Aikido

The Simple History of Aikido

Aikido is a simple Japanese martial art which was created in the early parts of the 20th century. It was created by Morihei Ueshiba who was also known as O Sensei or Great Teacher. The O Sensei was a disciplined master of different martial arts principles and philosophies. Out this exhaustive knowledge in both armed and unarmed combats Ueshiba formed Aikido. This far eastern discipline was termed a very efficient martial art but the training espoused is not for street fighting or the advancement of students in sporting tournaments. This sport focuses on the perfection of character as well as the development of positive human qualities like compassion, courage, endurance and inner strength as well.

Aikido training is taken not only to improve an individual but the general society as well. Tokyo was the founding center of Aikido and the main dojo or training hall is located at the Aikido World Headquarters there, known as the (Aikikai Hombu Dojo). The son of the O Sensei who was Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba has carried on the practice of the martial art to various places all over the world initially starting with Europe. In Europe, this martial art was first taught in France before it moved to the rest of the continent. In the Americas it started with Hawaii when the well know teacher of Aikido Koichi Tohei Sensei taught the art and he was followed by the O Sensei as well.

The first shihan of master of Aikido who qualified as instructors where direct students of the O Sensei. These students strove to help the master achieve his dreams of making this discipline a truly universal martial art. Today the art transcends both natural and cultural boundaries. Hawaii in the United States was the first country to experience true Aikido and it was then followed by California. This then increased quite exponentially with the arrival of the masters who came directly from the Aikido World Headquarters to establish outposts in major cities throughout the entire United States. Gradually the art spread to cover the entire country and today it is one of the more popular martial arts here.

From the year 1969 onwards the son of the O Sensei bred new breeds of Shihan through the means of the training program at the Aikido World Headquarters known as the uchideshi. These masters in turn have successfully spread the martial art by their use of a wide and broad reaching outreach program.

Over a relatively small amount of time and with the guidance of Doshu Ueshiba, this art has evolved from a simple path sought by few people into a martial art practiced by millions of people the world over. Doshu Ueshiba has been recognized for his many efforts and one of the laurels to testify as to his abilities and success in the world of martial arts was the medal given to him in the year 1995 by the Japanese emperor. Doshu Ueshiba was the president of the International Aikido Federations and the All-Japan Aikido Federation until his death in the month of January 1999 when he was almost eighty years old.

The Origins of Aikido

kido is a name which is created by linking three characters in Japanese. Ai means joining, Ki refers to spirit and do means way. By taking these three terms together you get the essence of the art of aikido. Aikido can then be defined as a form of martial art which joins the spirit in order to find the way. In the 1930's - 1940's this was officially accepted as the definition as the true name of this martial art.

Aikido emphasizes techniques that do not damage or kill people unlike other different forms of martial arts. These skills and movements which are taught are created in order to divert a person's focus or immobilize that person. Most people prefer this discipline because it is a peaceful and harmonious compared to aggression and conflict. Morihei Ueshiba who developed the martial art believed that the control of aggression without any resultant injury was the art of peace.

Ueshiba is also O sensei, which translates to Great Teacher in English. He created aikido from the founding principles of Daito-Ryu -Aiki-Jujutsu. He also made use of the different techniques of the yari, the spear; the juken, (a bayonet); and the Jo, (a short quarterstaff). Something that separates Aikido from other different martial arts is that Aikido uses hands as weapons and the individual has no use for weapons.

When Ueshiba was a child he focused a lot on physical fitness and conditioning due to the fact that he had vowed to avenge the death of his father. He studied different martial arts including those with weapons and those without. This is one of the reasons why this particular far eastern martial art is such a diverse and multi-disciplinary field.

Despite all his knowledge Ueshiba wasn't satisfied because he felt that something was missing. This was where he found religion in the hands of Onisaburo Deguchiof the leader of the sect of Omoto-Kyo in Ayabe. It was Deguchiof who taught him to take care of his spiritual self. With the combination of the spiritual and his cumulative knowledge of martial arts led to formation of Aikido.

By associating with Deguchiof he also go to meet the ruling and military elite as a martial artist. Due too this connection he then established a spiritual discipline and transferred this teaching to different students. These students over time developed their different styles and additions to Aikido.

Aikido is a diverse mélange of the various styles of Jujitsu and some other techniques of other arts such as sword and spear fighting. Ueshiba was an expert in all these arts. This martial art combines certain joint locks and techniques which are employed in Jujitsu and movements that the body goes through whenever you're fighting with swords and spears.

