudokan and to Kagami Biraki, New Year’s for 2019.

In the past we’ve never really focused on the importance of observing New Year’s at the dojo and being aware of the the impact it has on martial arts, and have made only a passing nod to the concept of Kagami Biraki.  However, after consideration of all the events of recent years and the up’s and down’s that the dojo and each of us have experienced, the idea of having a fresh start and an opportunity to reconsider the direction of the dojo (and by extension our life outside the dojo) and, what to emphasize as being most critical to training, to the precepts of Bushido, and to existence in general, should and has taken on new importance.

Many times it becomes all too easy to fall into what is colloquially referred to as being in a rut, or simply repeating the same activities, actions, attitudes, and behaviors that are a part of our everyday existence but without any real thought given to what that actually means and how it can impact (positively, negatively, or neutrally) our lives, our goals, our development, and our future.

Part of the reason for this I feel, is the compression of time and how it distorts our reality.  The disciplines that study the mind and its’ perception of reality have found that in the beginning of our lives everything is new and wonderful.  Simple things such as brushing our teeth or taking a trip with mom to the grocery store and then walking the aisles touching all the cans, all the boxes, and all the sacks of goodies on the candy and cookie aisle are new, and wonderful, and different.  Every moment is to be experienced and savored so each second of each day is remembered simply because every experience is quite literally brand new to us.  Our minds due to our lack of life experiences and our consciousness is focused and we frantically run from one moment to the next to experience everything we can, as fast as we can because it might disappear if we don’t.

Compare that idea (of every moment is new and to be experienced) to that of an adult.  For years you drive to the job the same way every day.  You have the same thing for lunch simply out of habit.  Same conversations, same path around the office worn into the carpet, same movements as you push the mouse or reach for a pen, same people absently mindedly walking by and droning in a flat monotone, “Gooood moorrrrnnning” like Eeyore from Wind In the Willows.

The mind, having repetitively experienced all of this simply develops a filter so-as to allow for an easier existence and it turns off your perception of those time-spans that are repetitive.  So now you run on autopilot and as an adult you make that hour-long drive to work and arrive at the office not remembering any of it.  It’s all a blank moment as if time and existence just disappeared for that hour, and who you are momentarily ceased to exist.

The Buddhists have a concept called mindfulness and it has become popular these days to talk about that ………. a lot since it is now the “in-thing” for corporate training and sangha’s; but I personally believe that they are a little behind the martial arts in understanding the usefulness of that and in fully grasping the significance.

In the martial arts, when training kata, when running randori, or working a true “life-level shiai” the bushi is always engaged in mindfulness since to lose focus for even a brief moment can have undesired, and in the old days fatal, consequences.

Because of the focus and concentration needed for practice, our minds are engaged every second we are on the mat.  Mokuso or meditation has two purposes.  The first moment is at the first of class after settling into seiza and before the formal bow-in.  This moment of “mindfulness” is to still the mind and calm the emotions, to tell ourselves that it’s time to forget everything except the upcoming practice, and to consider what we want to personally achieve for that keiko.

The second moment of mokuso is at the end of class before formally bowing out.  For this one we consider what we learned, how we think we did, what emotions did we experience, did we meet our personal goals for that training, and finally, how do we take that class lesson out into the world outside the dojo; the one that some call “The Theme Park”.

Many of us, those who have followed the tenants of Bushido for most of our lives, are only truly energized when on the mat and existing between those two moments of mokuso.  Fully alive, fully alert, fully energized.  Our minds are open to such a broad extent that nothing at work or in our personal lives has as much meaning except possibly moments of intimacy or of violence.

If we approach our lives in 2019 and in future years with the same focus and purpose as we do our training, and if we have a moment of mokuso in the morning and in the evening to start and to end our day it will help us in being mindful and existing fully in each moment of each day of our lives.

If that is all we ever derive as a benefit of our careers in Bushido, then the time on the mat has been worth every second, every drop of sweat, every moment of exhaustion, and every drop of blood because we were, and are, fully alive.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

January 2019

158. The Greatest Gift

On occasion we have a Black Belt meeting at the dojo and most of the time if they’re in the training hall we’ll invite the Ikkyu’s since they are “almost” Yudansha.  At one we had recently, I talked at length about why I started training in martial arts and why I continued; all of this as part of a larger discussion on why we have been working on transitioning the dojo to new management as I get older.  While I’m still in good shape (better shape actually than many half my age) and can still take a lot of ukemi and throw a lot of ukes around, coming up on your late 60’s (with the early 70’s just around the corner) should give one pause to plan for future eventualities.

Our Tribal Elder (very much a term of respect) and a man in his late 70’s has a saying; “None of us are getting out of this alive”, a statement of fact in that each of us has a life span that thus far science has not found means by which it can be viably extended (with good health and quality of life).  Another way to look at it is a quote I saw once stating, “On a long enough time line the survival rate for everyone drops to zero“. (author unknown)

Martial arts training has many, many benefits including gaining flexibility, strength, agility, overall fitness and aerobic capacity, faster reflexes, and that’s before considering things like self-confidence and self-defense ability.

One item that I mentioned to the attendees in passing during the meeting was the gift my Sensei gave me many years ago.  As he put it, “I have given you the ability to become an old man, and not be intimidated by young and arrogant men”.  So, what did he mean by that?

Knowing self-defense and having the confidence to know with certainty that you can use it means “never having to say you’re sorry” (unless you consciously choose to).  You walk into a store and accidently bump into someone and you apologize.  Then the party you apologized to becomes accusatory, belligerent, and in effect (through their voice and body language) demand that you not just apologize but grovel.  If you are an old man who has never had any formal training in martial arts (or extensive experience in just plain old fashion street fighting) then you will likely grovel since you are afraid of being hurt.  The idea that the person facing you has his own issues of insecurity to deal with is beside the point.  He’s still an a__hole and a bully abusing someone weaker than he and deserves to be ignored (in the least) and maybe pounded (in the most).

