Aiki Demonstration　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　
　
　2008-6-1 （Brazil/SaoPaulo）　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　

[Ⅰ] 　About Aiki Skill 　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　15 April 2015
Aiki is just a word. I think that we should accept this word not some name of martial arts, but as name of some skills. In Japan, there are several ancient martial arts that are following traditional skills and forms. Perhaps Aiki will be one of them, besides we will recognize that it is a non-competitive skill. 

After the Second World War, as far as I know, GM Morihei Ueshiba created Aikido by using Aiki skill of Daito-Ryu Aiki Jujitsu and other martial arts.
Aiki skill is comprised of small and subtle motions, therefore from that time, the private lesson seems to have been common practice. But since that present time mass training has become the mainstream, and the type of skill has changed too.  Now big motions that are easy to see are the norm. I think that Aikido is composed of these two types. When I showed Aiki to my Taiwanese friend 15 years ago, he was surprised and said, “it’s a skill of Neigong” At that time, I completely didn’t know the meaning of Neigong. I remember that I answered soon, “This is Aiki, not Neigong.”  But it seems that Aiki exists in the category of Neigong in the Chinese block.

With the skill of Aiki, the practitioner must assimilate themselves, into the opponent, and at the same time incorporate the opponent as one part of their being. When you push or pull the opponent, you have to touch the surface of the opponent, namely the skin. It seems that the movements are rubbing or scooping against the part of the opponent. If the body is one of unity, the movement of pushing or pulling against the body will properly cause reactions. Decreasing these reactions may be a caracteristic of Aiki; especially in the movement of up and down the important thing is to understand and use gravity. It is very difficult to explain about Aiki, but if we experience Aiki, the difference is very clear. The important thing is to keep our body in a usual shape, and to remake our body like a heavy rope by doing training. Besides, when we do training, grab the floor by the feet and keep the axis of the body, and then perhaps we will be able to create Aiki with our movements, we and the opponent already will have been blending. This feeling is difficult to happen from the competition style. Aiki is the skill of not crushing each other but blending each other.

On the other hand, it seems to include phenomena of frozen skill too.  Aiki skill is not supernatural, it's only to sharpen our own usual power and refine our sense by blending to the opponent. A big person should get Aiki of a big person; a small person should get Aiki of a small person. This Aiki ought to happen in other martial arts too; but it’s too small to notice. I feel that Aiki is not just the monopoly of Aikido.


Japan Medical Kendo Federation
At the Kyoto Budo-Center
2015-4-11　The 50th time Kendo Meeting