Aikido was brought to the west by Minoru Mochizuki when he came to France in 1951. He introduced the aikido techniques to students who were learning judo at the time. In 1952, Tadashi Abe came to France as the official Aikikai Honbu representative. In 1953, Kenji Tomiki made a tour through the United States while Koichi Tohei stayed in Hawaii for a full year where he set up a dojo and taught Aikido. Aikido then spread its influence in United Kingdom. In the year 1965 this Japanese discipline was introduced to Germany and Australian and now it exists all over the world.

Aikido and The Art of Cold Calling

Imagine being in a crowded concert or bar. All of a sudden, a fight breaks out between two men who’ve had too much to drink.

You happen to be a few steps away, and the next thing you know, one of the men turns to you and looks as if he’s going to take a swing at you.

What's your first instinct? Most of us will do one of two things. We’ll either try to step away, or we’ll raise our arms to deflect him and fight back, which can result in harm to you or to your attacker.

But if you were trained in Aikido, the Japanese martial art that focuses on diverting an attacker’s energy, you could quickly diffuse the situation by immobilizing him without harming him in any way.

In essence, you’re diffusing the energy that he’s using to try and attack you in a way that takes the conflict out of the situation.

Unlock The Game and the philosophy behind Aikido have many similarities. Traditional cold calling and selling are designed to focus only on the “close” by presenting -- or in too many cases, “pushing” -- your solution onto prospects, sometimes even when they’re not interested. But if you focus only on your goal of making the sale before having a discussion about the problems that you can help your prospects solve, something happens.

They start feeling that you’re “attacking” them. After all, you’re a stranger to them, and when you start talking about yourself and your solution rather than about them and their specific issues, you immediately trigger their suspicion and cause them to start “pushing back.”

This pushback is the resistance or energy that Unlock The Game teaches you to diffuse. Then both of you can quickly “get on the same page” and open a natural dialogue that will let you determine whether it makes sense for you to work together.

Let's look at the cold calling experience.

Suppose you’re at your desk and you receive a call from someone who says “Hi, my name is Jack Johnson, I'm with XYZ Company, and we’re a full-solution provider of...” Is your first reaction to welcome and be open to his call? Or do your mental defenses immediately kick in and you shut down against this stranger “salesperson”?

Probably the latter, especially if you sense that the caller is focused on his interests and not yours.

That’s why this old-school cold calling approach triggers the resistance and negative energy that prospects immediately throw your way.

The Unlock The Game way to make a successful cold call -- "successful” being defined as not triggering rejection -- is by beginning your call with, “Hi, my name is Jack, maybe you can help me out for a moment?” That simple question is a very natural way of beginning a conversation with a stranger.

But you can't just read this word for word, like a script. It won’t work. That would be like an Aikido instructor teaching a first-time student the physical movements before he or she has learned the philosophy necessary to carry them out.

The same applies here. First you need to integrate a new Mindset that changes the goal of your call from making the sale, or getting an appointment, to engaging the person in a natural two-way dialogue.

To do this, your voice has to be low-key. You have to avoid communicating any hint of typical “salesperson” enthusiasm, or any sense that you’re trying to direct the conversation to an end goal. Once you integrate the Mindset, all this kicks in naturally.

So, if you want to succeed in prospecting and cold calling, become aware of how you might be triggering the resistance or energy that instinctively causes prospects to push back against you. Keep in mind that this process will work only if you fully integrate the Mindset so it feels as natural to you as breathing.

In short, if you’re using any form of traditional selling, you could be triggering a resistance every time you communicate with your prospect. But if you learn this new Mindset, along with words and phrases that remove any conflict or tension from the relationship, you’ll have taken your first steps toward your black belt in unlocking the cold calling game!

Martial Arts

Martial arts refers to various self-defense techniques, usually unarmed combat, based on skills developed in ancient China, India, Korea and Tibet. Some of the popular martial art forms include karate, kung fu, judo, tai chi chuan, sumo wrestling, aikido and tae kwon do, among others. However, in the contemporary world, martial arts are not only used for self-protection but often focus on spiritual aspects, as well as increasing self-confidence, assertiveness and concentration.

Martial arts are generally characterized according to the fighting styles i.e. striking, kicking, grappling and throwing, and weaponry. Kung fu and karate, a popular martial arts form, use striking techniques that include kicks, throws, dodges, holds, leaps and somersaults. However, tae kwon do, which originated in Korea, employs kicking, punching, and various evasive techniques. Meanwhile, grappling and throwing techniques are used mostly in sumo wrestling, aikido and judo. In sumo wrestling, huge men attempt to force each other out of the ring or bring each other to the mat by employing various grappling skills. Aikido is considered to be the gentlest martial art, and is not practiced as a competitive sport. On the other hand, judo, a popular wrestling form, attempts to turn an attacker’s force to one’s own advantage by using throwing and grappling techniques. Some martial art forms also use weapons like in fencing, banshay, Iaido, etc.

