VKS KI TRAINING NOTES, APRIL '97 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this document is to provide a dialog between students and the instructional faculty on training issues and answer questions regarding technique or training practices or procedures. It is NOT a forum for dealing with philosophy, except as it applies to training, nor business issues associated with the VKS. NOTICES: TAIGI MEETING FOR ST. JUDES The Second Annual Competition was held at Merrifield Dojo on March 29. There were eight teams competing, six from Blue Ridge, one from Hampton and one from Merrifield. Judging was conducted by Senseis Simcox, Singer, Reed and Doner. The winning team was Greg Hocker and Brian Kelley from Blue Ridge. As a result, the trophy will be awarded to Blue Ridge for the second year. Congratulations to the winners and their Sensei, Jon Doner. APRIL INSTRUCTOR'S CLASS Class will be held on 13 April from 2PM. The class will be dedicated to looking at technique from a perspective of testing ,Sensei Singer, taigi, Sensei Reed and innovation, Sensei Simcox.. At the end of class we will make a decision about the meeting date and time for April. SUMMER CAMP The Virginia Ki Society Summer Camp will be held at James Madison University which is located in Harrisonburg Virginia. Sensei Koichi Kashiwaya will be the principle instructor this year. Announcements will be mailed to interested parties in March. The camp is an open camp for all interested students of Aikido and Ki Development. CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL The VKS has been invited to participate in the 1997 Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington. The demonstration will be held at Freedom Plaza, Pennsylvania Avenue, between 13th and 14th Streets on Saturday, April 12th. This can be a major outreach program for the VKS. The demonstration will be held between 1:10 and 1:40 PM. GUEST AUTHOR: TEACHING CALMNESS AS RELAXED READINESS by William Reed Shimizu Jirocho was the legendary "Robin Hood" figure of Japan, one of the undefeated swordsmen in Japan whose reputation eventually earned him the highest certificate of ability from the greatest swordsmen of the modern (Meiji) era, Yamaoka Tesshu. The Tesshu line was to have an enormous influence on Tohei Sensei through misogi training at the Ichikukai, and Ki Society students will recognize the meaning of a story about Jirocho's swordsmanship. Aware that Jirocho had never lost a fight, Tesshu asked him for his secret. Jirocho replied that there was no secret, he simply chose not to fight if he knew he would lose. When Tesshu asked him how he knew in advance whether he would win or lose Jirocho replied, "I lightly tap the tip of my opponent's sword. If it bounces off with a crack, then I know I can win. However, if the tip of the sword whips back like a willow branch, then I know I cannot win so I find a reason not to fight." Jirocho never lost a fight because he never fought a fight he would lose. On the strength of this insight Tesshu awarded him a kaiden certificate. Bokken, or sword practice in the Ki Society always begins with an exercise in which you move the sword back and forth a few times, each movement diminishing by half, until the sword maintains the vibrant stillness of a tuning fork at rest. A partner then tests the sword in the same way as Jirocho, by tapping the tip of the sword to test the response. If the return of the sword to front center is lively, relaxed and instantaneous, this represents the imperceptible movement in stillness known as seishi, or living calmness. However, if the return of the sword is sluggish or stiff, this represents the weak and vulnerable state of teishi, or dead calmness. It takes an exceptional eye to be able to detect the difference between the two. Dead calmness is often masked by bluff and bravado, which is borne out in experience when the bully turns out to be a coward, and when the giant has feet of clay. Tohei Sensei himself was frequently scolded during his military training in WWII by superior officers who mistook his relaxed manner for laziness. In bayonet practice with wooden rifles a drill officer once challenged the young Tohei to come at him as if he were the enemy. The officer came at him with stiff arms and clenched teeth, using every bit of muscle and technique he had to attack, however he could find no opening in the relaxed willow branch style. In short order Tohei knocked the officer's weapon out of his hand and continued his attack until the officer shouted, "Stop, you fool! What are you doing?!" Tohei answered that, "I was simply following your instructions, Sir." While the coward hides behind a mask of bravado, the truly brave person may appear to others to be too relaxed or too calm for the situation. Being calm in a crisis may mean that you don't understand the situation, or it may mean that you have had some excellent training. So similar is the outward appearance of living and dead calmness, that even an expert like Jirocho apparently felt the need to test the tip of the sword. This is certainly better than learning from experience, because experience can be fatal. It is said that experience is the worst teacher, because it gives the test before the lesson. In lieu of experience we are fortunate to have one of the best simulations ever devised, the Ki test, which clearly distinguishes between seishi and teishi. The more experience you have with