VKS KI TRAINING NOTES, JUNE '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:

JUNE INSTRUCTOR'S CLASS

Class will be held on 22 June  from 2PM.  The class will be dedicated to
looking at technique from a perspective of testing , taigi and application.
Senseis Simcox, Reed and Singer will be conducting the seminar..  At the end
of class we will make a decision about the meeting date and time for July.

SUMMER CAMPS

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.  The camp is an open camp for all
interested students of Aikido and Ki Development.

The Kingston Ki Society - Aikido Club will host a Summer Camp July 11-13 in
Kingston, Ontario, Canada.  Visiting Sensei is the Chief Instructor of the
Ki Society in the United States, Sensei Koichi Kashiwaya.  Training will
begin on Friday evening at 7PM and close at 3 PM on Sunday.  Tuition
(including lunches and a Saturday dinner is $90 for individuals and $150 for
couples if paid before 1 July and $110 and $180 if paid after that date.
Fees are expressed in Canadian Dollars.  I attended last year and can
recommend it highly from a standpoint of enthusiastic practice and good
fellowship.  For more information contact Sensei Bickford at (613) 384-0423
or e-mail: bickford@limestone.kosone.com.

HEADS UP:  The Montgomery County Ki-Aikido Society will host a summer camp
August 8, 9, 10 at Frostburg State College, Frostburg, Maryland.  The
visiting instructor will be Sensei William Fowler, 6th Dan, Arizona Ki
Society and, incidentally, the founder of what became the Virginia Ki
Society.  Save the dates on your calendar.  More information will follow
next month.

GUEST AUTHOR COLUMN

You Never Tire of Doing What You Like

by Koichi Tohei, from Secrets of Success Through Ki (translated from the
Japanese by William Reed)

Interesting, is it not, that whenever you are totally committed to your work
you can always find a solution to the problems that confront you? Within
those problems you will always find an objective on which you can focus your
efforts. Failure to find the objective is simply a sign that you are not yet
totally committed to solving the problem.
If you are totally committed to a solution, the easiest way to go about it
is to direct your Ki completely to the problem. If you neglect to do this,
the more unpleasant the situation the more tired you will become.

Everyone has experienced how there is no sense of fatigue when you are fully
engaged in something you enjoy doing. People who love Mahjong can stay up
all night playing it and still show up for work the next morning not even
tired.  This is because the enjoyment of the game causes them to direct
their Ki to what they are doing and this energy leaves no room for fatigue.
However, if say the same person is ordered by the boss to go on a business
trip overseas which they don't want to go on, just hearing that news is
enough to make them tired. In the worst case the job itself can become so
unpleasant that fatigue can keep the person even from going to the office. 
However, when you truly understand that fatigue comes from lack of
enjoyment, you can change your mind set to begin any task with the idea of
enjoying it. 

Enjoyment is a matter of fully directing your Ki to a task, and extending Ki
in turn helps you to enjoy what you do. Of course enjoyment also helps you
to discover the meaning and value in what you do. Only after you have
sincerely attempted to direct your Ki fully to the task at hand, and still
find yourself unable to make it work, should you consider giving up on that
particular problem.

However,  in this case giving up does not imply defeat. Simply redirect your
Ki to something else which allows you to make forward progress. It is a
simple matter.

A Test Worth More Than a Thousand Words

by William Reed

Ki testing is the trademark of the Ki Society. It is the yardstick by which
we measure our progress and the proof of our pudding, yet it is one of the
least understood aspects of our training. A picture may be worth a thousand
words, but what is the value of a thousand words? Ki testing allows us to
physically experience the practical value of mind and body unification, and
gives us a simple means of teaching it to others. To better appreciate its
value we need to review what Ki testing is for and how it works.

Ki testing was originally developed by Tohei Sensei as a physical measure of
and shorthand for teaching mind and body unification. Before this students
were expected to absorb the benefits of martial arts training through years
or decades of subjective experience and intuition, with little theory or
explanation. The traditional Oriental approach to martial arts training has
produced celebrated masters as well as talented performers over the
centuries, but also clouds of dubious myth and esoteric nonsense. The old
ways were developed for secret societies in feudalistic times, and depended
for their success on a life of dedicated service to a master. When Koichi
Tohei first brought Aikido to Hawaii in 1953, he found that this traditional
method was not only ill-suited for Americans, but that it was a highly
inefficient method for teaching modern people whose lives were more
multi-dimensional. Moreover, Americans had a habit of questioning
everything, and refused to practice something without knowing the reasons
why. As a result he developed what we now know as the four basic principles
of mind and body unification, and a whole system for Ki development which is
both teachable and testable, a perfect match for modern men and women. Ki
testing is controlled physical pressure applied on the student's body by the
instructor or partner in an effort to gauge the degree of physical
stability, as a measure of the depth of mind and body unification. It is the
foundation of our training, and we owe it to ourselves to get it right.

