VKS KI TRAINING NOTES MAR 99

NOTICES:

MARCH INSTRUCTOR'S CLASS

The March class will be held on Saturday, the 27th at 1:30.  I will be
conducting the class, continuing our look at the current method of
performing techniques on the examination.  There will be a problem
solving session with all of us performing the techniques from the
examination sheet, critiquing what is done and ending with the
teaching purpose of each technique covered.

KIATSU-HO SEMINAR

Norma and George Simcox will be conducting a seminar series, one
Saturday afternoon each in the months of February, March and April.
The first session will be February 13th at 1:30 and cover an
introduction to Ki extension for Kiatsu, and treatment of the head,
neck and shoulders.  The session in March will cover the torso and the
April session the extremities.  There will be no fee for the seminar
but a box for donations will be available to those who wish to make a
contribution to the VKS.

SEMINAR SERIES

Gregory Ford-Kohne will conduct a seminar on March 27th at 10 AM.  It
will last two hours.  This will be a good chance for those of you who
can not practice on Monday evenings to get to know Greg and sample his
excellent teaching.

CHIEF INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER

APRIL EXAMINATIONS: The examinations last month went very well.
Instructors and mentors should feel a sense of pride at the level of
performance displayed.

TRAINING AS A DISCIPLINE: Sometimes, in the course of participating in
training we forget that we have entered into a discipline.  This
discipline is expected to provide you focus for your training and your
life as well.  Discipline requires a commitment to attendance at
class, time set aside to practice what has been taught, and a
dedication to growth.  We provide a number of opportunities for
training and practice. Try to take advantage of them and make us
partners in your development.

TAIGI FOR ST. JUDES: While participants in the taigi competition we
not as numerous as in past years, they were certainly as competitive.
The Children's Competition went to Eamon and Connor Hyland from Blue
Ridge and the Adult Competition was won by Steve Kendall and Shashin
Singh of Merrifield.  To date over $770 was raised for the St. Jude
Childrens Hospital.  If you wish to make a contribution, make out a
check to St. Jude Childrens Hospital and leave it in an envelope
marked for George Simcox and I will see that it gets to the hospital.

MAJOR ARTICLE

LEADING OR DIRECTING

When performing an Aikido technique one attempts to put the minimum
personal energy into accomplishing the technique, making maximum use
of the force or momentum of the attacker to accomplish the desired
results.  As is the case with most human behavior, this is more easily
said than done.  There are many months of study and practice between
hearing a technique's concept, seeing it demonstrated and actually
getting the feeling that you have done it correctly.  This is one of
the great frustrations with Aikido, the time between exposure and
reasonable accomplishment.  This gets to the heart of the formation of
the Ki Society.  Tohei Sensei felt that it was important to get the
concept of mind and body coordination into the process earlier then
experience had shown it was being learned under O Sensei's teaching
approach.  His use of exercises to specifically communicate the
mind/body connection in technique was in use in the Aikikai long
before O Sensei's death and so must have had his tacit approval.
Later on, the Doshu - O Sensei's successor - forbid Tohei Sensei's
further advancement of this concept.  Hence the formation of the Ki
Society.

Success in Aikido evolves from leading the opponent's (uke's) mind.
Having said that, it is important to understand the difference between
leading and directing because I observe many students directing when
they should be leading.  It is interesting to note that while
directing is considered a synonym for leading, leading is not
considered a synonym for directing.  How can this be?  Well, if one
thinks about it, it makes a lot of sense.  Leading or directing an
orchestra would be the same thing - in this case the person in front
is keeping time so that all things are moving at the same rate and
pointing at specific sections to provide emphasis.  Most other
examples of directing involve the use of power to accomplish an
objective - a governmental body directs that an action take place,
Congress directs certain elements of the government.

Military commanders direct actions by their troops, sometimes by
leading but more often by directing things from a remote location.  In
Aikido we want to be at the front of movement, leading it to a
conclusion rather than behind it, directing it to the same location.

When your hand is grasped in katatetori kosatori and you wish to
perform kokyunage tobikomi, you have a choice between getting behind
the hand and pushing uke, through his grasping of the arm, or assuming
the same physical position but sending your energy out, through the
finger tips so that you lead uke.  It is this latter action that I
look for when evaluating whether or not the performer is really
getting the point of the technique.

