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Old 03-12-2009, 11:33 AM   #1
Darren B. MacFarlane
Dojo: North Florida Aikikai
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Relaxing

I have only been training for just over a year and one of the most difficult things I have found in practicing Aikido is the concept of relaxing; that is, what it really means on the mat and how to incorporate this concept into my training. There are even times when I feel like I am relaxed and my Sensei or Uke will let me know immediately that I am not. I am looking for thoughts, comments, suggestions that may help me in my understanding and application of this elusive concept! Thank you!

Darren
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Old 03-12-2009, 11:59 AM   #2
Larry Cuvin
 
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Re: Relaxing

Try This Darren:when your sensei or uke approach you or attack, meet them as if you are meeting a good friend, somebody you are glad to meet. Hopefully, it should take some edge off of your "fighting mind". I consider myself a newbie but this simple concept helps me a lot not to think of throwing and more of the blending. Hope this help you to relax.

Plus Ki
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Old 03-12-2009, 01:30 PM   #3
Pauliina Lievonen
 
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Re: Relaxing

It might also help if you realize that relaxing isn't something you can actively do - if you're actively doing something you're not relaxed. So maybe you need to find another way of thinking about and a different word to call what you want to achieve; doing less/letting go/not reacting/ whatever works for you.

kvaak
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Old 03-12-2009, 01:42 PM   #4
Leif Summerfield
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Re: Relaxing

Relaxing...what a wonderful paradox!
I was training at hombu dojo with Endo sensei. He kept saying "see, I'm relaxed" just as he'd throw his huge uke.
I decided then an there that western denotation of "relax" is different than Eastern denotation.
First, relaxing I think has almost nothing to do with muscle relaxation. It's more a state of pliability to your posture. Endo sensei could move in any position he wanted to when "relaxed", but he had enough muscular force to be able to lift, move and throw his uke (me at the time).

So if it's not a description of muscle activity, then (like the last 2 posts) is almost all mental and metaphysical posture.
Ask yourself, are you OK getting attacked. If your gut response is
"no", then your subconscious reaction is to flinch, flee or fight.
You have to unlearn your current natural response to one that's ok with the strike being launched at you.

Just remember, the attack is your friend. You can't do good Aikido without it!

Good luck!
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Old 03-12-2009, 01:42 PM   #5
Bob Blackburn
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Re: Relaxing

I try and take a deep breath and relax my shoulders before a technique if I realize I am getting tense.

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Old 03-12-2009, 01:57 PM   #6
Darren B. MacFarlane
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Re: Relaxing

Thank you Larry, Pauliina, Leif, and Bob for the wonderful comments, suggestions, and insight. Very, very meaningful...I am smiling as I type this because I am reflecting back on my practice through the lens of your posts and it is illuminating.

Darren
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Old 03-12-2009, 05:41 PM   #7
Mark Freeman
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Re: Relaxing

Relax Darren, plenty of time, after one year you will not be as relaxed as you will be after five years and nowhere near as relaxed as you will be after ten etc.

I my early days my teacher used to feel my attempt at a technique and say - relax as much as you can - which I would do, then he would say - and now relax some more - which I didn't think was possible, but found I could, then with a smile he would say - and now relax some more! How frustrating these teachers can be!

Also remember relaxation is not 'floppy', relaxation is a state of a complete lack of tension but a complete fullness of life/ki

regards

Mark

Success is having what you want. Happiness is wanting what you have.
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Old 03-12-2009, 06:06 PM   #8
Janet Rosen
 
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Re: Relaxing

To the above posts I'd add:
1. using only the muscles necessary to perform a given action effectively, usually the most central ones available (like learning to use your lats to raise your arms - something I learned in Pilates and realized is part of "relax and extend" in aikido plus good sword raising technique).
2. giving your partner as little feedback as possible about your intent while continuing to maintain a connection.

Janet Rosen
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Old 03-13-2009, 09:09 AM   #9
heathererandolph
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Re: Relaxing

I think relaxing is muscle relaxation, but not total relaxation. To understand the concept, have someone lay down on the floor. Have them totally relax their muscles. Try to lift their head. It should feel very heavy if their neck muscles are totally relaxed. Now you try it. Try lifting their body. Their body should be very heavy, very difficult to move. Applied to Aikido, that is why relaxation is important. It makes you heavier and difficult to move also. We use "unbendable arm." that concept helps me to understand how the arm can be tied in with the muscles in the body, which are actually much larger muscle groups to move people. For men with large muscles, relaxing those muscles is a major challenge.
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Old 03-13-2009, 03:12 PM   #10
Aikibu
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Re: Relaxing

In my experiance Relaxtion is breathing posture and intent...

A good Aikido class starts with physically demanding activity that gets everybody tuckered out almost to point of exhaustion...For most it takes about 30 minutes

That is where the mustard meets the hotdog. Once everyone is tired real training can start. When you are tired you can really feel your breathing and your posture It forces you to really focus on your connection and technique...You start to build up your Martial Awareness.