So what does that do to your self-confidence and belief in yourself; all that groveling?  It pretty much destroys the spirit of the inner “you” and once that pattern of groveling is established due to your lack of ability and having no self-confidence in being able to handle a bully, it goes on until reaching the point of you flinching any time any younger person raises their voice to you.  You begin to live fearfully.

So this was the gift my Sensei gave me; the ability to face off with someone literally half or even a third my age and not flinch nor back down unless the situation calls for it and I consciously decide to do so via rational reasoning.  The years on the mat, the ability that gives you, and the self-confidence that engenders, means that you can dispassionately take a mental step backwards and make that evaluation.  Do I pop him, or do I talk him down, or do I just wave my hand at him and say “whatever Dude” and walk away.  Being able to make evaluations of conflict potentialities objectively and not under the pressure of fear and panic is of infinite value to us all.

Having the confidence of knowing with absoluteness that you can slam him into the floor so hard that his eye-teeth shoot out his butt means that it’s difficult if not impossible to make you fear anything he says or does.  This is valuable not only in life and as an older person, but also for younger people in tough business negotiations and client meetings where aggressive body language and direct (but “polite”) accusatory language is commonly employed.

This gift my Sensei gave me is simply too valuable to allow to vanish, to disappear, or to just fade away in the twilight.  It has to be carried on from generation to generation, especially at dojo that still teach classically and that focus not on sports, or kids, or trophies, or the current fad of the moment, but instead on things that actually work and that will produce true bushi. 

Lordy, lordy, some of the technicolor gi’s I’m seeing these days along with aluminum weapons moving faster than realistic martial physics would allow, and jumping, screaming students that look like a windmill in a hurricane, are just beyond belief, as is children wearing black belts at age ten, and instructors teaching “no-falling” martial arts like Aikido.  How does one “teach” Aikido if no one falls down or is thrown?  How does one build self-confidence in the student when everything taught is for show, flash, and glitter.

So my goal these days is to set the dojo up such that it can survive without me and will be able to carry on sharing the gift with new generations.  My Sensei passed on four years ago and he set his dojo up to live without him.  All Sensei must accept the responsibility to pass the torch to the next generation just as all our lineages show back to before the time of Ueshiba, Kano, and Funakoshi and more importantly, all the deshi must accept the gift and commit to pay it forward.

The greatest gift any Sensei can give someone is the ability to grow old and not be afraid of the young and arrogant.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

August 2018

157. The Niceness Trap or, It’s Better To Be Feared On Occasion

Popularity and the desire to be liked are at the center of issues, problems, and catastrophes in our political discourse, business success (or failure), personal relationships (most esp. with families and relatives), and in the dojo.  Sensei can be as guilty of this desire as can anyone.  However, the Sensei has a higher calling and a greater responsibility.

One of the general rules of conversation and discussion that most people seem to follow and prefer is the tendency for the nicest opinion, comment, or handling of an issue to be preferred to the “now that’s not very nice” idea or flat rudeness, and pointed and direct commentary.  This also applies to dojo with one martial art (Aikido) being generally considered as one of gentleness, kindness, personal growth, and beauty more than others so it’s likely that “never a cross word be heard” in an Aikido dojo (as compared to a competitive Judo club).

The issue with this entire idea of the nice and courteous discourse and comments is that sometimes a more direct approach is needed.  We are, after all, engaged in training in a “martial art” in which direct action is part and parcel and personal growth may sometimes be painful.  So on occasion the Sensei, much like a supervisor at some company, needs to understand how to be “not so nice” in order to mitigate a circumstance, correct an effrontery, and set a more proper pathway for the dojo future.

When a deshi is a kyu rank, it’s a massive undertaking to educate them in proper Budo etiquette.  The Japanese have a great advantage here since from diaper-hood they have grown up understanding the correct etiquette (such as rei/bowing) and how to comport themselves around those of higher rank or social standing.  It comes natural and once they become a deshi, they simply have to learn a few dojo-specifics and all is good.

Westerners however, Americans especially, can find the transition into Bushido and training at a War Dojo, difficult.  The Socratic Method of discussion simply has no place, nor does having a “too friendly” or “buddy-buddy” attitude when around those of superior martial rank and social standing.  Americans fail to understand that another individual can be their superior in all regards even if that person isn’t wealthy, doesn’t have a high-powered position, doesn’t go around “virtue signaling”, isn’t a CEO or a prominent politician, lives in a smaller house, or is fairly humble and doesn’t throw his weight around unnecessarily unless it is situationally called for. 

All of these normal Western society “indicators” of superior position (wealth, position, power, abode, cars and credit cards) may work if one is attending a dinner party for the company but they fail miserably in Budo as you never really know.  Some of the most powerful (and dangerous) people have little in possessions or worldly status and additionally appear humble and mild mannered, but they remain so far ahead of you in knowledge, centered-ness, and sophistication in Bushido that they can die and you still will likely not catch up to them in “who” they really are in your lifetime.

Most of the truly high-level players do not fit any of these common descriptions of wealth and power.  Now mind you, they can have them as I have trained with some incredibly powerful men of means, but by and large once they step in the dojo they become like Marcus Aurelius; stoic, composed, measured, considerate of those of lesser education, but very insistent that everyone around them measure up eventually, thereby growing into the tenets of Bushido.  They bifurcate their position outside the dojo from their life in Bushido and as a rule, leave their personal life at home.  They may on occasion have some “bleed-over” during a relaxed moment but as rule, they don’t break that rule.

