VKS KI TRAINING NOTES, OCTOBER '97 =20 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: DECEMBER INSTRUCTOR'S CLASS There will be no instructor's class in December. CAMPS Its section will be reactivated next spring when the Camp Season resumes. OTHER TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES The Midlands Ki Society Federation is sponsoring a training seminar for advanced students. Attendance is limited to persons approved by George Simcox. The Intensive will be held January 26 - 30th and limited to 25 persons. Deadline for registration is 9 January. The fee is $60 for the entire 5 days or $60 for per day. Contact me for a registration package. US OPEN TAIGI '98 will be held Jan 30, 31 and Feb 1 with the competition held at 2PM on the 1st. Fee for the seminar is $75 or $25 for one class. Contact me for a registration package. The Honolulu Ki Society is sponsoring the Annual Ki Society Seminar in August, 1998 in Honolulu Hawaii. A welcome party for Master Tohei will be held at 6PM on the 15th. Training schedule is: 16 Ki Aikido 9-12 & 2-4:30 17 Ki Aikido 9-12, Kiatsu 2-4:30 18 Adv Ki Aikido 9-12 & 2-4:30 19 Ntl Instr Workshop 9-12 & 2-4:30 20 Ntl Instr Workshop 9-12, Ki Testing 2-3, Meeting 3-5PM 21 Day of Rest 22 45th Anniv Banquet 6-10PM 23 Picnic Cost: Compl pkg: All sessions, welcome party, banquet, T-shirt, lunches = $970 W/o instr workshop $750 W/o Adv and instr workshop $550 Kiatsu only $200 Welcome party only $50 Anniv Banquet Only $80 T-shirt only $15 There will also be an event on Maui but the times and fees are not firm except that it will be during the period 27-30 Aug. This will be an opportunity to study with Tohei Sensei and/or his son and take examinations for Shoden, Chuden and Joden. KAGAMI BIRAKI (NEW YEAR) The VKS will hold a two day celebration January 10 and 11. Schedule will be 9:30 - 1200 and 2 - 4:30 on Saturday, followed by a no-host dinner at a near by restaurant and9:30-12 and 2-3:30 on Sunday. Training will be conducted by Sensei Simcox, Chief Instructor. STUDENT QUESTION: On a tape I have about flying business jets, the guy (John King) says something like this. He had lots of experience flying single engine piston planes, but no time in anything as fast as a jet (even a Cessna Citation...also known as the "Slowtation" and rumored to suffer from bird strikes...from *behind*... ;^). His instructor told him, "You don't have to worry about crashes in this plane." "Why's that?" John asked innocently. "Because you're so far behind this plane that you won't even hear the boom when it goes in..." In flying, being "behind the plane" means that you are busy reacting to things that are coming as surprises...playing "catch-up" all the time, stomping out fires so to speak, rather than anticipating what will be coming up and being ready when it does. You want to be "ahead of the plane" by at least the next three tasks. Getting behind means you are overworked, and you will eventually lose and something vital won't get done...and then you may die. There are rules to prioritize things to prevent this (ANC - Aviate, Navigate, Communicate is one), but the real fix is to anticipate what's coming, and use spare moments to get ready ahead of time, and to follow the same plan each time to let habit be a help. In Aikido I've heard here that you aren't supposed to anticipate...that you want to react as things happen, not before. I can see where this would be good in avoiding being fooled into the wrong reaction by having your mind be led astray, but I also know that there's a lag in reacting to anything. If you aren't at least slightly ahead of the other person in terms of planning, you will be too late when the time comes to react. So, how are we supposed to solve this dilemma? Anticipate, so you can start reacting early enough not to get hurt, and you may have been fooled about what is coming next and have the wrong reaction underway. Fail to anticipate and you won't have time to get your reaction started before it's too late and you are hurt. In class there's no problem, at least at my (beginner) level, since I *know* what's coming...we just had the instructor show us (ignoring slight variations based on us ignorant students getting the demonstrated technique wrong of course ;^). What about randori? How do you handle the tradeoff when you don't know in advance what technique will be done? =B7 Mike "or do you just count on the goodwill of your partner?" Bartman- Mike asks a very valid question that has, I am sure, puzzled many of us. In the end we must all find our own answer but I would like to add some thoughts which may be helpful. BE CALM! If you are up-tight and anxious you will be plagued with thoughts about what might be and how you would respond to the extent that you will find yourself frozen in place when the actual event takes place. Calmness will allow you to see a situation with clarity and act cleanly with necessary speed and action. BE TRAINED FOR ACTION! With proper training your body and mind know what they are capable of accomplishing and will willingly take on the task at hand. Continuous training with the conscious mind trains the sub-conscious mind - the part of us which reacts without detailed thought. We need to think as we train so that our mind and body are both prepared for acceptance of a course of action.