Tohei Sensei established five principles to ensure that Ki testing was
properly understood and practiced:

 1.	A test not of strength, but of Fudoshin (immovable mind).
 2.	Test according to the level of the student.
 3.	Test to teach, not to pass or fail.
 4.	Understand yourself by testing others.
 5.	Do not confuse the method with the purpose of the test.

Seeking Your Level

While these principles serve as general guidelines, we must not forget that
Ki tests may be performed at different levels to test for specific results
of training. There are many levels of training and certification now offered
by the Ki Society, but we will concern ourselves with the basic levels of
Shokyu, Chukyu, Jokyu, and Shoden, leading up to the equivalent of a "black
belt" in Ki Development. Specific Ki tests are prescribed by Ki HQ for each
level, which are described in the testing criteria posted in the dojo. For
example, unraisable arm is tested under the upper arm at Shokyu, in the same
place but with a hesitation at Chukyu, and under the hand at Jokyu.

Shokyu is a test of understanding of the four basic principles of mind and
body unification. A Ki test at this level may be thought of as simply touch
and test. The idea is to compare right and wrong ways of doing an exercise,
keeping it simple and using the test to teach the student how to unify mind
and body. It is appropriate at this level to define basic terms such as One
Point, and to illustrate errors of common sense in the approach to
concentration, relaxation, calmness, and use of the mind. For example, many
people unconsciously assume that relaxation is weaker, but Ki testing can be
used to demonstrate that by relaxing correctly you actually become stronger.
The Ki principles at this stage should be presented in beginner's terms in
black and white, showing how the student can consciously control his or her
own state of mind and body unity by simply applying the basic principles. Do
not confuse the student by taking them too quickly to a higher level, or by
using one-upmanship to show who is better. Remember that a Ki test is not a
Contest. Touch and test with gradually increasing pressure in a predictable
direction with no surprises. The goal at this level is to clearly
demonstrate how the Ki principles work with a particular posture or
exercise. It's supposed to be easy, if you follow the principles.

Chukyu is a test of continuity, whether or not the student can remain calm
once unified. A feint or hesitation is done just before the test to see if
student's mind or body is easily disturbed. It is a test of how to sustain
mind and body unity, recognizing that it is just as easy to lose it as to
attain it. "Easy come, easy go" is the lesson here, for we tend to think
that we have it when in fact we don't. It is natural to get surprised, but
it is not natural to stay surprised. It is easy to pass a test at this level
if you recover rapidly. While a beginner will physically fall for the feint,
lunging toward it in an effort to push back, with practice this disturbance
becomes so small as to become undetectable. Instructors should be careful
not to test with too much Ki at this level, making the test frustratingly
difficult to pass. Except for the psychological factor of the hesitation,
the Chukyu test is physically not much stronger than the Shokyu test. The
lesson to be learned is let well enough alone. Once you are unified, you
need do nothing to improve it. Once the faucet is turned on, all you need to
do is leave it alone and the water will flow by itself. Do nothing, or Do
no-thing to react to the false feint. At this level students learn to calmly
trust the state of mind and body unity which at Shokyu they learned to
recognize and control. 

Jokyu is where the tests become more subtle, seeing whether the student can
remain unified under Ki pressure. This is a test of the depth of mind and
body unity, and whether or not the student can remain unified without
receiving the Ki of the tester. At this level the student is led beyond
recognition and trust to positive conviction in the state of mind and body
unity. In order to be useful in daily life the four principles must become a
natural response, your normal condition. This is a test to withstand the
unexpected, only possible if the subconscious has been trained to respond
automatically. The test need not be physically stronger, for if the tester's
Ki penetrates the student's concentration even a gentle pressure is enough
to move the student off balance. At this level students gain true confidence
in mind and body unity by rising above the test altogether. It teaches us to
take the initiative and not be slaves of circumstance.