Ever notice how Sensei and the Senior Yudansha always seem to be relaxed and never get tired...LOL

Start with hard practice and learning how to relax will come naturally.

William Hazen
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Old 03-13-2009, 06:07 PM   #11
lbb
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Re: Relaxing

Want to relax? Train until you're really really tired, until your muscles fatigue. Then keep training. Then remember that feeling.
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Old 03-13-2009, 09:22 PM   #12
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Re: Relaxing

Quote:
Pauliina Lievonen wrote: View Post
It might also help if you realize that relaxing isn't something you can actively do - if you're actively doing something you're not relaxed. So maybe you need to find another way of thinking about and a different word to call what you want to achieve; doing less/letting go/not reacting/ whatever works for you.

kvaak
Pauliina
Hi Pauliina!

I just wanted to tell you, (and the OP) that the little time I spent with you last year in Germany was worth much more than you could imagine! Since then I have taken time to learn more about Alexander Technique and how it works etc.

Applying the concepts are helping me with my aikido/jiu jitsu/judo training immensely as I try and change old ways of moving/posture/habits.

Especially in my BJJ training. It has been scary as I have had to slow way down and make sure I am doing things correctly. It is very scary because it does not feel right and when we do randori, I get beat alot as any little change you make messes up your timing and responses when you hesitate and go back and re-correct.

Although, I am finally starting to see results so it is encouraging. It did/does require me to approach my training in a different way than I used to. As you know, and as I found at in learning about AT methodology, it is very hard and kinda terrifying sometimes to "let go" and relax.

Many days I simply know I am wrong and yet still can't do it right! Relaxing is a big part of it. I have though learned that I cannot will myself to relax or move so I have to simply think about "not doing" as you state above and kinda start over! (that is usually when I get choked out or something LOL). However, it does take time and eventually I am learning the right way and things are finally changing some!

Just wanted to let you know and say thanks!

Also wanted to let the OP know that there is alot behind what she is saying, IMO. that and it takes, time, patience, good coaching/feedback...and it requires you to "let go" and it will be frustrating and a little scary cause you will convince yourself that it is not right to change or not feel how to do it right.

A different way of approaching learning than most of us are used to!

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Old 03-14-2009, 02:15 PM   #13
Joe McParland
 
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Re: Relaxing

A first step is understanding what it is to be totally relaxed. Attend a basic yoga class; at the end, they'll probably end with a "corpse pose" - just lying on your back with eyes closed. If it's a good beginner's course, the instructor will guide the class through relaxing all of the muscles - drawing your conscious attention to each area from toes to head. You will inevitably be surprised how you thought you were relaxed, but were not.

Meditators often do the same kinds of exercises to relax the body while before and during meditation.

Once you really understand it, transferring that state into motion is generally no small ordeal. For a while, it will require that same level of conscious attention - and that is hard to do if you're also concentrating on other matters such as technical details (e.g., foot work, timing, etc.). It also helps to check yourself every so often, say between techniques or after a randori: how and where did you mentally or physically tense up? Where did you muscle through? Etc.

For me personally, starting actually to practice relaxation --- instead of knowing, "Ok, I need to relax" --- was a conscious effort that I made well after shodan. I try to encourage others to start earlier

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Old 03-14-2009, 07:35 PM   #14
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Re: Relaxing

Good comments Joe. It is probably the reason why we move so slow and deliberate in aikido, to encourage the right proprioceptions, postures, and responses....relaxation, or "active relaxation. As you state, it is no small feet and it requires alot more than simply "relaxing". and simply "just moving your hips"

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Old 03-14-2009, 08:45 PM   #15
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Relaxing

Quote:
Leif Summerfield wrote: View Post
Relaxing...what a wonderful paradox!
I was training at hombu dojo with Endo sensei. He kept saying "see, I'm relaxed" just as he'd throw his huge uke.
I decided then an there that western denotation of "relax" is different than Eastern denotation.
I would say that this is true. Muscle tension is just one of the myriad forms tension takes in both our minds and bodies.

Quote:
First, relaxing I think has almost nothing to do with muscle relaxation.
Actually, it does have to do with muscle relaxation. Your muscles should be "soft" throughout technique. Kuroda Sensei showed this over and over at the Aiki Expos. He didn't really teach waza, he taught body mechanics. He'd come over and throw your partner while you felts his arms. The muscles which you'd expect to power the technique did not fire at all... completely relaxed. Endo Sensei is the same way.

Quote:
It's more a state of pliability to your posture. Endo Sensei could move in any position he wanted to when "relaxed", but he had enough muscular force to be able to lift, move and throw his uke (me at the time).
It wasn't muscle power. It was a combination of the body's structure in proper alignment plus the use of the connective tissue (ligaments, tendons, and fascia) to provide flexible and relaxed power transfer. There has been a lengthy discussion on the Non-Aikido Martial Traditions forum.