Americans make the mistake of thinking that simply because they have “known” the Sensei or Shihan for some length of time, that they are his/her equal and that mistake leads to their making comments, or taking advantages and making assumptions around or with that Sensei, and then assuming that the Sensei is a great friend, co-equal, and all-around drinking buddy with whom they can converse and express opinions as if they were a co-worker or fraternity buddy; an equal as-it-were.

You are not (their equal) and the underlying issue here is that making those assumptions and taking those socially and martially incorrect actions have not been earned yet.  They are considered by the senior Sensei to be an unwarranted form of rudeness and a breach of proper martial decorum.  You simply have not done the work, spent the time on the mat, nor have you earned the rank, and your imprudent comments are very likely considered unwarranted and impudent.

When I was coming up in the ranks, I learned very quickly to “keep it buttoned”.  Anytime the Sensei said something I, and everyone else around me paused for thought not once, not twice, but three times before responding.  Many times that response simply did not include any kind of opinion; only an acknowledgment of Sensei’ comments.  I was the subordinate and not the equal in the interaction at that point and I acted as such and as a rule, kept my opinions to myself regarding everything discusssed.

In today’s world, all too many times people don’t know their place.  That phrase is a quaint one and many today think it obsolete in this age of equality, social justice, fairness, and the like.  However, if you think that this idea of respect for superiors is really obsolete and no longer part of human relationships, then watch a teenager with an attitude walk into a conversation between much older men who have decades of life experience that the kid does not have and at this stage of his life, simply can’t understand in the least.  Watch the attitudes of the older men get real frosty, real quick.

I saw this recently while on a visit to a client’s office; a machine shop where attitudes tend to be a little “blunter” than in a quiet and sedate law or accounting office.  The young pup (a young but full grown adult by the way, just not a "grey back" like the older ones) was told that his ideas were wrong and not wanted, and he was told to mind his own business.  He of course stomped off carrying on his chest in full and flying colors the belief that he was as smart, as knowledgeable, and as life-experienced as they were, but they didn’t care about his opinion of himself.  They just looked upon him as a lesser being without the knowledge of life or of his position in it, relative to those around him.

And so goes the dojo, and the Deshi.  Sometimes Sensei (a word that means, “one who was born before” and has seen and done more) has to be feared and not liked.  Get used to it, or find something else to do where your gentle and courteous virtue-signaling will be more appreciated.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

June 2018

156. One More

Well.  I saw another one.  One more bad post of a backyard video of two guys doing what was purported to be a challenge match between an “Aikido” player who looked clueless and totally out of place and his opponent who looked for all the world like a jacked up power lifter and who moved as if he trained every day for the UFC.

The trend for some time now is to criticize Aikido (and other Aiki based arts) as lacking realism and having little to no practical value or utility for self-defense.  Most of these criticisms appear to be based primarily on three areas.  The first is the lack of hard sparring; some form of light to mid-speed one-on-one or several on one being more common.  The next is the art being kata based with structured practice at deliberate speed and little to slight degrees of resistance being used.  And the third is the actual structure of practice; lots of kata, not much free-style.

Aikido is indeed a kata-based budo, as opposed to a sparring-based sport but claiming that randori practice is closer to bad dance than it is to open sparring or actual battlefield combat is a grossly uneducated overstatement; to put it mildly and bluntly.

Most younger players and almost entirely all outsiders, simply do not understand that aikido and koryu systems train for conflict in an entirely different way than sport systems do, with koryu being combat oriented and sport being competition oriented.

Sportive & competitive combat-based systems focus on methods of scoring points in a highly regulated environment in which the range of allowable techniques is limited, time is strictly controlled, and injuries are rare and few due to the use of individuals monitoring and controlling the action, stopping the match when they deem necessary, even if the competitor receiving the worst of it can actually continue (and may actually want to, continue).  After all, too much blood or blatant “cruelty” might turn off the spectators and see complaints of “human cockfighting”; one of many reasons New York State for a time outlawed the UFC and New Jersey saw cries for regulating and licensing all martial arts schools.

Budo/bujutsu systems (such as Aiki-do and Aiki-jutsu) budo train for real-world conflict in uncontrolled situations, in any type of environment or obstacles, often involving weapons and sometimes more than one attacker.  Attacks are seldom announced in advance.  The attack (a more correct term here than fight) starts with little to no conversation, no warning, and then chaos reigns until one person is down or seriously injured.

The environment for each of these training methodologies differs, and the goals differ. A Budo-man is not interested in scoring points, delivering a beating, or winning a trophy.  He wants to neutralize the situation by escaping without injury if at all possible.  If he can’t escape, and if he can’t do the least amount of damage needed to neutralize the attack, then the goal becomes eliminating the threat in the fastest way possible by using every implement in his tool box; referees, line judges, and rule books not welcome.

The gap between the octagon and real world conditions of street violence can’t be more different or obvious.

While competitive sport combat fights can go for several minutes over multiple rounds, the typical street conflict lasts 10 to 30 seconds if that, given that the first move puts one of the combatants down instantly; or it might last for 3 or 4 moves of one kind or another and of late, videos show that once the victim is down he is generally stomped.  The conditions in the street vary also since ample video exists showing that simply being punched once and then falling to the concrete can result in brain damage and death.  Inside the ring, the fight conditions are as safe as is possible with padded floors and a ring surgeon readily available for emergency care if needed.

It should be readily apparent then, that sport combat training techniques are not going to be an effective method of training for achieving an entirely different set of goals in an entirely different environment.

Thus the kata training, the broad range of techniques studied and internalized, the various forms of randori, and the focus on developing internal and mental strength and discipline, and a tough mind that is calm and not jacked up for winning but instead intent on not losing and not being injured.

To the outsider, unfamiliar to Aikido, koryu and Budo, practice may indeed look like dance, sometimes slow and flowing, sometimes abrupt, and sometimes a little quick and violent but with control.  In an important sense, it has to be this.