Shoden is the equivalent of "black belt" in Ki Development, and only
qualified instructors are allowed to test and certify students at this
level.  It may be thought of as a kind of turbo charged Jokyu, and is
characteristically "in your face." The tests may not be physically stronger,
but a deliberate attempt is made to disturb your mind, either by looking you
directly in the eye, or by combining the psychological impact of hesitation
with the penetrating power of extending Ki before the test is made. Shoden
also makes use of unpredictability in the direction or timing of the test.
This is a supreme test of whether or not you have made the Ki principles a
part of you, and how well you are able to truly do no-thing under pressure.
Higher levels of testing such as Chuden, Joden, Kaiden, and Okuden may be
thought of as more of the same, except that the testing is performed by
higher ranking instructors, and usually under the added pressure of a formal
test session in front of a large group of high ranking instructors and
peers.  The pressure is similar to that experienced by public speakers and
stage performers, and the test becomes one of maintaining calmness and
continuity under more intense scrutiny. 

Shadow Boxing for the Real Tests of Life

Ki tests offer objective biofeedback for teaching mind and body unification
in a direct and tangible way. They also make effective shorthand for
teaching Ki exercises and Aikido arts. More importantly, Ki testing prepares
you for the real tests of daily life. Experience is supposed to be the best
teacher, but in fact it is often the worst teacher, giving the test before
the lesson.  Ki tests offer a way to simulate the pressures of physical
attack as well as psychological stress, and are a means of "shadow boxing"
for the real tests of daily life. It is up to each person to make the
connection in daily life by experimenting with how the state of mind and
body unification learned in the dojo transfers to the endless variety of
individual and specific daily life situations which would be impossible to
duplicate on the mat. Tohei Sensei has provided us with an organized
curriculum for mastering it at various levels, and we know that Ki testing
works through the guidance offered by more experienced instructors and from
our own efforts to test the principles against the problems of daily existence. 
Nevertheless, Ki testing is a skill which in the wrong hands can produce
distorted results. Individual variations, carelessness, bad habits, and egos
alike can interfere with Ki testing and reduce its value as a teaching tool.
Without proper understanding these distortions become magnified over time.
Many students find that they can pass a Ki test in the dojo, but not at
home.  Or students become accustomed to the testing style of their own
instructors, but find that they cannot pass the tests of a visiting
instructor. The ultimate surprise comes when they find that what has worked
for years in the home dojo doesn't work at all when tested by a visiting
instructor from Tokyo. This can lead people to assume that Ki testing is
either subjective or a matter of the instructor allowing the student to pass
just to prove a point. Instructors should be careful to emphasize the
objective and progressive elements of Ki testing, and not let it degenerate
into a game of subjective feelings and vague notions.

Testing without Confusion

Much of the confusion arises from improper testing. You would not stand
still if the tester were to take a swing at you, and you should not stand
still for a test which shoves you or breaks ma-ai either. In our enthusiasm
to invent new tests we sometimes overstep the boundaries of what is a test
and in fact deliver a low-grade attack. This can have value if done in a
controlled manner to illustrate a point, but it can easily turn into a
reckless shoving match for which an Aikido throw or simple evasion might be
a better response.  Control is the point, recognizing the difference between
"I will not move" and "I cannot move." If we maintain the Ki principles
correctly, we will know when it is time to move and when it is time to
remain in place.

There is an optimal level of testing for the student's growth. If a test is
too easy it fails to make a point, if too hard it can create frustration or
worse still, lead to little tricks for passing a particular test that miss
the point altogether. Ki testing is a two-way affair, so you tend to get
back what you give out. The best way to avoid ego conflicts and wrong ideas
is to begin with a clear understanding of the fundamentals of testing at
each level. In order to get the best results the tester must be unified,
that is completely balanced, relaxed, calm, and positive. Since the focus is
on the person being tested, it is easy to miss the fact that the tester may
be using strength rather than Ki, pushing at an unfocused angle, or giving a
low-grade attack rather than a Ki test. Training with bad testing is like
taking music lessons on a poorly tuned piano. 

As the tester, one way to ensure that your test is valid is to see how
little pressure is required to move your partner, not how much. As the
person being tested, if you find that you can violate a Ki principle and
still pass a test then it is a bad test. It is possible to be stable against
a fair amount of pressure by taking a low stance and tensing only the
muscles at the point of the test. This little trick does not work against a
real Ki test. An old Zen saying has it that a wooden Buddha cannot pass
through fire, and a clay Buddha cannot pass through water. We want to
develop a state of mind and body unity that is reliable for whatever
conditions we meet, not just a set of mental and physical tricks for passing
the Ki tests. The purpose of the test is to teach, not to pass or fail. If
you come away from the test with a better sense of recognition, control,
continuity, and conviction in Ki principles then you have been successful. 

