in the Seattle area. He is a member of the Ueshiba Juku, which “connotes a direct line of ‘transmission’ from aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba through Saotome Sensei.” He is the founder of Defensive Tactics Options, a system of police and security training which specializes in less-than-lethal force alternatives, and Options for Protective Control, a low-force system for physical intervention with juveniles and emotionally disturbed subjects.

Folks always talk about the conflict resolution side of Aikido. And certainly the Aikido practitioners who are interested in the art as self-defense focus on application of effective technique.

But I have long felt that some of the most important life lessons in Aikido have to do with ukemi.

In real life there are all sorts of events in your life which do not have some magical technique that resolves them in a way that leaves everyone happy. Sometimes you are just going to have to take the fall. Ukemi is where one of the most important life lessons in Aikido can be found.

• George Ledyard on Patreon: Articles, videos, and remote instruction

There is a subject of considerable importance that we have dealt with on several occasions over the years. I would like, however, to broach it again in a more systematic manner. I refer to the topic of aikido training injuries. When aikido is talked about in print, the focus seems to be more on the aspects of harmony, blending and spiritual matters and some of the more mundane areas revolving around practice in the dojo are easily neglected. These include the inevitable muscle strains, body soreness, jammed toes and fingers and the various other “occupational” hazards inherent to our art. They are forgotten, that is, until that inevitable day when we ourselves become the victims of an injury and must live with the accompanying pain.

Common Training Injuries

What are the common aikido injuries? How are they likely to occur? I’ll list some of those that immediately spring to mind along with their usual causes and readers can compare notes.

• Wrist injuries: ikkyo pins, nikyo, sankyo, kotegaeshi, shihonage.
• Elbow injuries: ikkyo pins, shihonage, juji garami.
• Shoulder injuries: shihonage, nikyo pins, sankyo pins, incorrect or obstructed falls.
• Head and neck injuries: iriminage, shihonage, incorrect or obstructed falls.
• Back injuries: the so-called “high” falls from shihonage and from koshinage.
• Knee injuries: (structural) improper loading of partner in koshinage, poor positioning of feet while executing techniques, failure to twist hips thereby releasing strain on knee joints, outside lateral impacts; (surface) excessive practice of seated techniques.
• Toes and fingers: toes caught on hakamas, mats (the little toe on my right foot is about twice the size of the one on my left foot, but, then again, my shoe size is eleven!), etc., and numerous situations where fingers become jammed.

This list is by no means complete and doesn’t include miscellaneous scratches and black and blue marks which are usually not of much consequence although they can be annoying.

Danger in Basic Techniques

A glance at the above list reveals that it is the basic techniques that are most often implicated. This is undoubtedly due to the frequency with which we practice them. It is, of course, also a reflection of the martial roots and destructive potential of the techniques that constitute the fundamental tools of our trade.

Killer Shihonage

Parenthetically, one should bear in mind that shihonage is, in particular, a high-risk technique. It seems that on several occasions in Japan, trainees have died as a result of injuries sustained to the head and neck after having been repeatedly slammed backward onto the mat while practicing shihonage. The incidents I am aware of occurred in university aikido clubs where the juniors are often physically abused by their seniors presumably for their “edification”. This is somewhat akin to the “hazing” which takes place in the military academies in the U.S.

To continue, it is well-known that the bujutsu arts from which the techniques of aikido are derived evolved historically as means for subduing and defeating the enemy. Inasmuch as the structure of the human body has changed little over the centuries, except for becoming larger and bulkier, the same potential for damage still exists.

Sizing up Ritual

Intimately related to the subject of injuries is the fact that in almost any aspect of life you’d care to mention, males, and I’m sure to a great extent females, typically go through a “sizing up ritual” when confronting one another where there is somehow a primeval understanding of the superiority of one over the other. The most obvious factor at play in determining dominance is sheer physical size. (It is interesting to note, however, that the tables are turned if the smaller of the two should happen to pull out a pistol thus tipping the odds in his favor. Remember how the samurai of old found it very unsporting of the Portuguese to use firearms in combat?)