Some of the techniques practiced in advanced Aikido training for example might consist of techniques that have an ending in which your opponent’s shoulders are dislocated, their neck is broken, or eyes gouged out.  Obviously, common sense dictates practice must be in a very soft and controlled form and developing control and accuracy a critical part.  Otherwise the increasing lack of training partners would force an end to things as volunteers disappear.

So too for randori. Neither I nor my training partners are going to risk their lives when I am responding to their attacks with techniques that could cause life-long injury or death. Even with precautions and controlled keiko, injuries are not that uncommon with my personal list including a cracked nose, cracked occipital bone, a knee injury requiring surgery, both clavicles separated, and cracked ribs.  And forget how many times I’ve been knocked senseless or choked unconscious to the point of nausea.

With all this said, sometimes the videos most often posted (at least to my eye) would indicate a relatively inexperienced Aikido player with a low-level of expertise and an obvious lack of street-smarts wanting to prove something to himself perhaps, or to others.  It smacks of having a high-school football team of 18 year olds play in the super bowl against professionals who average 6 to 7 feet in height, 275+ pounds each, and who run a 4.3 sec. 40 yard dash (such as the one I saw of an old man with grey hair fighting a young octagon competitor who was obviously stronger and in much better physical condition).

The other factor that should also be considered is that an experienced senior Aikido player or teacher is not going to make nor accept any challenge match for a reason.  Classical koryu and harder styles of modern Aikido do contain techniques that are severe in nature and that if applied at full speed, with tough mental focus, at full power, and under the adrenalized stresses of combative fear will result in maiming or death.  There is, after all, a valid reason as to why Japanese police aren’t accepted into Keisho (the police academy) unless they are already dan ranked in a martial art (generally Aikido, Judo, or Kendo) and then spend four years learning a hard style of Aikido (Yoshinkan) before being assigned to the street.  They don’t carry firearms (and really don’t need them) as their reputation for toughness precedes their arrival.

No true Aikido player, mature adult, or rational human would deliberately put themselves into that type of a situation for a mere “challenge match”.  That level of violence is reserved for a true life or death situation and not a quick 3 minute “last chance for glory” video on You Tube.

Now for the sake of discussion, do I imply that MMA/UFC is ineffective; or that traditional Aikido/koryu based arts are somehow superior?  Not in the least.  A competent MMA fighter will pound all comers senseless, unless that opponent is well qualified and seasoned.  What I and many others are now beginning to advance, given the number of videos that occasionally make the rounds of You Tube, is the idea that each form has its strengths and weaknesses, and that each has its own particular focus.  To denigrate one while taking a narrow view is simply not necessary nor correct because each truly has value within the arena it inhabits.

L.F. Wilkinson  Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

May 2018

155. Out of Time

“None of us are getting out of this alive”; a favorite saying of one of my senior players.

Each of us is granted only a finite amount of time to enjoy (or not enjoy) on this plane of existence.  For some of us, it can be pretty short.  By the time I was 50 I had already outlived a surprisingly large percentage of my high school graduating class, not to mention several of my ukes & training partners, and by the time I was 60, I had outlived all of my Sensei, almost all of my immediate blood family including my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, brother, and even more of my high school class.  And, I was in better shape and health than all of those left since I train in the dojo on a pretty consistent basis while teaching Budo.

Some of those people lived a very full life.  Others had potential and flamed out to an early demise.  Most however experienced a completely unremarkable life of wake, dress, drive to work, home, dinner, drink, sex, sleep, repeat.  As the bard once said, each of us has the same potential and opportunity to become either a common man or a real warrior of life.  It’s all in what we do to make either happen.

Martial arts have the ability to take us into something larger than ourselves.  They allow us to break free of our limitations and move into a bigger universe as we reach more of our potential.  However, they take focus, intent, curiosity, desire, and the discipline(s) of time, job, family, and friends; the first applied discipline being that of actually going to the dojo, suiting up, and training.

All of us who train in martial arts should make the most out of the time we have so consider some ideas.

Your Sensei likely started training well before you did (he’s likely older) so how much time (relative to you) does he realistically have left to train and teach as he retains his physical strength, agility, and health?  While his mental capacities can last long, when will his ability to show the material and let you “feel” how he moves and what he does finally begin to fade.

For that matter, how much time do you personally have left to train?

Remember that not one of us knows when the metro-bus, cosmic concrete truck or meteor is going to come down the street or out of the sky and strike us with that strike potentially being gaining weight, losing overall physical fitness, an injury, illness, or just plain old age and infirmity.

While we will all get there one day (old guys in a rocking chair before checking out for the last time) wouldn’t it be good to know that you did the work and max’d your potential in learning something unique; something that blew up your universe and made you a better person, a Warrior of Life and not just the street; something only a select and very few ever become involved in, much less excel in.

Every time the dojo has class, try to make it.

Every time the dojo offers a special work shop or training event, try to make it.

Every ryu or different discipline, and especially koryu work the dojo offers, try to learn it.

Don’t waste time because one day you won’t have any.

See you on the mat.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

April 2018

154. Where's the Sake?

Do you remember the old tv commercial of the two old women?  The one where they walk into a burger joint and start complaining when served?  Where they ask over and over again, “Where’s the beef?”  What a great commercial that was as it dealt with paying for something that you the customer didn’t get.

Last year pre-Hurricane Harvey flood (that 6 months later still has the entire city disrupted) we were engaged in a study of all the martial arts dojo in Houston that we could find, looking at classes, web page design, instructor qualifications, pictures of pretty uniforms, mascots, action photos, videos, cat videos, etc.  You know.  Standard web kinda' material.  Pretty normal for any small business when you are looking to prep’ for the New Year and getting things in gear.

