Gary David

Folks
I had a conversation yesterday with a friend to now lives in Hawaii about this whole subject of what can be taught and what can be learned. His general approach is that all you can get from your teachers is a "Google" type map with a few locations labeled. The journey through that map is yours to take and yours to discover what other locations may be on the map. His comment about individuals like Morihei Ueshiba is that the map has even fewer location clearly defined and one is even more on there own. Even the aspects of the art that are codified into a syllabus are still presented through the perspective of the individual creating it and reflect their vision…a vision that the rest of us individuals can never duplicate in its sameness. Each of us create our own path. It is like Johnnie Cash's sone about building the car from pieces he (in the song) took from the factory one at a time ending up with a 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952…….. car. This is what our art is and it is up to each of us to mold it in to something that is usable. We all need help in this, we need the mechanical help, we need the electrical help, we need to understand how ignition and the lighting works…..repairs skills…all this that can be learned from someone. The tools are out there to be found and they used in a way that is personal to each of us as individuals. What is being put forward here by many when talking to the need of IS training is a another sets of tools that are available if one wants to utilize them. Not necessary, but available. It is my opinion that for most on the main track these tools were not made available even as an option. I don't see this as a failure, just a lost opportunity. Why do I say this….

Much of my time through the early 90's was spent in a pushed training environment. In that time and since I have developed a solid base, movement with that base and my center dropping into the movement, thinking I was leading with that center, and a certain level of awareness that helps understand what may be coming. During that period I took a limited amount of ukemi from a broad spectrum of the big time Aikikai and KI instructors. In the late 70's Koichi Tohei came to our dojo every time he was in southern California. I got my hands on him and even tried to apply techniques to him. I felt him and he had something beyond the general sysllabus. He had a number of tests and checks for some of what we are talking about here, but the details are always what get us and there just was not enough detail in the approach to get you past a starting level. Of all of the of the folks associated with him at the time, and that I had the opportunity to touch, none had the feel he had.

I have grabbed onto a bunch of others folks I ran into around Aikido over the years and of these only a very few let drop something that I felt was outside the normal syllabus and only one of these was Japanese. This was Mitsugi Saotome Sensei who destabilized me during a throw that left me wondering how he had done it when it was clear to me it was not muscle, not perfect placement or position, not just timing or technique. I never figured it out nor got any details in what/how had happened. The only other individual that I have had contact with that has been able to throw me this way has been John Clodig, an Aiki Jujitsu practitioner in the San Diego who studied for some years with Don Angier, the links in part going back through Kenji Yoshida. Kotaro Yoshida and Takeda Sokaku. I have been friends with John for over 30 years, but have only in the past few years have I gotten around to talking about his being able to destabilize on contact. John would throw me without effort or a feeling forced effort on his part. Even when I set up, settling myself into a stabilized frame and structure he threw me without much effort on his part. Only when John slowed way down so I could feel the weight transfer down to my feet did I have an idea what was happening. I didn't know I was on the edge until it was to late and there was nothing I could work against.

Two other Americans who had spent actual face time with Morihei Ueshiba did some things that were outside what I would consider the normal syslabus . One was Terry Dobson, he of the moldy rope. Once when I was setting up to attack Terry during a seminar I couldn't get settled enough to initiate the attack. After a moment he moved a bit and I was free to attack. Don't ask because I don't know. Whatever it was it was not part of the normal syllabus.

During a weeklong camp in the San Francisco area in the 80'a while taking an evening class with Robert Nadeau, who is noted for his interest in good technique and human consciousness development, we were way in the back and started to play around with kotodarma sounds. My friend was training Aikido in San Diego with BJ Carlisle, a Native Hawaiian Kahuna, who had a strong interest at the time in the use of sounds in his Aikido. We had talked about this on the drive up to the camp and the sounds seemed to us to fit into what Robert Nadeau was talking to that evening. As I said we were way in the back of the mat and decided to play with the sound at a barely auditable level. In a short time Robert was back there with us like he had sensed something and was trying to find it….we shutdown and he went back to the front of the class. It just struck me that he caught something on the edge of his awareness that pulled him back to us. Again we just shut down and never said anything.

All of the other named folks I took ukemi from all had great skills, with timing and all included. None of the other instructors who passed through showed anything other than what I would consider the standard technical syllabus, it was to me just good technique, great movement and impeccable timing. All that could be achieved through the basics we were offered and standard training over time. That is not to say they didn't have it, but they were not showing it or teaching it.

What individual like Dan Harden, Minoru Akuzawa, Kenji Ushiro, Mike Sigman, Howard Popkin, and others are offering are exercises to help develop these tools, body skills and the experience of these tools/skills that offer a window into what more is possible. These gentlemen offer this in public locations that allows anyone to come and "check it out" hands on. Individuals like Don Angier, Toby Treadgrill, John Clodig, and others here in the west are offering similar skills sets within their arts in a more private setting. Others like Ellis Amdur are writing about these body skills in their columns and books. Books like the "Transparent Power" by Tatsuo Kimura as a discussion of his Daito-Ryu teacher Yukiyoshi Sagawa skills and experiences point to the possibility that something more exists beyond technical training we have so far been exposed to. None of this tells people they have to do this.

I did take ukemi from another of major Aikikai instructors on more than a few occasions when the group I was part of was in his organization back in the 80's. I spent most of my time trying to keep out of his way so I didn't lose anything. On those times when I crossed weapons with him I could feel him coming, and I continued to get out of his way. I mention this because I have crossed training weapons with Dan and I couldn't feel his movement of the weapon coming. Dan said this is how I do it and here are the exercises that will get you to this point if you work hard enough. Part of what Dan was showing was use of the dantien, an articulated movement of the dantien. Dan also provided experiences and exercises to help with this. Mike Sigman, like Dan offers exercises and experiences that help understand what is going on and what you need to do to get there. The problem is that the solo work is boring and hard to stay with.

Another point here is that I am trying to get to the minimum use of power stuff and I see the display of the overt power, like the heavy hitting and resisting heavy pushes as one end of the spectrum and the most likely visible evidence of the existence of more. Is it easier to accept the possibilities of the all if you can see some part of the whole spectrum.

Long post....sorry for all of this length.....