In aikido, this “sizing up exercise” is usually accomplished after a few throws have been executed (often with a little bit of resistance thrown in for spice). The pecking order having thus been established, training then proceeds.

One might argue based on the fact that in practice we alternate back and forth between being the potential “inflictors” of injury and the potential “victims” of injury that some sober thinking on the subject would be called for. In a moral world, there would exist a level of implicit trust, an unspoken contract, if you will, between practice partners. This is especially the case since there is often a great disparity between the technical and physical abilities of two “partners” training together.

The Macho Cruncher

We have now reached the crux of the issue. Given the reality of everyday practice where one of the training partners is dominant having demonstrated physical and/or technical superiority, and the indisputable fact that human beings are naturally competitive, we have, not surprisingly, a scenario where injuries will occur with greater or lesser frequency. Naturally, where certain individuals are involved, the incidence of injury occurs with “greater frequency”. It seems that most dojos have at least one resident “macho cruncher,” He is usually a “he” and either a senior student, or sadly, the teacher. Ironically, I don’t think any dojo would permit a newcomer who happened to be physically powerful to come in off the street and begin wreaking havoc among its members. However, this same reproachable conduct seems to be tolerable if the abuser is an already established member of the group.

This epitome of manhood enjoys a deep respect from fellow members – a respect based primarily on fear. One would not even think of resisting his technique for to do so would result in an instant and devastating reprisal.

Modus Operandi of “Crunchers”

Since one of the purposes of this article is, as it were, to “pull down the gi pants” of the above-mentioned “crunchers,” let me reveal some of their clever — though not exactly subtle — methods. I suspect that many readers will find that the following descriptions strike a familiar nerve.

One of my all-time favorites is the “wind-up” nikyo. This involves the cruncher in question applying a vice-like grip on your tender wrist and hand, respectively, while positioning his elbow on top of yours. He then comes crashing down with all of his power on your isolated joint. (By the way, he has a suki, an opening, just at the moment he raises his elbow for his “wind-up.” He can be pushed backwards off balance. It is, however, not recommended that you attempt to take advantage of this.) If you should then be impudent enough to slap indicating that you’ve reached your pain threshold, this is the signal for him to push further until your unappreciative member reaches a state of numbness (to be distinguished from satori, also a condition devoid of feeling).

The next technique, I call the “shoulder expander.” This is because the range of movement of your shoulder is expanded. It is applied during the execution of either the nikyo or sankyo pin. You are lying on your stomach with your arm stretched backward over your body. Your opponent, having pinned your arm against his body, then leans forward over your head. Again, slapping the mat is a sign for him to continue applying pressure until your shoulder-joint has been sufficiently “expanded.” The contraction period usually requires two to three months.

Another classic we might refer to as the “elbow straightener.” You may have noticed that when most people stand upright allowing their arms to dangle along their sides, a slight bend is discernible in the elbow joint. This is actually an unnatural condition. Hence, the appropriateness of the “elbow straightening” therapy. You are being pinned in ikkyo with your arm outstretched to the side. However, that impertinent little bend in your elbow is now blatantly exposed. Fear not, the cure is fast, sharp and simple (and, perhaps, a bit painful, but after all, you are a man, aren’t you?). The self-appointed dojo “chiropractor” proceeds to immobilize your wrist with one hand and jerks suddenly and forcefully downward on your elbow with the other, and crack, it’s gone! First right arm, then left. (Caution: eating may be a bit difficult for a few days after the intervention).

Another method I regard with particular fondness involves an “embrace.” The object of your disaffection is executing iriminage and proceeds to lock your head in a vigorous “embrace.” He steps through powerfully and then lowers his body releasing your head about six inches above the tatami. Soon “bells will be ringing” in your head and the tones may persist for several days.

There are many other such unforgettable techniques employed that are equally inventive. Space prohibits me from lengthening the list. The rationalizations for this type of brutality are also imaginative — in fact you wouldn’t believe them: “It was an accident!” “I didn’t know your shoulder was already injured!” “If you’re not a man, you shouldn’t be on the mat.” “He really likes you, otherwise he wouldn’t have given you such special attention!”