CHIEF INSTRUCTOR'S ARTICLE William Bickford Sensei

Ki Societies in Canada are few and far between and I confess to knowing
little about them. Those I am familiar with are the two located in the
province of Ontario: the first located in the Kitchener-Cambridge area,
where Mike Hogan is the instructor at three dojos, and the Kingston Ki
Society, where I instruct.

We have four dojos operating under our auspices- two in Kingston at Queen's
University and the Correctional Training College, one in Brockville about
fifty miles from Kingston, and the fourth in Toronto which is about 150
miles away.

A group which started a short time ago with the consent of Kashiwaya Sensei
trains in Winnipeg, Manitoba under the guidance of Brant Ericson. I was
invited to visit them a few months ago and, though their number is very
small, they are very enthusiastic.

Being geographically out of the mainstream, it is important that we bring in
instructors from the United States, which we do on a regular basis. We have
been fortunate to have had instruction from Kashiwaya Sensei, Russell Jones
Sensei, Terry Pierce Sensei, and, more recently George Simcox
Sensei.So..Ki-Aikido is alive and well in the province of Ontario and we
hope that like a healthy child it will grow and become stronger.

(What is a modern message if it has no advertising?) From July 11-13, our
Annual Summer Camp will be instructed by Kashiwaya Sensei, and all visitors
will be welcome.  By the way, with the American dollar at such a premium,
there is no time like the present to vacation in Canada. Kingston is known
as "the Limestone City" and is steeped in history. We are located where Lake
Ontario becomes the St. Lawrence River- the beginning of the famous
"Thousand Islands" resort area.

After that shameless plug, what can I say except if you want to know more
about us, ask George Sensei and Norma.
"Oh! by the way," he says,"if you are interested in coming our way, my
e-mail address is bickford@limestone.kosone.com My snail mail address is 114
Nicholson Crescent, Amherstview, Ontario, Canada K7N 1X1, and my phone
(613)384-0423"

Best wishes to all.

Bill Bickford.

NOTES FROM THE INTERNET/ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHINGBy Francie Baltazar-Schwartz 

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate.  He was always in a good mood
and always had something positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he
was doing, he would reply,   "If I were any better,  I would be twins!"  
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him
around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry
was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was
having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the
positive side of the situation. 

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and
asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time.
How do you do it?" Jerry replied,  "Each morning I wake up and say to
myself, Jerry, you have two choices today.  You can choose to be in a good
mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.'   I choose to be in a good
mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can
choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their
complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the
positive side of life."  "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes it is," Jerry said.

"Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation
is a choice.  You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people
will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The
bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."  I eflected what Jerry said. 
Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We
lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life
instead of reacting to it.

 Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never
supposed to do in a restaurant business:  he left the back door open one
morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.  While trying to
open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness,  slipped off the
combination.  The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found
relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of
surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital
with fragments of the bullets still in his body. 

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he
was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins.  Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through  his
mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind
was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.  "Then, as I
lay on the floor,  I remembered that I had two choices:  I could choose to
live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.

  "Weren't you scared?  Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.  Jerry
continued, "The paramedics were great.  They kept telling me I was going to
be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the
expressions on the faces of the doctors and  nurses, I got really scared. In
their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man. " I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.  "Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting
questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything.

'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for
my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!'   Over their laughter,

I told them, 'I am choosing to live.

Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."  Jerry lived thanks to the skill
of his doctors, but also because of  his amazing attitude. I learned from
him that every day we have the choice to live fully.  Attitude, after all,
is everything.

CHIEF INSTRUCTOR'S NOTES:

By: George Simcox

COMMENTARY

Regarding the Internet Article, let us chose to live Plus Life using Ki
Principles.

Regarding the article on Ki Testing, read it over again.  Testing is not a
competition but a learning device.  It is a strong element within our system
and needs to be taught along with Ki Development.  This past Monday I found
that I had to stop a class in progress and give a tutorial on Ki Testing
because some of the more experienced students were getting a bit off track.

TRAVELS

Jim Bagby and I will be in Portland, Oregon to attend the seven days of
festivities surrounding the dedication of the Kiatsu School and the National
Instructors' Workshop.