So here I’m cruising the web like a boss-beach bum.  Surfing and clicking and hanging 12 and humming old sailor shanties when suddenly I’m taken aback at one site.  “No Throwing Aikido Classes” the web site says, right next to “Aikido for Children”.

So I hike up my Birdwell’s and turn my Hobie (er .. ah .. mouse) around and spend some time researching this idea.  There it was and I hadn’t mis-read the page titles.

The site for this “other dojo” clearly said “Child-Safe Aikido” and “No Throwing Adult Aikido Classes”.  Wow, thought I.  How interesting.  How progressive.  How forward-looking.

WTH?  How can you proclaim yourself to be the "premiere Aikido school in town" and not teach how to throw; not to mention watering it all down to make it "child friendly".  

In our blog series that’s gone on some 10 years or so by now, I’ve made observations on ideas inherent in martial arts training such as; you get out of it what you put into it, look for practical training, look for a dojo that won’t destroy you but that will teach you, find competent instructors, seek honesty in training philosophy, look for true Bushido.  There are more than just these few but bottom line is, if you are looking for martial arts then find those and don't settle for second-best.

If you are looking to lose weight then do so, and if you are looking for Kabuki Theater or Comicon fantasy role play then look for that also.  Just be sure to find what you want and if you are the Sensei, be honest in how you present your curriculum.  No one should have any issue with you training the way you want as long as you are presented the full and honest picture right up front and are happy with the package (and price) you are buying.

The idea that you can present a full-scale Aikido curriculum as being a valid study of Bushido but not have any throwing involved (go watch some Ueshiba videos one day and watch for the “no throwing” uke around  .. HA! .. lol) and therefore have no break falling involved (ummmm …. doesn’t throwing automatically suggest “falling” may also be involved) strikes a professional Bushi as simultaneously dangerous and a severe form of martial arts malpractice.

Many years ago at my old dojo, the Sensei who was a Japanese-trained stickler for precision in teaching and performance had two deshi; one, a pretty senior black belt and the other, a lower-level black belt.  They had the idea of starting up an Aikido-based exercise program.  I can’t remember the marketing name they copyrighted so let’s just call it “Sweaty Aikido Exercises for Non-Aikido People Wanting to Lose Weight”.

And that’s what it was.  They did it outside the dojo and never told Sensei about it.  Heck.  None of us knew about but to be honest, when I heard of it I was a little jealous thinking what a great idea of a way to apply martial arts (which we all loved) to teach a little something to folks who otherwise would never be exposed to any Budo at all.  Had my liking.  Might even get some new players out of it.

Once Sensei found out about it however, he went … how to put this … apoplectic, berserk, insane, he was beyond upset, all of the above, and few more.

His point was this.  Once you do the motions of any particular waza a sufficient number of times, you will eventually and in spite of yourself, blow uke out of his fundoichi because for that one moment in time everything worked exactly the way it was designed to.  So the longer they train, the more rep’s they put in, the greater the likelihood that they would hit the sweet spot and uke would be smashed senseless, unless they knew how to correctly break fall.

So put another way, a Sensei who runs a dojo should not bill any class as “No Throwing Aikido” where Aikido techniques are taught and practiced but in which players are not required to learn a full range of dynamic ukemi.  Conversely, if ukemi are not taught and described as “optional” then the description of the class should instead be changed to something like “Exercise Class Using Aikido-Type Ideas But Not Real Martial Arts” and then, modify any Aikido technique to the point to where it couldn’t work even if Ueshiba tried it.

Bottom line is that if you teach Aikido in any form, then actually teach Aikido including the break fall skills so if anyone is thrown even if by accident then they will be (and will land on the mat) safe.  Don’t claim to be teaching Aikido and leave out what could be the most important part.  That is quite and simply unethical marketing and martial malpractice by any name and after they are injured on your mat they just might be asking, "Where's the Sake?" as they wave at you out of the back of the rickshaw on the way to the hospital.

See you on the mat.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

January 2018

Related articles

138. A Long Comment On The State Of The Budo-Verse

153. Obstacles To Emptying the Tea Cup

I’m not a psychologist but I do play one on TV; or so the saying goes.  However, after training in the martial arts for almost 50 years (since high school) and running my own dojo for the last 20, I’ve had the “opportunity” to watch a lot of disturbing tendencies in prospective players who visit the dojo, some of whom actually passed the initial screening and were on the mat for a time before leaving (or being invited to leave).

Some, a few, not all that many but a noticeable number of prospective deshi walk in the door with an innate belief (if only on a subconscious level and not even in the front of their mind) that the mere possession of testicles (along with a carry permit and a game boy controller) makes them skilled drivers, lovers, and street fighters.  From a practical (and coldly) analytical view of the Budo-verse we know that this is fantasy and simply not the case in spite of how low they lower their voices to growl, “I’ll be back ….. and will start next week”.

Driving a car with too-loud mufflers (that for the world reminds me of an angry bumble bee) and claims to stud-status (“Yo, Adrian”) are topics best left for another day; but the street fighting/martial arts aspect is too obvious to pass up.  I am supposed to be blogging on martial arts, right?

Yes, there are natural athletes. You have dealt with them all of your life and we all remember that guy in high school who lettered in every sport he ever tried out for, generally made team captain, dated the head cheer leader, and who may have been known for pushing Casper up against his locker during the lunch break in the quest for King of the Hallway status during lunch break.

The natural athlete (sports) argument aside, humans are not “natural” martial artists in that high-level physical abilities dealing with potentially life & death scenarios are very much learned skill sets.  I have yet to see a 6 year old who was fully able to intuitively cobble together (and correctly work) a hein kata, a Tai Chi long set, or a decent wrist lock. 