The most plausible excuse I have heard offered goes something like this: “When two people are training vigorously injuries do occasionally occur and it is unfortunately a part of serious aikido practice.” The problem is, of course, that one of the “two people,” the one responsible for the injury is consistently the same person and the word “occasionally” would be more accurately replaced by “frequently.”

There is another dimension surrounding this controversial topic which I find totally unfathomable. That is the lack of a feeling of remorse I have seen after our oft-alluded-to “resident cruncher” has notched up yet another victim. Although I might be accused of “mind reading” in this case, what other conclusion is possible when this behavior is repeated over and over again?

They are any number of techniques in aikido when one finds himself completely at the mercy of his partner with a joint exposed in a defenseless position. To intentionally abuse this tacit trust that must exist between training partners is something I find absolutely criminal. I personally know of several cases where individuals have suffered severe injuries on the mat and terminated their training careers prematurely rather than run the risk of sustaining a potentially disabling second injury. Further, I cannot for the life of me understand why teachers in charge of dojos where this sort of thing goes on don’t take steps to control or exclude these “crunchers.” It seems that the leaders of the aikido world have by and large failed to recognize that such brutality exists and have made little effort to put a stop to such conduct.

I have made my best effort through the above comments to let the proverbial “cat out of the bag” regarding the subject of injuries in the hope that individuals who may have wavered in their thinking, as I once did, will henceforth accept responsibility for their own well-being.

This work, Takemusu Aikido: Background & Basics, is the first of Morihiro Saito’s final series of Aikido technical manuals. In this authoritative 270-page volume, Saito Sensei, 9th dan and one of Aikido’s leading experts, presents more than sixty variations of ikkyo, nikyo, sankyo, and yonkyo techniques, the most essential of the art’s basic forms. Illustrated with over 600 photographs and accompanied by detailed step-by-step explanations, Background & Basics provides an indispensable guide for both beginning and advanced practitioners.

Morihiro Saito is the author of the highly acclaimed technical series, Traditional Aikido, published in the early 1970s. Saito enrolled as a student of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba in 1946. One of the art’s foremost technicians, he was the acknowledged authority on Aikido weapons training. Saito operated Ueshiba’s private dojo in Iwama, Japan and served as caretaker of the Aiki Shrine for more than 30 years. He traveled extensively throughout the world for over three decades teaching his comprehensive aikido training methods.

Stanley Pranin is a 5th degree black belt and editor-in-chief of Aikido Journal. Pranin began Aikido practice in 1962 and started training under Morihiro Saito in Iwama in 1977. He served as Saito Sensei’s interpreter at numerous international seminars during the 1980s. Pranin is the author of The Aiki News Encyclopedia of Aikido and Aikido Masters, a collection of interviews with prewar disciples of the Founder. He contributes an in-depth historical essay on Aikido and the Founder as an introduction to this book.

66 techniques: Exercises (3 techniques), Ikkyo (16 techniques), Nikyo (23 techniques), Sankyo (17 techniques), Yonkyo (7 techniques)

Contents

Introduction • Preface

Part One: Background

What is aikido? • An overview of aikido history • Training under O-Sensei • Spreading Iwama Aikido worldwide

Part Two: Basics

Basic techniques • Exercises • Tai no henko • Morotedori kokyuho • Suwariwaza kokyuho

Shomenuchi ikkyo omote • Shomenuchi ikkyo ura • Yokomenuchi ikkyo omote • Yokomenuchi ikkyo ura • Katatedori ikkyo omote • Katatedori ikkyo ura • Ryotedori ikkyo omote • Morotedori ikkyo omote • Sodeguchidori ikkyo omote • Sodedori ikkyo omote • Munadori (katate) ikkyo omote •
Katadori ikkyo omote • Kosadori ikkyo omote • Ushiro ryotedori ikkyo omote •
Ushiro eridori ikkyo omote • Ushiro eridori ikkyo ura