In Asia the teaching of martial arts still follows the Confucian cultural tradition of teacher-disciple apprenticeship, wherein a student is trained in a strictly hierarchical system by a master instructor. However, martial art forms in Europe are more in-tune with contemporary technology and are used as an extension to modern-day warfare. In the US, Native Americans had their own martial art forms which became obsolete with the passing of time. However, European colonists and Asian immigrants brought their own martial arts such as boxing, fencing and wrestling, which gained considerable popularity.

Traditionally, martial arts were used as a self-defense system. However, in the contemporary world, the fighting form is not only modified into various sports forms, but some of them are also used in dance-like settings as a popular style of self-expression.

Aikido and Conflict: Turning Difficult Moments into Ki Moments

One of the things that interests me most about conflict is the tendency to resist it and the ways in which this resistance causes me to miss a ki moment - a key moment, when I might respond with purpose and intention but do not. Resistance is a reactive habit. When I resist, I'm on automatic, and I fail to spot the opportunity to respond with the conscious engagement of being fully present.

Aikido - the martial art I practice and teach - suggests that resistance escalates conflict. When I push, the conflict pushes back. Aikido replaces resistance with alignment and redirection. I change my view from "this person is attacking me" to "this person is offering energy that I can use."

Aikido (pronounced eye-key-doe) is Japanese for "the way of blending with energy." Ki means universal energy or life force. Ki Moments are those in which we are fully aware of our life force and our ability to influence our environment.

In aikido, the attack is inevitable, a part of life. We can influence the outcome of the attack by the way in which we engage and direct it. Will I resist and create a contest, ensuring a win-lose outcome? Or will I practice aikido and transform the attack into a gift of energy? How do I make these choices when I am feeling attacked?

To begin:

• Have a positive and useful purpose. Without a purpose to guide us in the conflict, we end up falling back on habitual patterns of reaction. Refocusing on purpose answers the question "What am I really going for here?" and directs the conflict toward a useful outcome.
• Practice skills and techniques that move us toward our purpose. We have reactive habits that - in the heat of the moment - take us away from the goal. Changing our conflict "habits" requires skill building, practice and persistent application.

video for you

Managing Emotions: Begin with Self-Awareness and Self-Management

"This being human is a guest-house
Every morning a new arrival."
-- From: Say I Am You, Poems of Rumi Translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks
I turned around in my kitchen and walked into the open dishwasher, cracking my shin on the edge of the door. Ouch!#@%*! Pain went through my body, and my anger barometer zoomed from zero to one hundred in about two seconds. It was all I could do to keep from kicking the door. Good thing – the pent up energy in my body would have torn the door off its hinges. But I caught myself and made some better choices. I quickly put ice and arnica on my shin, drank a glass of water, and took a few deep breaths. The barometer began to drop. I still hurt, but I hadn't done any damage.
Practicing aikido on the mat, I learn to first manage myself so that I can better manage the attacker. I center and extend ki (energy, life force) in order to blend with the attacker's power and direct it toward a positive outcome. Off the mat, I can do the same. In the face-off with my dishwasher, a huge emotional attack threatened. How could I blend with that?
Emotional Intelligence (EI) – a phrase made famous by Daniel Goleman, author of many books on the subject – begins with self-awareness and self-management. Goleman writes that in high emotional states, we often get "hijacked" by the power of our feelings, but we can learn to catch ourselves and direct our emotions before they direct us. Research shows that EI can be learned and that those with high EI receive higher salaries and manage teams that regularly exceed their objectives.
When you are intentional with your emotional energy, you increase your EI, improve interpersonal interactions, and lead a happier life. Here are some thoughts that might help:
Notice, acknowledge, and honor your emotions. "Wow! I'm pretty upset. Where is this upset coming from, and what do I want to do about it?"
Breathe and Center yourself. Put a moment of awareness between the event and your action. Give yourself time to notice your emotional energy and decide what to do with it.
Act Purposefully. Putting ice and arnica on my wound aligned with my purpose. Kicking the dishwasher did not.
Emotions happen. And we can make choices about how we manage them. By gaining awareness in the heat of the moment, you will become more practiced at managing all of your emotional energy with intention and purpose.

Self Hypnosis and Aikido: The Self is a Relationship

The Self is a Relationship
Self hypnosis is a fascinating and complex subject. I believe that most people develop an interest in self hypnosis because they want to be able to live a life of greater fulfillment. People have a desire to accomplish certain goals that they currently seem incapable of achieving, and thus they have an inkling that there must be "a better way." It is important to remember:
THE SELF IS A RELATIONSHIP- BOTH INTRAPERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL.