These skills are taught, learned, practiced, and ingrained intuitively only with innumerable hours of practice under a qualified instructor.  Anything less is simply giving the kid a hammer and telling him to sit in the corner and beat on a block of wood, expecting him to somehow come up with an antique roll top desk made out of cross-cut oak.

Yeah.  Yeah.  Yeah.  Just stop it.  I’ve already heard the argument that so-and-so is a natural and has won every fight he was ever in back in high school. 

Keep it to yourself.  That’s little more than mental masturbation with some rationalization thrown in for good measure.  The issue behind that proclamation is the underlying and unmentioned fact that somewhere along the line someone probably offered instruction that he could integrate well enough for a couple of tricks that no one else had seen, or was taught that one punch that works against most or, he was just in so many fights as a young and belligerent walking hormone that he learned a few tricks the hard way, or he’s just a big guy and overwhelms everyone, a sign of genetically gifted size and not necessarily of any true martial ability.

So basically, everyone needs training but an issue here is that due to cultural trends combined with technology we have today bred into men a false ego, a specious external facade that somehow they can succeed without any real effort.  This is the fault of the “everyone gets a trophy” religion, combined with the lack of any sense of responsibly.  It’s “just supposed to be that way” after all.  Compound that with high-tech allowing many young people to exist in a fantasy world, then taking that fantasy with them outside the screen or 3-D goggles and attempting to interface with others and now that false view of “self” is what is communicated.

Now take that one step further, into the dojo where the Sensei gets strange questions about what is and is not possible or what “secret techniques” the student claims to have knowledge of.  I actually had a young man walk into the dojo not all that long ago, get past the initial screening interview since he seemed sincere and then once on the mat he began to talk about whether we taught this or that technique and that he had “seen” a technique that really worked well and he wanted to learn it.

After some questioning, it turned out that he had a video game addiction (my extrapolation of his comments) and the techniques he was asking about (or claiming knowledge of) were things he had seen on the screen in “Secret Samurai Killers From Planet 9 meet the Godzilla Corps” or from a movie on Netflix that he had binged watched; him thinking that all the silliness on the screen was actually based on real ideas and real martial arts.  He was expecting us to know what he “knows” which only served to make him an irritant.  He was invited to train elsewhere.

He was unable to tell the difference and somehow thought that he could translate his “game knowledge” to actual “martial arts ability” with minimal work and was seemingly unable to break with his preconceived notions and be “re-taught” what is and what is not.

These individuals, aside from being lied to by our cultural trends have been instructed (taught) by insidious outside forces (e.g., our current culture at large) and they believe that if someone does in fact ask them to put forth extra effort or to change their current paradigm and learn something new (or if you dare to point out their short-comings or that they are the ones out of line) they bristle and instead of considering the Sensei’ comments as an indication of the need for them to change their ideas and accept the need for retraining, the conversation becomes one of “How dare you tell me I’m not good enough or that I need to work harder?” even though that was not the specifics of what you were attempting to communicate.

Modern men (and women who have interest in martial training) have been conditioned to accept mediocrity as the norm, and that their opinion about a subject is more important than whether or not they can actually perform the task.  They hide in their “Man Cave” playing Xbox thinking they are manly and when called on it and required to "make scratch", become argumentative.

The false ego generated by all the talk and supposition drives modern man to actually avoid professional training.  If they take that big step and attend a course or go to a school they risk having all their pre-disposed notions shattered.  They might discover to their great displeasure that they aren’t actually good martial artists, good at self-defense, and that their favorite bokken is not actually akin to Thor’s Hammer.  And yes, before you ask, I’ve actually had people walk into the dojo with their personalized wooden (or fiberglass bokken), tell me that they’ve been practicing in their garage with friends and then try to show me what they “know” with their having little to no actual dojo time.  All that conversation ceased the moment I picked up my bokken and told them to leave (sometimes it just gets to the point of "too much conversation").

Having been raised in a society that embraces mediocrity and excuses failure, these egos can’t risk the blow.  Their solution is to simply buy more expensive gear and run out to apply for their Concealed Carry Permit and begin to engage everyone they meet with discourses on the best caliber, best carry rigs, ballistics, or what technique they saw in UFC 1,967 work the best and how so-and-so MMA competitor isn't good enough (as if they could come anywhere close to matching even the lowest ranked fighter on the card).

They essentially trade years of work in the martial arts to gain expertise in favor of a quick purchase on their VISA card and time spent searching the internet for websites that have information on SEAL Team 6 tactics ideas from Assassins Creed.

As dojo have matured over the years and as the culture has evolved right along with them, it becomes more and more important to provide adequate explanations to prospective deshi as-to the value of a life-long study of Bushido and this is the task before us; us being the Sensei and the Hatamoto who have taken on the task of preserving traditional martial arts.  Items to explore in upcoming blog ideas.

See you on the mat.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

December 2017

 

Related articles

138. A Long Comment On The State Of The Budo-Verse

152. One Job, One Gi, One Martini

A monk lives a life of single focus.  The Buddha’s purpose in founding orders of monks and nuns was to provide an environment in which spiritual development and discover of “self” or “not-self” would be made easier by not being part of the outside world with all the distractions that entails.

The outside or lay community would provide the monks with their basic needs including food and clothing and any expenses that they might incur in their study which could last years if not an entire lifetime.  In this way the disciplined, simplistic and orderly lifestyle was and still is conducive to meditation and finding inner peace on the way to kensho and satori and learning to enjoy the fact that all life is suffering.  Isolating and targeting that goal (or “non-goal”) was therefore easier since all of their existence was centered on that idea.

This is the source of the old Zen phrase, “One Bowl, One Robe”, representing the only physical and non-spiritual needs of the full-time monk.  I would expand that to include, “One Bowl, One Robe, One Bieru” in order to also take into account a little after-hours activity or some of that apres’ temple I’ve read so much about .