Ki testing, the better you become at learning to see the difference. While Ki testing gives you immediate feedback on mind and body coordination, it is also important to develop a clear conceptual understanding of the difference between living and dead calmness, between relaxation and collapsation. There are many examples and analogies in nature which demonstrate how apparent stillness conceals imperceptibly rapid movement. Both the spinning top and a helicopter propeller appear to be at rest when they are moving at maximum speed. We are not even aware of the turning of the earth, and yet how quickly the sun sets when it reaches the horizon. Wind and water are some of the most powerful forces of nature, and yet surrounded by them we often forget their existence. When was the last time you saw your hair growing? You may wish as someone did, to "Stop the world! I want to get off," but it cannot be done. Japanese Haiku poetry celebrates this juxtaposition of calmness and movement in nature, particularly the poetry of Matsuo Basho. Into an old pond, Jumps a frog. Sound of water! How quiet the sound of the shrill cicada, After it penetrates the rock. Without any outside implements you can achieve the same effect of the calm sword through meditation. Correct your posture and rock your body side to side a few times, letting the movement fade by half, half, half...coming to rest in vibrant stillness. After the movement has stopped, a Ki test will immediately show whether you have come to rest in a state of living or dead calmness. You cannot reduce a number by half and ever reach zero. Though the movement may become too small to see, it continues unconsciously. If you try to stop it by saying the word "zero," you arrive at dead calmness and will fail the Ki test. Living calmness means resting with readiness. After a minute or so have someone suddenly clap to sound the signal to stand up. If you are resting ready you will move with alacrity when required. This is the same state of relaxed readiness you need to receive an attack. If it takes you a moment to gather yourself up, then you have fallen into a slackened state of rest. People complain in the military about having to "hurry up and wait," which can lead to lethargy. It is difficult to remain calm without losing power, but it is equally difficult to remain calm in the midst of activity. The secret to maintaining calmness in action is to recognize the difference between seishi and teishi. Students ask what they should think about when practicing calmness. Calmness can be practiced, but it must become an unconscious habit if you want to use it in daily life. Ki training leads to unconscious calmness, which frees your conscious mind to become active without losing its bearings. Most people think they are calm, but their true colors come out under stress. You may have many fair weather friends, but who will stand by you when the chips are down? Relaxation and calmness are essential in enhancing performance. An excellent way to practice calmness is the relaxation exercise of rapidly shaking the fingertips. Let the movement rapidly fade until the hands appear to be at rest, but in fact are filled with Ki. Demonstrate the difference with a Ki test, and see how it makes both Aikido and Kiatsu techniques more effective. Shaking tension out of the fingertips is an excellent way to warm up a golf swing, and if the club is then held lightly with Ki it will give you the aura of a veteran golfer. However, you will still have to practice to sink the ball into the cup. A common metaphor for calmness used in Aikido is that of the calm still surface of the lake which reflects alike the moon and the flying bird. Clear awareness is critical to the martial arts, where misjudgment can lead to injury or death. This state of calm reflection is brilliantly portrayed in Miyamoto Musashi's painting of a lone bird's shriek on a withered branch. The eye of the bird, no more than a jot of ink, reflects that same mind which could reduce a dozen opponents to a single state of awareness. In Western painting we have the Mona Lisa, whose eyes mysteriously follower the viewer as he moves past. Leonardo da Vinci and Miyamoto Musashi both knew that a calm mind opens a wider field of awareness. Calmness reveals the difference between seishi and teishi, between bravery and bravado, between what is real and what is fake. SENIOR INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER DID THEY WHERE COME FROM ? That bunch of Yankees from a place that used to be known as the "Smoky City"; Pittsburgh, PA. It is a long and circuitous route that eventually leads to Merrifield, Virginia. I will try to keep it short. Actually this began way back in 1943 in the person of Dick Miller, then a newly enlisted Aviation Cadet in the Army Air Corps. During Basic Training there was a course in hand-to hand combat that included a couple of Judo throws-- osoto gari and ogoshi. As you might appreciate and I learned later on, this was enough knowledge to get one "killed". However, it made us feel formidable and wetted my appetite for more training. In hindsight, it makes one wonder why a flight crew member really needed this training if shot down in enemy territory. Oh well, so much for military logic. The fire to continue martial arts dwindled to an ember during the next twenty or so years as the responsibilities of family and occupation took the forefront. So much for