Nikyo

Shomenuchi nikyo omote • Shomenuchi nikyo ura • Yokomenuchi nikyo omote • Yokomenuchi nikyo ura • Ryotedori nikyo omote (1) • Ryotedori nikyo omote (2) • Ryotedori nikyo ura • Morotedori nikyo omote • Munadori (katate) nikyo omote • Katadori nikyo omote • Kosadori nikyo omote • Munadori nikyo henka (1) • Munadori nikyo henka (2) • Munadori nikyo henka (3) • Munadori nikyo henka (4) • Munadori nikyo henka (5) • Munadori nikyo henka (6) • Munadori nikyo henka (7) • Munadori nikyo henka (8) • Katatedori nikyo henka (1) • Katatedori nikyo henka (2) • Katatedori nikyo henka (3) • Sodedori nikyo henka

Shomenuchi sankyo omote (1) • Shomenuchi sankyo omote (2) • Shomenuchi sankyo ura (1) • Shomenuchi sankyo ura (2) • Yokomenuchi sankyo omote • Yokomenuchi sankyo ura • Katatedori sankyo omote • Katatedori sankyo ura • Morotedori sankyo ura • Katadori sankyo omote • Ushiro ryotedori sankyo henka • Ushiro ryotedori sankyo ura • Shomenuchi sankyo henka (1) • Shomenuchi sankyo henka (2) • Shomenuchi sankyo henka (3) • Shomenuchi sankyo henka (4) • Shomenuchi sankyo henka (5)

Yonkyo

Shomenuchi yonkyo omote • Shomenuchi yonkyo ura • Yokomenuchi yonkyo omote • Yokomenuchi yonkyo ura • Ryotedori yonkyo ura • Morotedori yonkyo ura • Katadori yonkyo omote

Glossary

Words of the Founder

I ordered this book and have found it to be a great reinforcement to the training received at class. I recommend this book to anyone who is considering purchasing it. The photos are clear and from excellent angles that show the techniques very well. The explanations that go with the photos are also very helpful. The book is a great companion to Saito Sensei’s Lost Seminars DVD set.

D.C.

“Takemusu Aikido, Volume 1: Background & Basics” is an essential volume covering the core aikido basic techniques of ikkyo through yonkyo. Morihiro Saito is a master teacher who explains and demonstrates with great clarity each technique in succession. You will have your personal copy safely downloaded to your computer and be reading this volume within minutes of your purchase. This 270-page ebook in PDF form costs only $14.99, less than 1/3 the retail price of the print version. It is no longer necessary to pay for shipping, customs charges, or lost packages. Nor is there any need to wait!

Pages: 270
File size: 141 mb
Dimensions: 7″ x 10″
Price: $14.99

“If you can build a strong basis of each of aikido’s core techniques following this methodology, your aikido will take on a new dimension. Your technique will be solid at all levels due to your mastery of basics”

Many styles of aikido emphasize the flow of techniques and seldom work from basics. Morihiro Saito’s approach was different. He would start from the basics and then progress to higher levels with precise explanations at all levels.

As a result, students learned the “nuts and bolts” of basic techniques thus building a base for aikido’s more advanced moves. This video featuring the nikyo starts from the basic form and then expands from there to cover a full 8 variations of this powerful wrist lock.

Saito Sensei explains the specifics of each application of nikyo in such a way that be easily understand. If you have never practiced this way, following along with this video and try out his methods to master the mechanics of how nikyo works.

If you can build a strong basis of each of aikido’s core techniques following this methodology, your aikido will take on a new dimension. Your technique will be solid at all levels due to your mastery of basics.

The most useful tool for learning basic and advanced aikido techniques is Morihiro Saito’s “Complete Guide to Aikido 2.0”. Since the “Guide” is so vast in scope and innovative as a learning tool, we thought we would give you a test drive of the product.

First of all, go to 2:58 in the video clip. Notice that Misawa, the master in brown, has used atemi with the hilt of his sword to his challenger’s throat.