For those of us not into chanting about the glories of suffering and robe-wearing, having to make our own way in the world, make a living, and support the family gets in the way, intrudes as it were, on our having a long-term goal, a prime reason for not being able to train in martial arts like we might desire; thus the rationale behind the common saying, “Life gets in the way of what I really want to do”.

Compare that single focus in high school or university (that of education only and then whatever fun we want to find) to having a full time job and working towards career advancement, family, and then attempting to train consistently in martial arts.  One reason for finding it difficult making it to the mat is a lack of the fiery energy you had in your youth where you felt you could literally do it all and still have enough fire left inside to go to the beach and drink that entire case of bieru’s by yourself, and then get up the next day and do it all over again.  As we get older so many thing intrude on our consciousness and time that we wear ourselves out trying the make all the targets on our agendas and calendars thus leaving little of what is “us” for the mat.  Then, a lack of energy caused by too many irons in the fire creates a lack of physical activity which in turn causes weight gain, a lack of “wind” and we tire easily, and a corresponding lack of energy.

Another issue is that of begin out of school, having a job and for quite possibly the first time in our lives, some money in our pocket.  Thinking about that two week vacation to the California wine country or taking the kids to Disney suddenly looks so much more attractive than a week at a gasshuku working day and night while skinning your knees,  sleeping dormitory style on a bad bed, getting cracking in the head, being choked out, and then going home exhausted.

The solution for all these “reasons” for not training is becoming more efficient in how we organize ourselves.  When I first moved to Houston, I had a job where I had extensive travel and worked downtown.  When I was in town I made as many classes as I could by packing a protein drink and an energy bar in my briefcase.  I didn’t go home after work and before the dojo that night.  I worked late to get ahead on assignments at the office and free up time, and then went straight to the dojo after consuming the snack at the office.  I knew myself well enough to know with certainty that if I went home first, had a meal and then sat down for five minutes that I wouldn’t get back up and would miss keiko and then use the excuse of, "Well, I'll just go tomorrow night".

The other organizational strategy that I used was to write my training times in my calendar in red which told me to not violate those “business appointments” unless something more critical came up (such as a family emergency, illness, or some other issue).  I ignored invitations to Happy Hour or dinner out because those social events are always best done on non-work nights anyway.  I always wrote in important family times (birthdays, anniversaries, holiday events) and of course planned around job issues.  With some consistent practice at this balancing act, it became easy after a while and stressing out over any one area gradually disappeared since I was meeting the needs of all three.

I was always reasonable in this and split time between work, dojo, and family but always made time for all three.  Anyone who thinks that you have to become a monk and live a life of “One Bowl, One Robe, One Bieru” is wrong.  You can live a life of “One Job, One Gi, One Martini” quite well and have time for family too.  All it takes is a broader focus and some organizational skills.

See you on the mat.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

August 2017

 

Related articles

138. A Long Comment On The State Of The Budo-Verse

151. The Secret Life of Dojo

In a movie too so very long ago called “The Secret Life of Pets” we were amused by the shenanigans of pets after the owners left home.  All in all it was a pretty funny movie in some sections while others were simply a rehash of other, earlier CG ventures into not having to hire real people or train real pets.

I was reminded of the movie not-so-very-long-ago (like last week) while working in the garage during the day when everyone else was at work.

Ah Grasshopper you say.  Why pray-tell were you at home and not at the office?

Well.  Having hit 65, combined with the changing economic conditions, along with life, the universe, and all that caused the decision after some pondering, ruminating, and chewing-of-the-cud to simplify, simplify, simplify, and increase efficiency by closing the shoe box of an office I was existing in (and paying money for) and moving my office to the house along with deciding to no longer be a property & casualty agent; but to instead focus on what got me into insurance to begin with and what I know best ………….. group benefits consulting and brokerage aka “how to keep the guys in the shop healthy enough to come to work and follow orders and not call in sick on Monday’s or Friday’s).

As we get older, we should re-examine parts of our lives to see what we can make less stressful and do better, how we can become more efficient (read accomplish more by doing less or put another way …….. how much can I get done while being as lazy as possible).  So this re-org of my professional life (I’m not retiring by any means but I do not intend to remain the work-a-holic I’ve been since I was ten years old) was a part of re-examining the aspects of my existence.  Slowing down and smelling the roses (and drinking more good whiskey) has become more important than it used to be.  Facing your mortality does that as evidenced by seeing that first Social Security check in the mail.

And so goes the dojo.

Huh?  How did Sensei jump from cleaning out his office at age 65 to the dojo?

Well, Young Padawan Apprentice, it’s all the same.  Re-sorting what does and doesn’t matter is the same process whether it’s the job or the dojo.  How do you improve?  How do you become more efficient?  How do you move forward?

Part of this office closing and movin’ it to the house was of course boxing it all up and putting it in the garage for sorting, throwing away, and shredding (since I deal with a lot of HIPAA privacy issues …… Sounds like a line from a dime-store pot-boiler spy novel ………. “ .. he fed the secret scrolls into the gaping maw of the machine and the shredder ran for days until the dogs howled from the continual whine of the blades and the FBI showed up in their white “Joe’s Plumbing” van to see if there anything of interest in the bags of little paper confetti thrown out onto the curb by the street.  The furtive men in their “I Loved J. Edgar On My Knees” embroidered Izod’s ran back and forth as they single handedly put Scotch Tape’s stock value on the map while buying it by the rail car load as they pasted all the little squares back together …..” 

So I’m sitting in the garage with boxes stacked three deep around me and with the trash bags being filled and smoking a cigar while sipping bourbon; a classic requirement of any half-way competent paper shredder (just don’t let your neck tie get caught in the machine) and the trash truck came by twice during the day.  Along with the recycle truck.  And that was shortly followed by the “heavy day” truck picking up old mattresses and the broken down washing machine that in earlier times and other locales would have more normally ended up on the front porch with a pothos ivy planted in the opening (after taking the door off of course).