The same goes for katatetori tenkan.  You can perform the tenkan
movement and then move uke by pushing from your one point, the
pressure being felt in his hand from behind (being directed) or by
sending the energy from the one point out through your arm to the
finger tips and then leading uke.  Which feels better?  Which is more
effective?  Leading from the front provides smoother movement and
better direction than directing from behind.

When doing the techniques in motion this sense of leading is even more
imperative.  We must capture the essence of our uke's movement and, by
leading that movement, accomplish our goal.  We do this by having our
Ki extended before the action starts, feel our oneness with the
universe and perform with confidence when the uke enters our sphere of
action.  We do this by understanding and respecting our opponent's
intent and putting ourself in the opponent's place. This requires
leading rather than directing.  It is not even necessary that we touch
our uke's body to accomplish many of our throws.  Just capturing uke's
mind is enough if you have practiced well and thoroughly mastered the
movements you have been taught.

Spend some time during your next practice session, looking at the
difference between leading the movement of uke rather than directing
it.  I think you will find it most interesting.

George Simcox.


FROM THE INTERNET

The following is from the much quoted Dennis Hooker Sensei.  I know
Dennis and he feels strongly about these things.

This is where I differ form many of you. What we do on the mat is 100
percent what we intend to do. It is not practice for something
else. We do not pretend to kill or maim one another, we are not
involved with the little life and death scenarios, I win you lose, you
win I lose.  We are doing what we are doing, nothing more. If I teach
striking and I hit you, you let go of me, or drop the knife. I don't
almost hit you, and you don't pretend to be hit. At the same time I
don't hit you with a killing or crippling blow, I don't pretend to do
these things to you, and you don't pretend to do them to me. Aikido
class is not about pretending. Aikido class is "not" practice for
fighting.  Aikido is about removing the conflict and fight, about
being above the fight.

We have some people on this list who are very good fighters, I am a
very, very good fighter, I did not come to Aikido to learn how to be a
better fighter but how to become a better human being. My introduction
to Aikido was a vary long time ago and the universal concept of those
involved at the time was; Aikido is the evolution of budo.  Within the
last fifteen years we have seen bullies and punks invade the ranks of
Aikido because of the popularity of it's name.  A popularity that was
gained by very dedicated people who sought to go beyond established
boundaries of "martial arts". These interlopers are people with
absolutely no concept of the underpinnings of the art nor the desire
to labor long enough to understand them.  They feed off the work of
others like parasites until the host "Aikido" is dead or changed into
something pitiful and week.

Hooker


OUR MAN IN BOLIVIA

Bill Phillips wrote:

> > Help!  Will Reed states in one of his books that there is a Ki at
the center of the infinite universe.  You have taught that there is a
Ki in us which is at our center, but directed by the Mind ( I
purposefully use Mind as opposed to mind to distinguish it from
intellect).  Will comments that Ki flows from the center of the
infinite universe toward us and can be perceived (contracting and
expanding Ki meditation etc).  We have been taught that Ki is extended
from us.

Will indicates that the Ki of the universe can only be felt as it
"passes through us".

Clarify if possible.  Does this mean that I can perceive the Ki of an
uke (lets say) but that there is another universal Ki present
simultaneously? Does it mean that the Ki of the universe comes from
its center and is drawn to us or our center and is then re-directed by
our Mind from us?  The Ki of the UNIVERSE is thus put into Ki-aikido
techniques vice an unconnected "personal" Ki?

It seems that I am confused about this Ki stuff again.  If indeed it
is a UNIVERSAL Ki that is put into the techniques, they become
infinitely and exponentially more powerful!  Similarly, UNIVERSAL Ki
put into one's office management techniques or setting the table for
dinner makes for calmer, more precise activity.

What's going on here?  Bill > >


George N. Simcox wrote:

You, my friend have asked the $64,000.00 question. I don't have an
answer, anymore than any one else, I suspect, but I will give it a go.
I can compare and contrast between what Will says about Tohei Sensei's
beliefs and what I feel but let me take a slightly different approach.

 We are really saying the same thing but looking at it from different
perspectives.  At the base of Ki belief is the thought that Ki is the
thing that fills the universe.  It is life energy itself - if one were
to put a religious face on it, Ki is God's force, the glue that binds
all that we see and feel together.  When I was a youngster we were
taught that space was a vacuum - now we know there are solar winds and
other, unnamed forces for which we can not account.  Ki in the
equation can make it all balance again.

