Home

Principles

• Sabaki: In order to have proper distance and timing (Ma-ai) you need to be in the right place at the right time. This needs to occur almost subconsciously to support closing the gap or evading an attack while you are more consciously engaging with your upper extremities to apply a technique. The importance of Sabaki or footwork should never be down played. It is vital in supporting  the Aikido techniques that we focus so much on.  You cannot effectively apply your Aikido techniques without being in the right place relative to your aggressor (or the techniques of any martial art for that matter). What complicates the matter is that there is no time to think about how far to step left or right, or to look at your own feet while turning to evade a strike. Although it may seem boring and redundant, it is very worthwhile to train on your tenkan and soto-irimi footwork. Train on these to the point that they are smooth, spontaneous, effortless, relaxed and substantially connected with the earth through out the entire movement. The tenkan drills that we perform at the beginning of class can even be used as a form of Misogi where you focus on feeling that profound sense of kinesthetic integrating and connection that we call Ki. At this point there are no calculations or thinking about your footwork, your position becomes just a manifestation of your intentions.
• Henry Kono Sensei had an interesting way of describing and breaking down O’Sensei’s dynamics between Uke and Nage. Nage would initially establish himself/herself as the center of Uke’s “orbit” or circle, then just before throwing, Nage would step out of that center. This has the effect of suddenly increasing Uke’s instability with minimal effort.
• Ma-ai: Don’t just look at the hands “waving around”; look at how and when the feet are getting you out of the way of the attack and in proper position to redirect, control or throw Uke.
• Rather than destroying the Aggressor or submitting to defeat, we focus on neutralizing the aggressive act itself. The first place to remove the hatred, fear and anger is within our own  hearts. We often mistakenly empower aggressive acts by our emotional responses which inadvertently make these acts appear more ominous and powerful than they really are. Think of redirecting a toddler who takes a swing at you. Do you get angry? Do you want to hurt the toddler? Do you obsess over this act? Aikido provides you with techniques and principals which, in turn, provide the potential for this middle path of neutralizing the aggression itself. I have studied many martial arts, originating from many different countries, and none of them explicitly provide this option.