"Who am I? I am a relationship. I choose to, and I have the right to, feel good and be respected. I am."

When we are feeling stuck we might think of self hypnosis like this: "There is a part of me that wants to get another part of me to change. And the annoying thing is that the part of me that 'I' want to change does not appear to be open to my suggestions!" In such instances, "What we have here is a failure to communicate."

For instance, people often say to me: "Why is it that when 'I' want to 'lose weight', 'stop smoking', 'get up earlier in the morning', that there is somehow, somewhere a hidden part of me that very much does not want to accomplish these same goals? Why does this conflict exist and how can I get 'myself' to do what 'I' want to do?" Self relations therapy would call this hidden part that is not cooperating "the neglected self." Other forms of therapy would talk about "the subconscious mind" or "the unconscious mind." Seishindo presents the concept of "the somatic self." What we are striving for in self hypnosis is developing a context of cooperative communication. We need to learn how to respectfully communicate with the hidden parts of one's self, and in the process, enlist the resources of the entire self in order to bring about a more balanced life. This is the main task of self hypnosis.

Cooperation
One of the reasons that the martial art Aikido works so effectively (when and if it is done with the proper ideals in mind) is that the practitioner has no intent to harm or force the attacker, and somehow this message gets communicated nonverbally and changes the attacker's mindset.

In Aikido we attempt to cooperate with the attacker and touch their true desire. When we are able to accomplish this the musculature of the attacker softens and their fighting mind is neutralized. The goal is to protect the one being attacked, as well as protecting the attacker. We strive to blend with the energy and attempted goals of the attacker rather than confronting them.

In Aikido we say:
"Change yourself first, before looking to change your opponent, and in the process, you might find that your opponent has changed himself." "First learn to control your self and then look to lead others gently. Help the attacker to get what he wants without his needing to use violence to achieve his goals."

In self hypnosis we can say:
"Change the mindset of your cognitive self first, before looking to change your somatic self, and in the process, you might just find that your somatic self will change itself." "Control your cognitive self and gently lead your somatic self. Help the cognitive self to get the appropriate results it desires, without it needing to resort to manipulation and conflict. If your cognitive self is not getting the results it desires, then what will your cognitive self need to do to change itself, in order to more fully align with your somatic self?"

Or yet another way to say this is: "The solution your cognitive self is attempting to implement is instrumental to the continuance of the problem. If you implement the 'right' solution, you will likely find that there is no problem. With a high quality solution in hand, the problem ceases to exist."

You are invited to experiment with our self hypnosis practices drawing from the wisdom of the Japanese martial art Aikido, the Japanese health management system of "Sei Tai" and melding this knowledge with concepts from Ericksonian Psychology, Self Relations Therapy, and NLP.

Aikido Demonstration

Aikido Philosophy: An Oriental Concept of Energy, Self, and Mind

Preface

There are many different ways to understand Aikido philosophy and perceive, utilize, and benefit from energy. What I offer here is one of many ways. Indeed when I do other kinds of activities I perceive of and work with energy in quite a different manner. What follows is my experience of energy while performing Aikido over the course of more than twenty years. Certainly there are likely to be many other Aikido practitioners that would explain their experiences and beliefs in a manner that is somewhat different than mine. I offer you here, one experience, my experience, and thus all that I say is part of my belief system, and not at all necessarily THE truth.

Aikido

Aikido is a Japanese martial art, and it does not have an attack form. We do not kick, punch, or in any other manner, attempt to hurt our opponent.

The meaning of Aikido:

"Ai" To gather or harmonize.

"Ki" Universal life force/energy.
This is the energy that we share with nature and all living beings.

"Do" An artful path of discovery.

"Aikido" An artful path of discovering how to gather and harmonize the energy of the universe.

When we sense and move with the energy that is manifesting throughout the universe we find that we have a greater ability to live a life that is healthy and fulfilling.

"Ki"

In Aikido we believe that all human beings utilize and share a common energy source (ki) that helps to run and maintain our environment as well as our individual human systems. We believe that since we all share a common energy source, that in some important way we are all truly members of the same family, and truly sharing our lives with all of nature. We do not have an attack form in Aikido, because attacking an opponent would be like attacking a family member that you love. Attacking an opponent would also be like attempting to damage the flow of Universal energy in the world, and such acts are likely to have many far reaching consequences.