Point and edge – The first thought is that thrust beats cut most of the time. This was noted in Richard Burton’s Book of the Sword. It was also noted by Musashi in his comment that spear gives an offensive advantage over halberd (naginata). Napoleon urged his cavalry to give up the edge on their sabers. The British found, as the Romans before them, that three inches of penetration by a French hussar usually beats a foot of slash wound. Patton redesigned the US cavalry saber in the early 20th century along the lines of the Hungarian saber now used in competitive fencing, straight, favoring thrust over cut. O-Sensei is often seen using thrusting atemi against cutting attacks (shomen and yokomen uchi). As Burton noted, it’s simple geometry. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Ukemi as the foundation for countermeasure – The “attacker” in the movie clip could have vailed himself of a roll to the rear* in response to the atemi to the throat with the hilt. Would it have changed the outcome? Up to the choreographer, but it would have been classy and practical. It would have extended the distance between the combatants and given the “attacker” a chance to reverse the situation if Misawa had followed up incorrectly.**

This goes back to a thought that Inagaki Shigemi once shared that aikido is as good as any other fighting art, and probably better for multiple attackers. In an aikido multiple attacker scenario you (almost?) never stick with one. Get in your hit or simple technique and move on.

It isn’t that we don’t have pinning techniques where we stick to uke through several moves to a pin. It’s just that we have some implicit assumption that once uke is falling, everything else will more or less automatically fall into place. I urge everyone to examine that assumption carefully from the perspective of kaeshi-waza.**

After you’re totally comfortable with your ukemi you can explore the places where nage is off balance at various points of the technique. Kihon waza (Iwama style) provides fairly comprehensive protection for nage… IF it is done really correctly.*** The important consideration, in my opinion, is that at each transition the off balance axis is properly protected in nage‘s posture/balance.****

This is not to say that kihon waza is the be-all and end-all. Not even Morihiro Saito Sensei said that. It is an ongoing challenge, though, to retain its conservative and protective aspects when moving on to motion techniques, let alone spontaneous techniques.

*”Back-forward” is a shoulder roll to the rear without looking in that direction, making the posture adjustments for a forward roll while airborne, one of the better responses to shihonage or sometimes iriminage & kotegaeshi at speed. Of course in taijutsu that roll will probably end in a breakfall because nage has a hold and prevents uke from returning to standing.

Here’s a good basic tutorial

Here’s another going to breakfalls

At 1:22, I feel the exemplar has his neck too straight. At 2:52, I prefer to have the legs at right angles, knees apart, but…

Now imagine falling to the rear from standing. The lady taking the kotegaeshi falls above is actually doing that, but ending in a breakfall rather than a roll. That’s more advanced. A way to break that down for learning is to start with forward rolls with the hanmi aligned to the path of the fall – right foot and shoulder forward. Gradually turn the leading arm and shoulder clockwise to the rear before you launch, correcting the alignment of the hips after the feet leave the ground. Pretty soon it should be possible to roll in a direction 180º opposite the original hanmi. You can lead with the arm and shoulder if you like. It’s a sort of guide and confidence builder. It also leads naturally to “wrong side” rolls, in which your right foot is forward, but you choose to lead your left arm and shoulder into the roll. If you then practice gradually launching along paths counterclockwise to your right hanmi, pretty soon you are aligned again, left hand and foot forward, but this time to the rear. Obviously your arm isn’t required in any forward roll. As long as it is not captured by nage, you can still continue to your feet rather than stopping in a breakfall. And, equally obviously, every high breakfall is an abbreviated forward roll. So imagine the fellow set for shomenuchi responding to the thrust by forward-shoulder-rolling to the rear as it’s delivered.

** A little considered set of corollaries involve reversals by uke while airborne or immediately following impact. In the particular situation, if Misawa had followed his attacker’s hypothetical roll carelessly, the attacker, still holding his sword in his right hand could possibly have had a thrust atemi or an uppercutting opportunity of his own while rising from his fall. You could try this in the dojo with kokyunage, counter kokyunage practice. The original nage executes a kokyunage and follows his falling uke. Uke‘s challenge is to absorb that motion into his own kokyunage throw as he rises. By challenge I don’t mean contest.