Next comes not one, but two different lawn maintenance groups who roll up, jump out of the trucks, do a Strategic Air Command style Defcon 5 level simultaneous wet-start of all the lawn equipment; the pushers, the riders, the blowers, the chain saws, the tree limb cutters, and the radio’s playing conjunto music.  There for a while it was so noisy that I couldn’t hear the rock and roll coming out of my radio and I quickly decided with no insult intended, that I much prefer the Rolling Stones to Selina.

Then the next wave of lawn boys (for some reason every house on my double cull-de-sac uses a different lawn company) along with someone getting their entire front yard ripped out and landscaped.

Somewhere in there was ATT, U-Verse, Xfinity, Direct TV, and Dish Network, all pulling up in front of various houses for repair, removal, or installation.

Oh.  And not to forget one electrician, one plumber, and two air conditioning repair companies (a hot summer day I guess).

So much like the movie Secret Live of Pets where the dogs put on rap, reggae, and heavy metal and hit the booze the second the owners walk out, the neighborhood came to life in a way that one never sees after working hours when everyone is home from school and is hiding inside, sipping their Cosmopolitan’s, Vesper martini’s (love “The Bond”) and channel surfing while kissing the dog, hugging the kids, and beating the spouse … wait … isn’t that supposed to be beating the dog and  ………. ).  It’s the part of life in the ‘hood that no one ever sees unless you just happen to be there AND be outside to watch the life as it flows by.  If you’re inside sick, or if you are addicted to Phil Donahue, or if you come out very briefly to climb in the car for errands, you’d never know.

A dojo is much the same.  The class trains and leaves.  The dojo falls silent but most of the real work goes on when all the deshi are elsewhere, just like the pet owners and just like the neighbors.

How does the Sensei make lesson plans?  What goes thru’ the minds of the senior players and instructors when they're not pounding uke into the mat or strangulating him into unconsciousness?  Do the deshi ever see Sensei or the Hatamoto sitting in their easy chair but not seeing the tv show?  While Sensei watches (or not-watches the tv) the spouse comments about how his/her feet twitch and their hands make little movements as he runs thru’ lesson plans, or analyzes a movement in his mind; the little twitches being unconscious movements that reflect the brain power being applied to solving Budo problems.

Do the deshi ever see a senior player wake up in the middle of the night watching the fan go around and visualizing a kata, trying to understand its’ relationship to other kata or movements?  Probably not unless they also wake up, trying to understand the night’s lesson, or remember a kata they’re working on for promotional demo or embu.

It’s not until you stop and slow down and deliberately immerse yourself in the flow either of the ‘hood or the doj’ that you begin to realize that most of the “life” in either really takes place in ways that are not immediately apparent.

In a neighborhood it’s the work that keeps the ‘hood going that you normally don’t see.  All the water, gas, and electric repairs.  The upkeep of the tv systems and internet.  The yard, roof, paint maintenance that happens when you’re not there.

In a dojo, most of the work is invisible.  It’s the mind working to understand, to comprehend, to remember, to integrate that is where the “real” work, the “real” activity is.  It’s the mind thinking, applying all its kilowatts and etheric waves and ergon energy to the problems; why does it work, why doesn’t it work, what’s that mean, what does Sensei mean by  “zanshin” and why does what I feel in keiko seem a little different each time I step on the mat?

Going to keiko and doing the drills, kihon, waza, and kata is the outward appearance of learning.  It’s what you don’t see, the inward work, that makes the real difference and it’s how people actually learn.

But unless you take the time and learn to un-see the obvious and then to see the un-obvious, you won’t know.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

August 2017

Related articles

134. Rules of Life

138. A Long Comment On The State Of The Budo-Verse

150. Ever Seen?

Uh, Like Dude, Where Am I?

Understand that where you are is not where you think you are.

Ever seen a fist fight up close?  Ever seen someone step in and try to break it up?

Ever seen someone get in an argument with someone else?  Ever seen anyone make a comment about “can’t we all just get along”?

Ever been in a dojo and seen a junior student voice a half-question/half-opinion?

Ever seen a total stranger walk up to someone and tell them how to act, almost as if they were a parent instead of …… a stranger?

Yeah.  Me too.  And I watched as the fight was re-directed to the interloper and he had his head handed back to him, and as the argument turned into a beat down on the guy with the unwanted opinion, and as the junior student was slammed into the mat and physically escorted to the door of the dojo by Sensei, and as the “imagined parent” came ever so close to being slammed against the wall with the only reason not, being the person who was accosted was more mature and restrained than the “parent”.

At some point in your life you’ve seen, maybe not “seen it all” per se, but you’ve certainly seen enough to draw some conclusions about people and their weaknesses; and the desire to insert their opinions where they are not at all wanted is most certainly a weakness.  Indeed, it is a weakness so severe that in many cases it could be classified as an entry to “The Darwin Awards” where the gene pool is cleansed by the elimination of one more errant piece of random DNA.

People tend to want to know that their opinions are wanted, that their ideas have value.  They also want to feel superior to others in the sense that they feel smarter than others and at some point concluded that the only way for people to know that they are smarter is to simply jump the shark and leap right in there with their ideas and opinions.

Budo, and by extension the Bushi that follow the precepts, know that to insert oneself into a point in space and time that does not include them is to unnecessarily endanger themselves.  This is an important lesson in Budo and in becoming a Bushi.

L.F. Wilkinson Kancho

The Aikibudokan

Houston, TX

July 2017

 

Related articles

138. A Long Comment On The State Of The Budo-Verse