From: kjones@src.dec.com (Kevin Jones)
Subject: Re: Aikido teaching styles
Organization: DEC Systems Research Center
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 12:58:34 PDT


Many people have commented on my original response to Ted Camus. Some
(including Ted himself 8->) point out that the comments were probably not
directed at Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido, so I needn't worry. I appreciate that,
since it's never nice to feel that your art (and indirectly, your teachers) are
somehow being put down. So, having established that, why am I bothering to keep
the discussion going? Well, as I've said in the past, I think there's some
tendency for everyone to regard what they know as the "one true and only way",
especially in Aikido when many people can still claim to have known the Founder
and state "with Authority" that this is what he intended. Since I occupy one of
the extreme points on the Aikido spectrum, and have practiced at most other
points at sometime (usually for more than a month, so I'm permitted to comment
on them 8->), I find that I often present an idiosyncratic point of view. I'm
more of a reader than a writer by nature but every now and again, my spelling
checker and I decide to see if we can broaden the discussions on Aikido, maybe
cause some people (often, me!) to change their beliefs a little, and may be
give some people new information. Whenever I travel, I try to visit as many
dojos as I can; I always learn something new by just seeing things from a
different perspective. I have this naive belief that somehow rec.martial-arts
can allow me to do that in a less concrete reality and sometimes it can. I also
feel the need to read something other than fish puns and discussions on the
theological aspects of Bruce Lee's movies from time to time 8->. So ...

gummitch@techbook.com (Jeff Frane) writes:

 As I heard Chiba Sensei describe it once, an aikido students must pass
 through three stages: (1) rock --based on a thorough grounding of the physical
 basics; (2) liquid -- much later, well up into the yodansha ranks; and finally
 (3) gas -- the ethereal, seemingly effortless aikido seen in very advanced
 students.

This is probably the most common way of learning Aikido, and I am sure that it
is effective for some people. The whole thesis of my argument is that it is not
the only way of getting there and that it has some definite drawbacks. I'll
stop trying to speak for Tohei Sensei, since I wouldn't want to have to tell
him that I'm putting words into his mouth 8->, and will state my own opinion
and tell you how I try to get students to develop in my dojo.

I think that all beginning Aikido students naturally tend towards the "rock"
stage (I'll use your terms) of practice. This is because you can just rely on
familiar things: if it doesn't work, push harder, etc. This has the advantage
of making people feel comfortable with technique quite early on in their
practice and to be able to perform to some degree of "effectiveness" after
maybe a couple of years. It has the disadvantage that people get locked into
the physical form of their practice and find it very difficult to let go of
this to progress to higher stages.

In contrast, the way that I prefer to teach (and just to assure you that my
opinion is one I've worked for and was not handed to me in a book, I should
state that I've been teaching Aikido for over a decade both in my own dojo and
others. This doesn't mean that my opinions are right, of course 8->, just that
I have a reasonable body of evidence to support them) and the way that I've
found is most successful in getting students to understand Aikido, is to ignore
the "rock" stage as much as possible. I encourage students to start in what you
call the "liquid" stage. I agree that in the beginning, their Aikido is weak,
if they follow this pattern. To take the analogy a stage further, you can liken
their "liquid" practice to a small stream. But, they are practicing at this
level. Then the next step is to increase the power in the technique, say to the
tidal wave level 8->, but without going through the stage of being concerned
only with physical power so there's less tendency to get "stuck".

This process (and this process is encouraged by the style and emphasis of the
practices of Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido) certainly changes the shape of the
learning curve in the early years of Aikido but *in my opinion* it is actually
more efficient preparation for learning the higher levels of the art. 

I find peoples' technique only really becomes effective when they stop trying
to do technique with "body" and begin to look at the "whole" - power comes from
fluidity, rhythm, "being in the right place" and Ki, not from strength. Many
people disagree with this opinion, of course, and everyone should practice to
their own beliefs. I've worked hard to try to find the process that I believe
is best for teaching Aikido, and I've practiced in many dojos with many
teachers. This has convinced me that after the beginning stages (maybe 5 years
or so 8->), people who've seriously practiced in this fashion have developed
into Aikido-ka that are equal in "power" to those who have concentrated on
"rock" Aikido, and are somewhat better prepared to move on from there. This is
not in any way to decry the traditional forms of practice, they too have their
strengths. Each path can lead upwards, or each can be distorted and get
nowhere. Each student has to decide on their "destination" and that may well
effect their way of study.

What I'm giving you is my current understanding. Feel free to use it if it's
useful, ignore it if it's not and point out where and why you disagree with it
if you like. I'm sure it'll be different tomorrow; it was yesterday. Just like
any individual technique, I believe that your whole approach to the art should
be fluid and free to respond to new knowledge and understanding. One of the
things that I notice about Tohei Sensei from personal experience and O'Sensei
from films and conversations with my teachers, their approach to Aikido changed
from day to day, year to year. I hope I will have changed some of my opinions
by tomorrow and I also hope that many of you will have too. Hopefully, we can
all learn and grow and move in a positive direction.

Cheers,


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=                           Kevin D. Jones                      =
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