Cooperate and see if you can both make it work. You’ll probably find that by the second or third iteration the counter technique will be hanmi-handachi. All systems have friction and the original potential energy of a standing position will decay. You’ll also find that following distance and alignment are critical. It is almost always easier for the original nage to follow uke and throw uke repeatedly in kokyunage.

*** Probably the safest way to start with this is from kokyu dosa. If nage‘s “down” hand loses extension, uke can extend into that weakness launching the erstwhile nage over his front, then follow to suwari waza for a classic kokyu dosa kaeshi to kokyu dosa. This could be done as a chained practice if desired. Watch for edges of the mat and other people.

Probably the most unsafe way to do this is iriminage kaeshi to kokyu dosa. This can happen “naturally” sometimes when uke is learning iriminage high falls. Uke holds nage‘s gi and launches before nage steps through for the throw. A little extra (and usually unwanted) twist exerts a pull on nage‘s shoulder toward the off balance spot perpendicular and forward of the line between his feet. If everybody knows what’s going on, uke “falls short” aiming his down shoulder for the spot between nage‘s feet and attempting to dig up from under with the “down” hand even while airborne. Nage is launched over uke‘s front as above. More usually uke is “falling long” and the result is that nage almost involuntarily steps forward and kneels hard on uke‘s ribs.

Obviously, correct iriminage — and several other techniques, kokyunage comes immediately to mind–involve a step into that forward off-balance spot BEFORE uke can pull nage into it.

****Nikyo and sankyo are interesting in the ways they accomplish this.

In nikyo, uke‘s shoulder can (and should) be pinned down (with a pretty much straight arm) while uke is in the critical position between nage‘s legs and in front of them. If uke pulls down, it just accelerates the process. If they twist, that should be arrested by the straight elbow.

Sankyo, by contrast, counters uke‘s attempt to twist out by pulling up and continuing the sankyo wrist twist at that critical juncture. Both could be finished with a standing pin. The pinning mechanism is maintained to allow nage to kneel into seiza/suwari.

For those of us not congenitally attracted to violence, aikido training sometimes presents problems that are difficult to ignore. They come in human form and in distinct personality types. Amongst these is the reluctant uke. This is the guy who tries to block all your efforts to apply a technique and takes a smug delight in refusing to fall. He dedicates his time on the mat to trying to prove your techniques do not work. And sometimes he succeeds. He may be new to aikido, having migrated from another martial art or, worse, someone with years of experience who knows precisely when to make himself totally uncooperative for maximum effect. Typically he seems not to understand how meaningless and destructive his behavior is, and no amount of aikido philosophy gets through to him. He sees everything in competitive terms and believes that every technique must work regardless of the circumstances. Only rarely will he change his spots.

How many people have given up aikido because of him? How many women have been turned away from the art by his chauvinistic behavior? How many honest and sincere instructors has he caused to hang up their hakama, convinced they are not qualified to teach?

Sometimes the reluctant uke is amenable to reason and will respond to a pep-talk, provided it is delivered early in his career. He should not be confused, by the way, with the uke who holds firmly or strikes positively in order for both partners to research and discover the meaning of aikido. The difference is in the attitude and the intention.

Of course, the reluctant uke can be dealt with physically, by a swift atemi or a painful and dangerous abbreviation of a technique, and some instructors have earned a fearsome reputation for meting out this kind of eye-for-an-eye treatment, but many of us hesitate to respond in this way. Usually the effort to block a technique makes the blocker an easy target for a punch, but retaliation is not consistent with the aims of aikido, and could lead to an ongoing exchange not different from a contest.

My own son went through a period (thankfully short-lived) during which he became a very reluctant uke indeed. While I was slowly performing a technique in front of a class he would suddenly exert his full strength to block it halfway through. To respond with atemi was not really an option under the circumstances. We also had a champion power-lifter in our class who used to apply his massive strength at the most unexpected times. Once when we were doing kokyuho he suddenly pulled my arms in towards him, enveloped them with his brawn and pinned them under his armpits. Aside from head-butting him or biting his nose—options I did not consider appropriate or necessary—I was powerless.