ancient history, or the first one thousand miles. The next leg of this journey begins with a serious threat made in an industrial setting by a diagnosed schizophrenic. This led to a rekindling of the flame to a bright intensity. "Self Defense" became the subject matter of the hour. During this period in time Self Defense was Judo. Karate was just a little-known art in this part of the world. And Aikido was a virtual unknown. The Ki Society had not yet even formed. Obviously, knowing two throws, judo was the thing. In late 1968 my wife Sue and I enrolled in Kim's Judo and Self Defense School. Mr. Kim at that time was a 6th degree black belt and the former Korean National Champion, undefeated for seventeen years. He had instructed at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. To make this part of the journey shorter, suffice it to say that rank was obtained in both sport judo and in goshin jutsu, self defense. During this period much was learned from Mr. Kim, now an 8th Dan, as well as from Mr. Shim, at that time a former Silver Medalist in the Asian Games. This period of time made a stronger body and brought back the youthful extravagance of feeling at times, almost invincible. (Weaker mind) The preceding could be related in time to medieval history--or the next two thousand miles. Shortly after the fall of Saigon, a gentleman from Nam arrived on the scene and inquired if anyone would like to learn Aikido. After picking ourselves up from the mat and wondering how we had gotten there, we said "yes". This gentleman was a former captain in the South Vietnamese Army, taught hand-to - hand combat to both the French and our own troops. Upon his escape from Nam, and a sojourn in San Francisco, he arrived in Pittsburgh. He was qualified in the art of Yoseikan Style Aikido from Minoro Mochizuki. Mochizuki Sensei was, and is, a contemporary of Tohei Sensei. The Yoseikan style encompasses aikido locks and throws, basic judo, as well as sacrifice throws and karate. Our group had grown to approximately forty students here in Pittsburgh and a sister-dojo had formed in Greensburg, PA. We were merrily going on our way practicing this hard form of aikido, the Yoseikan Budo style. Our instructor returned to San Francisco, leaving the two dojos with no recourse but to rely upon ourselves. From this situation Keystone Aikido was formed and continued to practice as an independent school. This was the next thousand miles. The Universe working in a strange way, Sue, my wife, attended a Yoga conference in D.C. along with Mary Lindengerger, then the Sensei in Greensburg, PA. As she was entering the building she noted a fellow wearing a jacket that had the word "Aikido" on it. Being the inquisitive person she is, she asked, "Do you know some Aikido?" The answer was "A little". She had met Sensei Simcox. Telling him that we existed here in Pittsburgh and exchanging addresses, she returned to tell us of this encounter. Sensei was nice enough to write us a letter in which he offered to come up and do a program for us. Time passing as quickly as it does this did not take place for almost two years. During that time Sue and I had taken a vacation and went to Reston one evening to watch a class. As we approached the open front door of the dojo Sue pointed out a rather stout, not so tall, individual with a crew cut wearing a hakama. As he turned to greet us, I thought I was seeing things, My old aikido instructor without oriental eyes. The both have big "Ki". Through further correspondence, Sensei visited our dojo in 1985. The program consisted of a good portion of Ki development and a lesser portion of Aikido. He really was trying to ascertain our abilities as well as our desires. Apparently we passed the test as this visit resulted in another visit during the Spring of 1986. This led to an invitation to attend the seminar conducted by Maruyama Sense in Falls Church. Approximately ten persons from our area attended and were certainly duly impressed. A high point for me was that Sense autographed a copy of his "Aikido with Ki" for me. At this point a few of us determined that Ki training was necessary to compliment our style of Aikido. Sense Simcox agreed to train us in Ki although later, commented that he did not know how this was going to integrate successfully. John Nadzam, Pat Wurster, and I formed the Pittsburgh Ki Association; devoted entirely to the study of Ki Development. As we progressed, it became a requisite for promotion within our Aikido Program; to a minimum of Shokyu Rank. As we became more familiar with the aspects of Ki Aikido, through visits to such events as summer camps, our trust seemed to shift toward Ki Aikido, however slowly. Kashiwaya Sensei paid us a visit as this transformation was forming, thanks to, and I am sure, the persuasive powers of Sensei Simcox. It was a great experience having these two persons on our mate at the same time. Upon reflection I wonder if it was an inspection. We must have passed as more students joined the Ki Society. In 1991 after returning from Phoenix and a wonderful seminar with Suzuki Sensei, I was met with some dissension in the front office. This culminated in the necessity to leave the dojo with some ill feelings. The cause of this dissension was that "The training was not tough enough anymore". This was the statement that convinced me that true Aikido was not welcome. That evening I called Sensei Simcox to tell him that I