AIKIDO strives truly to understand
Nature, to be grateful for her wonderful gifts to us, to make her heart its
heart, and to become one with her. This striving for understanding and the
practical application of the laws of Nature, expressed in the words Ai and Ki
the fundamental concept of the AIKIDO. Indeed, it was the starting point of the
founder himself, and it is the reason that although he was nearly 80 years old,
he continued his studies to perfect the art he originated.
In this article you can find
Katsujinken Dojo exercise how to implement five elements in your Aikido
practice.
Ground
The movement style of ground may
seem slow but it is actually patient. Try moving your hand in a foot-long arc,
and, as your hand moves, feel each inch of that arc. Remain aware of each inch
of movement, knowing you are able to stop or reverse the movement at any
second.
To practice ground, stand as if your
feet are rooted to the earth, like a tree with roots going deep into the soil.
Feel the solidity, stability, and security that this stance brings. Now
practice moving with this same sense of solidity and stability. Remain aware of
your hara, your legs, and your feet. Feel your energy flowing through your legs
into the ground. Even as you move, your downward flowing awareness will help
you remain firmly rooted in the earth. You are solidly grounded at every point
in performing each technique. No matter what you partner might try you cannot
be easily unbalanced or countered.
Wind
In contrast to ground, feel your
energy rising through your spine and out through the top of your head. This
upward flow allows you to move more lightly, easily, and quickly.
There is a theory of the basic
principles of wind. It`s taught us that a prerequisite for free and efficient
movement is the natural upward lengthening of the spine. A core practice is the
following formula: “Let the neck be free to let the head go forward and up, to
let the back lengthen and widen.” The forward and up feeling in the head is as
though the head is a balloon, floating gently upward toward the ceiling.
Wind teaches us to move lightly and
to hold a weapon or a partner with a light, sensitive grip.
Water
The movement quality of ground is
down and solid, and the movement of wind is upward and light. The movement of
water is circular and also includes a yin backward flowing. One way to practice
this is to step forward on your right foot, into a right hanmi position, and
focusing your attention on drawing back your left hip. Whenever you move one
hip forward, you automatically move the other hip backward. The opposite is
also true—whenever you draw one hip back, you are moving the other hip forward.
Understanding this relationship imparts a circular quality to your movement.
This quality of flow is that of
water. It is also strongly yin. The drawing movement of your back hip will draw
out your partner’s attacking movements, and will tend to unbalance them.
Entering with an awareness of your back hip will give you a sense of flowing
around an obstacle. That obstacle might be a strike, a grab, or some other
attack. You can also sense a flowing around your partner’s power, like water
flowing around a rock, rather than opposing force with force.
Fire
Fire is much the opposite of water.
When you move forward, keep your awareness on your front hip and also on the
whole entering side of your body. In practicing Aikido, keeps your attention
constantly flowing toward your partner. You will find that fire is like a
strongly flowing river that carries you toward your partner. It will enable you
to move more swiftly and more powerfully.
Many students learn fire more
quickly if they make an exclamation while moving forward. A positive
exclamation also balances the tendency to think of fire as only aggressive or
violent. Any powerful emotion has a strong fire component.
Void or
Emptiness
This is by far the most difficult
and most advanced of the elements. It pays to begin with the first four
elements and to practice void only after becoming comfortable with them.
In learning to move in void, first
balance yourself, and balance the four elements in yourself. Feel your legs and
feet, feel a solid downward sense of ground. Feel you’re back relaxed and free,
your head light and floating upward, a featherweight, floating sense of wind.
In your left side feel yin/water (and the readiness to draw in any possible
attack). In your right side feel yang/fire (and the readiness to extend outward
or forward). Be aware of all that is in front of you. Balance this with a
strong sense of your back and all that is in back of you.
Now, move freely, holding on to the
feelings of up and down, right and left, forward and back. One direction may be
stronger at times, but even then the more powerful direction is always balanced
somewhat by its opposite. Remaining aware of back is particularly helpful. We
all tend to draw all our energy forward and out of balance. Void includes a
sense that you are surrounded by a sphere of awareness, a sphere that helps you
remain balanced, aware, and effective, no matter what happens around you.
