Those moments of ki

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[Okami]

Hello everyone, well I think that this is my second post on this website, (man i love this website) I was just wondering if anyone has expereineced 'true ki'? Yesterday we where doing katate tori ryote mochi shiho nage, I noticed every time I would try and force my uke's balance it was to no avail. I was way to focused on the hands and if they would budge or not, and of course when I thought of that they didn't. Well my instructor walked up and told me to have no mind, he told me to imagine I was just moving through empty space. The first few times it still didn't work but on the forth time it did and that's when I believe I experienced a split second of true ki. As I began to redirect my uke's power it was like at first the strength was there and suddenly a barrier was broken through, my uke had absoluletly no strength to resist and all I would have to do is let go and he would've hit the ground. And it was when I broke through that 'barrier' or his sphere it's just like O'sensei said, you may stand where you like because my uke had to go where I went. And it wasn't he had to strain to follow I felt the harmony. And as I just barely did the tenkan and shiho nage my uke fell, during the whole time I couldn't feel my uke's wieght on me like most techniques, it was....truly amazing. My sensei just smiled and nodded and walked over to the next group.

If anyone else has experienced something like this please tell!

[shadowhyrst]

I have experienced ki about 1/2 dozen times in another martial art form. The last one was when I was fighting like in a fog and having my head handed to me in a combat, when I injured my thumb, we stopped for a moment, we started again, and then everything became crystal clear, and I felt like I was moving in very slow motion, yet onlookers said I'd never moved so fast, and the result was perfection of my art against my opponent, much to his dismay. I have practiced and sometimes have been in 'the zone', which was not quite like the combat, but in a very crystal clear, easy, powerless [effortless] sequence of events. Unfortunately these moments do not last long enough for the inner me to decipher the pathway.

[Mike Hamer]

Just the unbendable arm :rolleyes:

[Rupert Atkinson]

When I was still a teenager, one of my first instructors was teaching soto-makikomi, a judo throw. Time and time again he would shout, "Just put your hand on the floor!" Well, one day I was struggling to make anything work against a far better and stronger chap and I jsut thought, the hell with this, and tried it. I put my hand on the floor. When I did it I felt my partner let go, as if just letting me fall on the floor, and I turned to look behind - half expecting him to drop on me to take me into ne-waza - and he was not there. He was getting up in front of me, smiling, and immediately asked, "How the hell did you do that?" Of course, I had no answer and we just carried on the daily struggle.

[graham]

When I was about 16 - and had been training in martial arts for about 8 years - I stupidly challenged my brother to attack me whilst I "meditated". I had no idea what I was doing, but somehow thought that if I went through the breathing exercises we did that I'd be able to resist his attacks, or at least spontaneously defend myself against them.

Remember, I was 16! :)

He punched and kicked and slapped and pushed and I just kept on breathing and circling my arms around. At the end I asked why he didn't do it properly and he was adamant that he had, but it was just having no affect. Who knows?

Apart from that, I guess that every week when I bow to Sensei, I am experiencing true Ki. There are also a couple of moves where we are meant to just drop our ki, rather than force down (I study ki aikido). This can be ikkyo, or something like kokyu nage. There have been a couple of times when I've had to ask my partner if they are just going through the motions because so little force almost sends them through the floor.

I love Aikido, but I don't think I'll ever get my mind round all of this. To be honest, I am such a sceptic that I am often doing stuff myself that I don't actually believe in! ;)

[Mark Freeman]

I love Aikido, but I don't think I'll ever get my mind round all of this. To be honest, I am such a sceptic that I am often doing stuff myself that I don't actually believe in! ;)

Hi Graham,

it's good to be sceptical, the alternative is blind acceptance, which is unhealthy in my view ;)

I too ( and still do sometimes ) had similar concerns in the early days of practice. In the end it is not down to 'belief' but in a solid 'knowing' through ever increasing intensity of practice.

The greater the mind / body co-ordination, the harder it is to 'fool'.

Sensei once said to me " don't believe anything I say, just do what I show you and then decide for yourself what is what" The view of an enlightened sceptic, wouldn't you say? ;)

cheers

Mark

[graham]

I too ( and still do sometimes ) had similar concerns in the early days of practice. In the end it is not down to 'belief' but in a solid 'knowing' through ever increasing intensity of practice.
Thanks, Mark.

It's reassuring to hear that you still sometimes have doubts. ;)

One of the things that most impresses me about the Dan grades at our class is precisely this kind of thing. A number of them have said to me that they're not sure why it works, or how, but after years of training they are more confident than ever that it just does.

Sensei once said to me " don't believe anything I say, just do what I show you and then decide for yourself what is what" The view of an enlightened sceptic, wouldn't you say? ;)
Absolutely. :)