had retired and had no idea what would become of the Ki Association. He told me that this was very hard for him to hear as this was the low point of a very happy day. The very day he received his 5th Dan certificate. This made my low day, lower. Recent history, next two thousand miles: After taking almost a year off except for attending the dedication of the Merrifield Dojo and having achieved the rank of Jokyu, I was asked by John Nadzam to distribute some flyers for the Pittsburgh Ki Association. (John and Pat had assumed responsibility for the Association) Upon taking several to Dan Obusek, owner of Performance Martial Arts and former Aikido student, he asked if I would put on a demonstration. Saying yes after some trepidation I contacted a few former students who had stopped training. We were able to put on a successful demo. This resulted in a request to start classes. Fortunately, several former students wanted to start back to class. Among them Tim Lanz, Gary Zajac, and Kevan Douglas. Gary and Kevan continue to train while Tim has departed for the Sun of Florida. In January of 1993 Sensei Simcox granted us the status of a training facility of the Virginia Ki Society. This was a great day for us and we started training in earnest. We have been very fortunate in that several instructors from Merrifield have been good enough to visit and give us the benefit of their instruction. Steve Kendall, Jim Bagby, Howard Kressin and Regina Cohen. Thanks to all of you. Currently we consist of sixteen persons training three times a week. This is modern history , the latest thousand miles. The road has not come to the end. The bright future lies ahead. Our history parallels that of our city, from the strong heavy, physical periods through the Renaissance to the bright shiny present reflected in the Golden Triangle. If anyone has been slighted through omission or error, please forgive me, but I promised to keep it short. Please come and train with us. OPINION ARTICLE The Physics of Ki by Stephen Kendall The purpose of our training is to learn to live according to the laws on nature, but what are they? I have long attempted to find a purely physical basis for Tohei sensei's rules of mind and body unification. The bad news is Newton's physics (the machine-like clockwork universe) does not work well. The good news is the physics of Einstein and his contemporaries (relativity and quantum mechanics) works much better. In this article, I will go through each of Tohei sensei's four rules and attempt to link them to current theory. Please keep in mind that my understanding of these theories is rudimentary at best. If we wanted to sum up Tohei sensei's teachings into one sentence, I believe it would be, "The mind moves the body." So, the conditions we create in our minds directly affect how our bodies behave, and if our minds act as the universe does, then literally we are "one with the universe." 1. Keep One Point. Quantum mechanics says that there is a fundamental unit (quantum) of each of the four fundamental forces of the universe: the strong force, the weak force (the strong and weak forces affect the nucleus of the atom and are not directly of concern here), electromagnetism (light, for example), and gravity. Tohei Sensei has called ki "a gathering of infinitely small particles." It remains to be seen if the particles of ki (kions?) really are "infinitely small", but it doesn't really matter for our purposes. When we practice the expansion and contraction meditation, when we do the "half-half-half" portion, we are mentally moving toward an "infinitely small particle." We are much more stable when we do this. It is important to keep in mind that this point (the one point) is no different from any other point in the universe. We often think of ki as a magical power that we summon from the gods. This may be true, but I think that it is more likely that ki is everywhere and we just "tap into" the universal power. So, we can say that ki goes all directions all the time at every point in the universe. We cannot think of every point in the universe, however, there being an infinite number of them. We can easily think of one point, however. If we think of the point at our center, and if we know that ki is going all directions all the time at that point, then we are much stable and unified. Ki is automatically extended. 2. Relax Completely. When we push of an object, the energy of our push is transmitted into the object in the direction of the push. The more rigid the object, the more directly the energy is transmitted through. If the object is resting on the ground, the energy meets resistance of the far side on the ground. If the resistance is greater than the push, then the object will either not move, or tip over, pivoting at that spot. If the object is more elastic ("soft"), the energy of the push is transmitted more widely throughout the object. This is why a sandbag is so difficulty to move. Each grain of sand pushes on all the other grains around it, which do the same on all the grains around them, and so on until the energy stops or reaches the other side. Our bodies are mostly water, contained in billions of tiny individual containers (cells) which are held together by a large "bag" (our skin). This is all held up by a semi-rigid frame (skeleton). The big difference between us and sandbags is we are alive and sandbags aren't. A sandbag is unified only by the bag. We are