No doubt, readers have had similar experiences and will recognize this type of attitude. It was a type neatly represented by a Chinese martial arts instructor I once met in Hong Kong. I only visited him at the suggestion of a friend who said the man would be glad to meet me and keen to exchange technical know-how. But, in the event, he was very suspicious and began interrogating me on my motives in coming to see him. I was about to flag the whole scenario away as another cross-cultural cock-up when he said: “O.K., show me some aikido.”

Thinking to start with nikyo, I invited him to grip my wrist, whereupon he made the memorable and no doubt perfectly logical remark, from his point of view: “Why would I do anything as stupid as that?” He obviously saw the whole exchange as a challenge aimed at testing him or showing him that my technique was superior to his.

Unfortunately, many aikidoka have the same attitude—having missed the point of training by a country mile and having failed to see that aikido is defensive, not offensive, and that its goals transcend winning and losing. When you take on aikido, you must put aside the whole idea of winning and losing and focus on achieving harmony. You can’t have it both ways.

Seeing aikido in competitive terms is like trying to prove something that cannot be proven. Occasionally, even a Japanese will display this attitude, though the respect for authority in Japan generally militates against it, and most Japanese aikidoka appear to accept the nage-uke (performer-receiver) cooperative system of training. One Japanese friend told me, under the influence of alcohol, that he would love to have just one shot at testing his sensei’s skill by refusing to fall nicely all the time. He added that he was prepared to pay all his own hospital bills! In general Japanese aikidoka (not all of them, of course) are more inclined to abuse their position as nage, by thrashing their unfortunate and obedient uke.

What is so puzzling to me is not just the fact that people seem unable to think outside the parameters of a contest but that they confound training in the dojo with reality. Getting the reluctant uke to understand this is often a major challenge. If only he would just go away and take up a competitive sport like judo or karate where he could block to his heart’s content! Aikido is not, after all, for those who feel the need to defend their egos at all times. We can, within limits, always learn something by trying to relate to these contrary individuals, but those limits need to be recognized, and going beyond them can be counter-productive to say the least.

Dojo training is not a life-and-death affair, and there are many things you cannot and need not do in the context of training. Just as you cannot do ikkyo on an elephant or kokyuho on a concrete wall, there are some uke who cannot be thrown against their will without nage resorting to dangerous or violent tactics departing, in the process, from the principles of aikido training.

How you react is a measure of your training and your personal philosophy: a laugh or a smile may be enough. Though the urge to suggest, in one way or another, that these uke get a life can be quite strong, we need to learn to take a metaphorical step back (which is also a sound technical approach) and to calmly refuse to play the reluctant uke’s game. Even if you cannot do anything with him, it really does not matter, as it is only a game after all. Paradoxically, a realization of this fact is sometimes all it takes for the technique to actually work, but you should accept the fact that you can’t win ‘em all.

When it is your turn to be uke and you feel you could stop your partner’s movement, you should resist the temptation and allow him to complete his technique. What have you got to lose? What do you gain otherwise? Certainly you show your partner the inadequacy of his technique by blocking it, but there are more positive ways to encourage him and help him to improve.

Some instructors precede their demonstration of a technique with a realistic version, as opposed to the standard dojo version. This is a sort of a bad cop-good cop approach where you explain how to break an arm with ikkyo, smash a head with shihonage or mangle a wrist with sankyo – not forgetting the devastation that can be wreaked with powerful atemi. You then proceed with aikido… “But, in the dojo, we do it this way.” While okay up to a point, this approach panders to the competitive mentality and can become an end in itself, to the detriment of the aikido spirit.

The competitive mentality can invade a dojo like a virus against which a constructive, harmonious training atmosphere offers little immunity. Newcomers feel intimidated and do not speak out, and often the instructor feels unable to do so either, without losing face. He may feel that he should be able to take all this in his stride, just as O-Sensei accepted challenges from all-comers in the old days.

