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Words

During the years that I have practiced or taught aikido, the physical movements were often clarified, explained, or directed by words.  Some of them were Japanese; most were English translations of Japanese expressions and constructs. 

Blend with your opponent, extend ki, keep maai, practice fudoshin, keep one point, kokyu-nage, take ukemi, uke, nage, hatori waza.  

As a student, I hear them as explanations and directions.  As a teacher, I returned the favor.  They became the lingua franca of the class.  The language bridging the art’s movements with the mystical dimensions of budo. As a student, I assumed that the expressions and translations heard were correct. And the ones I used when I taught were uttered in the absolute belief I understood their meaning. 

In 1991, Dave Lowry, an American martial artist, wrote an article entitled Aiki of Words.  It was published in Aikido Today, the premier magazine for Aikido during that time.  The point of the article was to caution aikidoka about the use of English to understand what Aikido is.

“Morihei Ueshiba never talked about harmony.  The founder of Aikido never spoke either, despite what you’ve been told, about love or the relationship between Aikido and the mechanics of the universe.

By now the reader, if he has recovered from his outrage over these apparently heretical pronouncements, will have guessed that there is a little linguistic sleight of hand at work here.  O’sensei did not mention these things because he did not speak English.  If you think, however, that Ueshiba Sensei and other Japanese speakers were simply using a different language and that there are English translations that mean virtually the same, you are not just mistaken.  You are ignoring one of the most significant and often-overlooked gaps that yawn between Aikido as it is practiced in its native environs and as it is followed in the West…

..unless they are very careful or undertake a serious study of the Japanese language (and its attendant culture) at the same time as learning Aikido, even dedicated enthusiasts may find themselves having slid into a sloppy reliance upon poor or incomplete translations – a reliance that may soon be reflected in a less than accurate understanding of Aikido itself.”

A number of words used in a dojo’s practice, such as maai and ki, have subtle and nuanced meanings. Witness the recent change of extending ki to ki is extending.  While the change seems a slight juggling of word placement, the change in meaning is significant.

All of it reminds me of the old party game, where you whisper a message to one person, and they, in turn, pass it on to another.  Around the room, or down the line, the message is whispered from ear to ear until it arrives at the last person in the room.  It is a good bet that the resulting message is nowhere near what the original was.  The words and their meaning passing from one person to another colored by what I mean when I say them and what you perceive when you hear them.  

So what is the point of all of this?  It is to be cautious.  Understand that unless someone is well versed in the Japanese language and culture, you are depending on a teacher’s best efforts to educate themselves on the meaning of things. Have a healthy skepticism; trust and verify what you told and taught.  Ask questions.

Also, in recent times, Kashiwaya Sensei, the Chief Instructor of our federation of dojos, has started to make more direct statements about what things mean and don’t mean.

自分は心身統一合氣道の指導者ですが、まだ修行中です。なので「合氣道とは」とか「天地とは」等と自分が分かったような事を言う事は慎んでいます。何故なら、お弟子さん達がそれが答えだと勘違いをしてしまうからです。これらの答えは各自が真剣に修行した上で感じ取れば良い事だと思っています。

I am a Ki-Aikido instructor, but I am still training.  Therefore, I refrain from saying things that I understand, such as "What is Aikido" or "What is Tenchi”. The reason is that the students will misunderstand that is the answer.  I think these answers should be felt after each student has practiced sincerely.

The short answer is to stay critical, open, and practice.  Question authority, especially your own.  That is the practice.  Say hai, I understand, because that is not the same as saying yes.

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Practice

In the nearly thirty-five years I have practiced Aikido, I have seen people come and go in the dojo. Some leave after the first class, others last through Shodan, the first degree of black belt. Regardless of the intensity of their participation or the regularity of their attendance, they disappeared. Whatever their initial reason for being there, they were not sustained by it in the end.

It is rare that the practice of martial art lasts as long as it is intended. It is easy to believe that there is an end; a place where you have arrived. The truth is that moment never happens. You are always in the act of becoming and always standing at the beginning.

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A Friend

I had met him around 2000. I was teaching Aikido in Austin and he crossed my path as a student. He was in his twenties, a full head of hair, an early beard, and solid. He had an innocence about him. At the time, I though he was just naive.

Twenty-two years later, I’m standing at his memorial, listening to his friends and family eulogize him. They spoke of his kindness, his caring and his continual smile. How he held an innocent fascination with the world around him. He carried it in his battle with cancer. For three years, he would get knocked down and then get up. Less than a month ago, he told his wife he was not giving up but that he was just tired. Later that day, he died at home surrounded by his family.

I was shocked and angry at his death. Shocked because I expected him to survive. And angry because it was unfair. Underneath the anger was hurt and fear. Robin’s passing was an unexpected reminder of how fragile and vulnerable living and relationships are. How our own time is neither permanent or perfect.

While Robin's body had died, his handprints were all over his world. The love with which he embraced his wife, family and friends. His rising up every time the disease pulled him down. And his steadfast and centeredness in the hurricane his life's fate.

The love, his smile, and his courage remain like small whispers. He was not naive.

Amen Robin.