=20 UNDERSTAND COMMON ACTIONS There are only a few opening moves in Aikido. These opening actions can meet a wide variety of situations without committing to any particular technique before its time. These opening actions permit you to further understand the situation before final action is taken. It allows you to get ahead of the plane, as Mike mentioned. =20 LET THE SUB-CONSCIOUS MIND FUNCTION When we engage in casual conversation we carry on that conversation without much conscious thought. If we thought of each word we use we would never carry on an effective conversation. In this same way, we must perform our technique free of hesitation and move with purity of motion and without fear. FROM THE INTERNET Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 15:19:40 EDT From: Justin McCarthy/SYBASE Subject: Finding a new club Just following up on thoughts about Aikido 'depression'. I have been through many changes in my Aikido life, including leaving my first club after 3 years (I left college) and trying to find another one. Thought you might like to hear some gory details: I start life in Ki Aikido after finding something missing in my karate practice (nothing to do with karate - it just didn't 'work' for me). After 3 years I left college, and had some real problems finding a new club I has happy with in the new town where I was working. The first one I visited did not teach Aikido effectively, but just included a few techniques that they liked, in a general jujitsu class. I only stayed for 2 classes so my comments are not based on any real experience, but that was how I felt at the time. I did, however, meet a guy that I really took to, who had the same views as I did (I met him again about 2 years later, at my current club, and we became great friends) I then tried another club but did not fit in. They were very friendly and welcoming, but I did not see what I was looking for, which in hindsight I put down to a combination of things: 1. Different emphasis (no direct interest in Ki development) 2. Did not meet up to the standard of my previous Sensei (or did\ I just put him on an unreachable pedestal??) 3. I didn't think they were good enough for me Arrogant, eh? I did eventually find a club that I rated. I argued a bit. I told them what I thought. I learned to shut up and learn. I stayed. Now, 5 years down the track, I think I still know less that I thought I did in those early days. I am now practicing Yoshinkan Aikido - quite a journey from Ki Aikido (via Aikikai). If I was to say what I thought my biggest lessons were from these changes, they are : 1. If you think you are good, you are probably no where ne\ ar as good as you think 2. If you think you are no good, you are probably much better than you think 3. There are no good or bad approaches (Ki Aikido, Aikikai, Tomiki, Yoshinkai etc etc), only good and bad attitudes and "different strokes" 4. It is very painful to start again, but worth it I try to keep true to the lessons I have learnt in the different clubs, and find that they are actually all complimentary and I believe I have been very lucky to have had a Sensei that has helped me understand this. I dare say I'll still be trying to get to grips with this stuff in another 20 years! My advice is, if you are looking for a new club, you must keep an open mind; but just as importantly, see if they have an open mind as well - to support you in bringing your existing experience and knowledge with you. Cheers Justin Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 13:49:34 EST From: "Mike [insert quote here] Bartman" Subject: Re: Recent Seagal "war" Quit this BS >>You know, donuts would be a perfect Aikido Food. They are circular in >>overall shape as well as in cross section. No matter how you cut it, you >>get a circle! (or at least, an ellipse :^). >> >>-- Mike "of course, topologists think they are coffee cups..." Bartman- > >True, but they have no center.....VERY important! Of course they have a center! There's just no donut at the center...just an "empty cup". Just as important, right? ;^) Without the donut, the donut center, or "hole", wouldn't exist. It is nothing, void, yet, when surrounded by donut, it becomes something more than just empty formless space. No donut, no donut hole, no donut hole, no donut. With donut and hole, a donut whole. Both parts are required to have a donut. You must have the circular donut to define the hole, and the hole to constitute the calm empty center which defines the donut itself as a donut. The hole becomes whatever shape the donut requires it to take on...blending and conforming *exactly* to the shape required by that particular donut. The hole is not trying to be anything in particular, it just is, and in so being, lets the donut be a= donut. The donut, through it's circularity, defines the requirements for the hole to take on. A hole with preconceived notions about how big it wants to be, or where it wants to be located, will not make a good donut. Too big a hole and there's not enough donut to be worthwhile, or perhaps no donut at all. Too small a hole and you get a defective bun. A hole located too far from the center of the donut can form a croissant, but this off-balance pastry is not very Aiki at all...too wrapped up in itself. In addition to all this philosophical stuff, donuts are also really good at rolling, both forwards and backwards, but, like Aikidoka, seldom very good at rolling sideways. They are also very stable when they've lowered their centers to the maximum extent possible, and can handle a push from any direction with equal ease and no discernible preference. The ones who's centers are full of non-donut stuff aren't really donuts, though they are frequently found around real donuts. The fillings take up so much room that there's no room for the hole, and, as I said above, without a donut hole, there's no donut whole. =B7 Mike "See why I think donuts are the perfect Aikido Food?" Bartman- TRAVELS During November Norma and I attended a seminar in Hilo, Hawaii taught by some of the "grand old men" of Aikido in Hawaii and Sensei Kashiwaya. It was good to practice with them and see old friends. Kevan Douglas was there as well so I was able to get to know him a bit better, a definite side benefit of the trip. At the end of the month Norma and I went to Pittsburgh for training and testing. All of the students are practicing very well and making steady growth under the instruction of Sensei Miller and his assistant, Gary Zajac. In December I plan to visit Charlottesville and Philadelphia for training and testing. BEST WISHES FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON AND A MOST HAPPY 1998.