In the Japanese language words that use the concept of "ki" are common.
"Gen-ki" means "root energy" or one's "personal health."
"Ten-ki" relates to "heavenly energy" or "the weather."
"Hon-ki" relates to "original energy" or "the truth."
"Yuu-ki" relates to "brave energy" or "courage."
"Ki o tsukete" means "attach your energy to what you are doing, or "be careful."

The origin of ki?

Where does ki originate from? In Aikido the answer is poetic in nature rather than scientific. It is suggested that ki was "born" at the same instant as the rest of the universe, and that we are all born from the ki of the universe. Ki is considered to be an energy that we all have equal access to. It is an energy that courses through our system if we do not restrict it. In Aikido we believe that excess tension physically and emotionally, fear, hate, greed, and anger, all cut us off from the universal source of ki. Our daily practice involves working at maintaining a balanced state physically and emotionally, and indeed, practicing ways to cultivate physical and emotional balance is much of what the study of Aikido is about. In Aikido physical and emotional balance are meant to be two sides of the very same coin. Physical balance helps to engender emotional balance and health, and vice versa as well. Often in my professional work with individuals I find myself first addressing the clients physical balance when they come wanting to resolve emotional issues, and I do the reverse as well. I often first address or explore how emotional imbalance might lead to the physical difficulties they are experiencing.

"Ki signature" mind, spirit-Energy manifests as spirit, spirit manifests as mind

Energy manifests within each individual as spirit, spirit manifests in each individual as mind. In some way that is a mystery to all of mankind, the freely available energy of the universe is transformed by each person into one's own unique "ki signature", spirit, mind. No two people have the same exact "ki signature", just as no two people have the same exact written signature. No two people have the same exact spirit, no two people have the same exact mind. The unique way that we each take in, utilize, and expend energy, can be considered to be our "ki signature", mind, or spirit. Each person starts with the same source of energy, and manifests this energy in a way that will never exactly be duplicated by any other human being.

Thought, body structure,and movement, shape the flow of ki, into spirit/mind

Think of the freely flowing water of a powerful river that comes upon a series of fairly large rocks spread out across the river bed and extend up beyond the water's surface. These rocks affect the flow of the river but they do not change the nature of the water itself. Ki flows through the river bed of our brain and body. Our thoughts, body structure and movements, are like the rocks in the river bed. These are the main elements that shape ki into individual mind, or spirit The flow of ki is uniquely transformed by each human being, but the nature of the ki itself, is not altered in the process. Just as the pattern of rocks spread out along the river bed is never exactly duplicated in any other place on earth, the pattern of our thoughts, body structure, and movement is also never exactly duplicated. All mind is similar, but no two minds are exactly alike.

A heartfelt understanding of the nature of our spirit will help us to create a healthy alignment of our thoughts, body structure, movements, and actions. When every aspect of our self is fully aligned we have a much greater ability to think, feel, and act in accordance with what is best for us in any given moment. We are better able to adapt and change in a manner that is supports the well being of our entire self and our surroundings.

The misnomers of "mind-body" and "mind and body"

A definition of "mind" that I often use it in my work, is the following:
"Mind is a dynamic, self-organizing, creative system, capable of overcoming physical and temporal constraints. Mind uses and manufactures energy in order to support the self and one's surroundings, trade information, and adapt to change."

When considering this definition of mind, we can say that mind manifests equally in the body and in the brain in the skull. Because of this I believe that the terms "mind-body" or "mind and body" as used in the Western world, are somewhat missing the mark and tend to lead to a certain degree of misunderstanding. If you ask a Japanese person to point to their mind, usually they will point to the area of their heart, or they will point to their lower abdomen. If you ask the average Westerner to point to their mind they will point to their head. This is why I think the terms "mind-body" and "mind and body" were developed in the Western world. I believe that the average Western person thinks of the term "mind" in relation to "thinking" or "thought". Oriental philosophy considers "mind" to be immanent in both the body and the brain. In Aikido we say that we practice in order to calm the mind, by coordinating our thoughts, the actions of our body, and our breath. Or we say that we practice in order to further empower and actualize our mind by coordinating our thoughts, physical actions, breath, and spirit.

When looking to calm our mind we give our primary attention to calming our breath and our heart beat, which will tend to lead towards a relaxing of our musculature and a slowing down or cessation of our internal dialogue. If we calm our body we will tend to calm our cognitive thought processes. Calming the mind can also be accomplished by giving primary attention to the speed, rhythm, and tone of voice of our internal dialogue. If we calm our cognitive thought processes we will tend to calm the body. When we calm both our cognitive thought processes and our body, then we calm our mind. Cognitive mind and somatic mind are part of a recursive feedback loop. You can't affect one without affecting the other.

greeting

hello world

this is my first post about aikido martial arts