Being six months into the latest Panic Porn incarnation of “We’re all gonna’ die” gives one the opportunity to consider how and when to learn. We are finally out of lock down from Corona virus (some call it COVID-19 but I personally prefer the term Cootie-19) and are back on the mat with a few minor adjustments to the facilities and some safety measures. Classes are small but gradually rebuilding as many deshi are fearful of the virus and its possible ramifications on their, and their relative’s health. This is understandable if anyone is within the vulnerable population segments.
Since so many are not currently on the mat at a dojo (ours or anyone's) or for that matter not even in the gym and weight room working to cut that weight that was put on while working in their bedroom while wearing pajamas from the waist down (due to all the video conferencing) how we train once we get back to it (after the apocalypse ends) becomes all that more important.
When you suit up at the dojo do you “attend” class? Do you go and do a little work on a couple of kata, follow the class lesson for a bit, then do some restroom and water with conversation and a couple of jokes thrown in? Is it five minutes of work followed by 15 minutes of socialization?
When you suit up at the dojo do you “train”? Do you work hard during class with few interruptions, no restroom break and minimal watering? Do you work up a sweat trying to “get” the lesson, “understand” the waza, learn the material? Are you seriously working on that new material and are you asking questions of Sensei on some of the more difficult areas that might be confusing you?
When you suit up at the dojo do you “keiko”? Do you work hard like when you train but to that, do you add some deep contemplation on what you are doing, and why? Do you strive to link the common elements of one waza to another to another? Are you working towards the thought many advance of Aikido (or any true koryu or martial art) being “meditation in motion”; meaning that every action has purpose, teaches fundamentals, and is intended to change how you view the art form as you mature into a true player?
When you suit up at the dojo do you “shugyo”? Do you make every class available? Do you arrive early looking for someone to work with? Do you stay late looking for someone to work with? Do you plan for the next rank promotion, not by being anxious to get it but by methodically working through the required material, and then adding to it just for good measure? Do you train in more than one narrow band-width (do you add a little Judo, Jodo, knife fighting, or some other area of study to your primary)? Do you leave tired but satisfied at your efforts, and then come back next time and work twice as hard and leave twice as sweaty because you are pushing yourself physically and mentally as hard as you can?
These are important distinctions to consider. We just came out of close to four full months of “Involuntary House Arrest” during which there was no training at all. The key or the goal here is to begin to recognize that putting in the intensive mat time when you are able will be the key to getting back to the mat and quickly ramping up once life is finally back to normal (“normal?” …. What’s that?).
It does not have to be the fear of a global pandemic to teach yourself to stay in “shugyo” mode or even “keiko” mode. As martial artists we should be there all the time. Whether it’s a pandemic, or a weather event, or an intense work schedule that suddenly hits us from behind, or complex family issues that eat up our calendar we should always maximize our possible mat-time and our training intensity so that if we must handle long periods of no training then it will have minimal impact on our overall forward progress, making a re-start and regaining momentum on the mat all the easier .
Get to the mat and do some keiko with a little shugyo thrown in for good measure before the Murder Bees, Godzilla, flying sharks, zombie dwarves and elves, hungry orcs, another attack of The Cooties, or an alien invasion start.
You just never know.
L.F. Wilkinson Kancho
The Aikibudokan
Houston, TX
July 23, 2020
During this oddball time, my own practice has flourished!
Posted by: Rick Matz | July 24, 2020 at 08:06 AM