unified by our minds, so if someone pushes us, we have the advantage of the "sandbag principle" and the unification of our minds. The more we relax and unify, the more the energy of the push spreads out throughout our bodies, making it much more difficult to move us. 3. Keep Weight Underside. Most people think of gravity as two massive bodies attracting one another. This is an illusion, however. Albert Einstein showed in his general theory of relativity that massive bodies attract the space around them. Anything that is in that space will move along with it. We can see this when, in a total eclipse of the sun, starlight (which has no mass) is bent by the gravity of the sun, because the space it travels through accelerates toward the sun. If I am sitting or standing of the floor, the space I am in is being accelerated "downward" at 32 feet per second per second, and I move along with it, until I am stopped by something, in this case the floor. If I am aware of this process, it is much more difficult to lift me (or my arm or knee or whatever) than it is if I think that my body is attracted to the earth by gravity. This is especially noticeable with a soft test ("with ki"). 4. Extend Ki. At the heart of quantum mechanics is a paradox: Is energy transmitted by an exchange of particles, or a wave function? The problem is that both have be proven to be true. Take light, for example. Everyone knows that light is transmitted in waves. The different colors are due to the different wave lengths. A ripple effect can be demonstrated as light waves cancel each other out and reinforce each other. Holograms are created by this principle. On the other hand, individual "particles" of light (called photons) can and have been detected. This is also true of matter, which special relativity shows is a form of energy. A recent experiment showed interference ripple patterns in a stream of helium atoms. Do our minds follow the same rules? Consider: When I push an object or person "hard," using only physical force, my motion could be seen to resemble a straight line. When I push more softly, with more ki extension, my motion could be more like a wave, and the further I extend, the longer the wave length. NOTES FROM THE INTERNET I have been with various teachers (for various reasons) and they all have a different approach to aikido, and there is something to be learned from each one of them. The mistake that can be made, is to focus to much on the form the teacher is teaching, this can lead to the attitude "you are doing it wrong, this is the right way (OUR WAY that is)". If the teacher has a limp, should all his students be limping?!? A while ago I saw a remark (on this list I think) that the task of the teacher is not to teach the students "his aikido" but to help each student to find his (or her) own aikido. That's the way I like it, aikido is not a dogma, it is a path (a winding path up the mountain). So when taking a class from a teacher that does things a bit different, try and find new insights to add to your own aikido, don't get confused by the different forms. During class you should of course try and follow the form he (or she) teaches in order to learn what he (or she) has to offer. In the long term, you absorb aikido in your own way, I guess that's what is meant by learning the form to lose the form. Do you think this makes sense, or am I rambling? Jan Beyen Vlaamse Landmaatschappij e-mail: jan.beyen@vlm.be CHIEF INSTRUCTOR'S NOTES: TECHNICAL NOTES: During a class session on why we are studying Ki Development I asked John Pavisi, 4th Kyu, to test me. When he tested I was stable (whew, got past another one). When he tested a second time, as he touched, I moved forward. Of course he was carried along. When I asked what had happened, he made a very interesting observation; "You moved your space forward". Not that I pushed him but that I moved my space forward. What an interesting comment! Upon investigating further we found that there was no getting ready to move or starting to move, only movement it self. When we do techinque this way the opponent is completely unnerved because there is no clue as to the movement, just the movement itself. The body, and the space around it, all seem to move together, the space touching the opponent well before the body. Sounds like sending Ki doesn't it? Try this approach and see if it improves your movement to contact. TRAVELS Testing at Merrifield will be conducted on 7 and 8 April. I will be going to Pittsburgh for a class on April 15th and then on to South Bend, Indiana to test Jim Karaffa on April 19th for Sho Dan with, hopefully, Joe Cheatham in attendance. On 24 April I will be conducting a seminar for the Virginia Tach Aikido Club on the subject of Ki Aikido and Ki Development. On April 25th I will be conductiing testing at Charlottesville's Blue Ridge Ki Aikido. In March Norma and I visited Kingston, Ontario at the invitation of Sensei Bill Bickford to conduct a three day seminar. We experienced some wonderful Canadian snow fall and some even more wonderful Canadian hospitality from the students and their Sensei. I focused on concepts in Ki Development and their application to Aikido technique. I was impressed by their dedication and skill level. Training was in two locations: The Queens's College Gymnasium and at the training facility of the Correctional College where prision guards are trained. Facilities were excellent. 1 1 Page 2