Far better, I think, to acknowledge that we are not O-Sensei and that these are not the old days. It is the instructor’s responsibility to protect his students from ignorant people, and to ensure the dojo is a place where something worthwhile can be learned and where students treat each other with mutual respect, not a battlefield for shallow egos intent on outdoing one another. The dojo should be a sanctuary where one can safely experiment with ideas and techniques that aim for a completely different outcome.

The difference between training and reality (and between a competitive sport and a martial way) is well illustrated by the aikidoka who responded to a challenge from a judo man by showing up with a live sword tucked in his belt. These days, however, it is not very practical to say it with swords whenever taijutsu seems inadequate, but another weapon, often underestimated, is the spoken word. Despite the stoic budo tradition which prizes the strong, silent type, I feel it is appropriate to speak up when one encounters the boorish, reluctant uke. This is by no means easy to do and calls for some resolve. It may not stamp out the breed but it may make life more tolerable for many members of the dojo, i.e., for those who really want to learn aikido and have no interest in competing. Left unchecked the reluctant uke just becomes more and more reluctant.

Unfortunately, the seniority system tends to intimidate beginners, who are the ones most likely to be affected by blocking and bullying, but I feel that remaining silent while someone is applying unnecessary force in the dojo is an outdated and inappropriate attitude. Furthermore, it is always better to use your tongue than your fists, and to use your brain before trying to brain someone else, or before they try to brain you.

Old attitudes die hard, as I found when visiting Japan recently. I was sitting with a group of students in one of the dojo I used to train in when somebody mentioned my articles in Aikido Journal. The sensei present said, “It is interesting that these days virtually anyone can write about aikido, whereas in the old days only the very top teachers dared to do so.” He actually used the Japanese words “were allowed to,” which is revealing.

Whether this remark was aimed at me (if the cap fits, wear it) or was just a generalization I do not know for sure. However, I believe anyone is entitled to speak or write about aikido, regardless of rank or experience. It is up to the listener or reader to decide how much credibility to give their words. Freedom of expression is just one of the planks of democracy that many older-generation Japanese appear to have difficulty with.

When it comes to O-Sensei-style mystical insight and any attempt to explain that in words, I would agree that he who speaks does not know and I would be the first to accept whatever divine punishment came my way if I even pretended I had access to that kind of knowledge. I suspect such punishment would not be as dramatic as a bolt of lightning, but would more likely take the form of a gradual slide into even greater ignorance. You would end up like the proverbial man without a torch, in the coal-cellar, searching for the black cat – that isn’t there! In that sense, ignorance is its own reward. It is a risk one has to take when opening one’s mouth on anything, but this should not stop anyone from protesting at glaring breaches of the aikido spirit.

Coal-cellars aside, there is a dark side to aikido which is typified by the reluctant uke, and if senior exponents have become blasé about it, then it is important for newcomers and those who can still see it clearly to show it up by whatever means they can. They have as much right as anyone else to speak up.

Experience does not automatically lead to enlightenment, and some sensei talk utter rot while some ordinary people have far more wisdom to offer. It is a sorry delusion to assume that people with long experience of aikido are somehow superior. Likewise, any unwritten rule that prevents a person from protesting about the abuse of power by those in high places should be relegated to the garbage heap of worthless traditions.

The danger of becoming psychologically desensitized to violence increases every time it is ignored, and we need only look at the death and destruction that is now almost commonplace around the world to see the end result of this attitude.

The old Roman adage si vis pacem para bellum (if you want peace prepare for war) is another bit of traditional wisdom that does not fit the observable facts. Preparation for war has always led to war, and it is depressing to see this borne out even as we speak.

We should thank our lucky stars that we are able to practice aikido, where the opposite aspect of the human spirit is manifested. The least we can do is to try and maintain peace and harmony in our aikido training, insignificant though this may seem in comparison with the scale and horror of the current destructive global events.

There is more than enough conflict in the world already.

Let us see if we can find another way.