The universe if full of Ki.  We are full of Ki. We and the universe
are full of Ki.  Having said that, what can we do with the knowledge?
First we can look at what we can touch and feel - ourselves.  We can
demonstrate the releasing power of relaxation, the unification of the
body and the stability that provides, the flow of this energy through
our system and the power which it provides, for daily living events or
for Aikido.  We can practice this at work, play and in the dojo.  We
can all draw lessons from this micro view of Ki.

Soon this is not sufficient, we need more.  Now it is time to look at
the larger issue of Ki in the universe.  What keeps our Ki refreshed?
Does it come from within or is there an external source?  If it is
internal we have already limited ourselves as to how far we can go.
If the larger source, then we have unlimited potential.  We can see
ourselves as a part of the Ki of the universe.  Who then can prevail
against us?  They, being in and of the universe but misusing their Ki
to attack are at odds with the will of the universe (peace) while we
are full of peace and love, products of the universe, and are
operating with that power.  They are small fish entering our large
ocean.  We can simply flow them around us and deposit them where they
will go as a result of the action, much as a wave provides force
within which the fish must operate - it still has some ability to
direct its actions but only within the context of the wave.

You and I are on different places on this planet Earth but we,
together, are circling the sun and moving within our Galaxy which
itself is moving within our universe (at least as we understand it now
based on our knowledge of Doppler shift).  We are not conscious of any
of these movements except for our personal movement and, what with
night and day, the movement of the planet as it turns and in a
slightly less aware way with the movement around the sun since the
seasons change as a result of that movement and the planet tilt.  We
are really only aware of these things when we think about them.


In much the same way, we are really not aware of the Ki of the
universe until we think upon it.  I have a little test I developed
last year in Kansas City while teaching a seminar.  Have a person
stand in a stable hanmi.  Think that that person is very big and
powerful - try to push them backward with your hand on their chest
while standing in front of them.  You should find that they are very
stable.  Now, think that they are about your size and perform the same
test.  You will probably find that they are less stable.  Now imagine
that you are as large as the universe and they are a small and
insignificant.  You should find them very easy to move.  Of course you
could talk in terms of Ki tests 1, 2 and 3 and get the same results
because it is a Ki extension thing, isn't.  Also you could think I
will 1) push with the body, 2) push with my Ki and 3) feel the Ki of
the universe push me through them.  These are simply different senses
of the same truth aren't they?

A thought that I have is that we are all repositories for the Ki of
the universe.  This is like a vast treasure.  Some of us are aware of
this treasure and hide it lest someone come and take it away from us.
Others are unaware and neither guard it or use it.  While still others
are aware of it and apply it to the solution of their problems.  We
are learning to do the latter case.  The interesting thing about it is
that it is not a set amount but rather a large cornucopia which is
capable of renewal.  This renewal is naturally performed during the
course of our lives.  What we try to do in the Ki Society is be
sensitive to this Ki of ours, use it wisely and open ourselves for
renewal.  I personally like to think that Ki flows through each of us
as long as we are alive.  What we are trying to do is increase and
speed the flow of this energy through our selves.  Much as we (some of
us, at least) practice deep breathing (Ki Breathing) to improve the
flow of air into our bodies.

When you think of yourself as small your space is small and your
movements are small but when you see yourself as large your movements
take on this same attitude and are vastly more powerful and elegant.

Have I helped or more thoroughly clouded the issue for you?  Let me
know how it all turns out.  We are all on a journey filled with
interesting questions and insights.  These are the questions which
have troubled man from his very beginning in the Garden of Eden.

George Simcox >


Thank you.  Good copy.  You have helped.  I will reflect more on this
issue.  I feel as if the idea of us as a repository of Ki is
right...that it flows through us and that we can increase its quantity
and velocity.  I have tangibly experienced this doing Ki development
exercises. and when I focus properly.  Not consistently but here and
there.  I guess that's why we practice.  Bill


TRAVELS March 25, Blue Ridge in Charlottesville; April 3, Ki Aikido on
Mobjack Bay; April 15, Blue Ridge in Charlottesville; April 29, Miami.