Quote:
Actually, it isn't muscle power
As Mike S, Dan H, and Rob John have been saying, if you want to take this out to the limit, you have to do some sort of conditioning work to develop your internal structure. There is a wide range of skill on the power side of this issue. And definitely different types of power depending on what training you do.

George S. Ledyard
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Old 03-14-2009, 10:16 PM   #16
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Re: Relaxing

Quote:
George S. Ledyard wrote: View Post
I As Mike S, Dan H, and Rob John have been saying, if you want to take this out to the limit, you have to do some sort of conditioning work to develop your internal structure. There is a wide range of skill on the power side of this issue. And definitely different types of power depending on what training you do.
I would be interested in hearing further regarding the power side of the internal power issue, and elaboration regarding the type of training suggested to develop the different types of power associated therewith.
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Old 03-14-2009, 11:00 PM   #17
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Relaxing

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Blair Presson wrote: View Post
I would be interested in hearing further regarding the power side of the internal power issue, and elaboration regarding the type of training suggested to develop the different types of power associated therewith.
Take a look at these clips:
Akuzawa Minoru - Tenchijin

Systema Conditioning

Some older articles written by Mike Sigman at:
Sigman Articles

These are just some ideas about what I meant. The best thing is to get out and train with someone who can show you.
Akuzawa Sensei will be at our dojo in May once again. Feel free to come and learn some good stuff.
Akuzawa Seminar

George S. Ledyard
Aikido Eastside
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Aikido Eastside
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Old 03-14-2009, 11:26 PM   #18
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Relaxing

Followup:

Rob John has posted many clips on YouTube:
Rob's Clips

George S. Ledyard
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Old 03-14-2009, 11:34 PM   #19
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Re: Relaxing

Thanks for the follow-up information. And for the invitation. I have purchased your DVDs regarding aiki and hopefully as I progress further in my training I can apply that very informative instruction beneficially.
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Old 03-15-2009, 02:54 AM   #20
Walter Martindale
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Re: Relaxing

Quote:
Janet Rosen wrote: View Post
To the above posts I'd add:
1. using only the muscles necessary to perform a given action effectively, usually the most central ones available (like learning to use your lats to raise your arms - something I learned in Pilates and realized is part of "relax and extend" in aikido plus good sword raising technique).
2. giving your partner as little feedback as possible about your intent while continuing to maintain a connection.
re: 1. Yes, use only the necessary muscles to perform a given action. No, the latissimus dorsi muscles can't raise your arms (well, not unless you're upside down)- they attach to the scapula and pull it down and to the posterior humerus and pull it down and back, as in doing a chin-up or to pull on a rowing oar... perhaps bracing your shoulder with your lats? The prime movers in raising the arms are the deltoids, whether some pilates instructor has bluffed you into thinking something else or not...If you brace your shoulder girdle and contract the lats I suppose that its action on the scapula might lift the arm a touch, but the other head of the lat. would pull the arm down.

Has your pilates instructor even looked at an anatomy chart, let alone studied anatomy?
Walter
Oh yeah.. Re: number 2... I kinda thought you were supposed to attack with intent? Or are you speaking for Nage?
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Old 03-15-2009, 04:44 AM   #21
Pauliina Lievonen
 
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Re: Relaxing

Quote:
Kevin Leavitt wrote: View Post
Especially in my BJJ training. It has been scary as I have had to slow way down and make sure I am doing things correctly. It is very scary because it does not feel right and when we do randori, I get beat alot as any little change you make messes up your timing and responses when you hesitate and go back and re-correct.
...snip...
A different way of approaching learning than most of us are used to!
That sounds sooo familiar! It's funny isn't it, I would assume you have had your share of excitement in your line of work but something like this can still be so scary and push buttons you never knew were there? Glad to hear you find it useful!

I tried to write something about my experience studying aikido and AT in the march columns, I think Jun will be putting them up sometime next week. We'll see if your experience matches mine.

kvaak
Pauliina
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Old 03-15-2009, 10:04 AM   #22
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Relaxing

Quote:
Blair Presson wrote: View Post
Thanks for the follow-up information. And for the invitation. I have purchased your DVDs regarding aiki and hopefully as I progress further in my training I can apply that very informative instruction beneficially.
Hi Blair,
Most of what I am doing is very similar to what Endo Sensei does which comes under the heading of what I would call "power neutralization" i.e. taking the other guys power away.

The internal power stuff is another step on top of that. It's the same but with the added structural conditioning that starts to allow really scary amounts of power to be transferred from movements that look both small and relaxed. Unfortunately, I didn't discover some of these training methods until I was already bunged up from almost thirty years of stupid training. I had a chance to work with Akuzawa Sensei when Chris and the guys brought him over last year but found that my knee in particular simply couldn't handle the exercises. Had I started younger, I probably wouldn't have these issues now.

Anyway, I have the advantage of being quite large, which means that even without doing this work, I have a certain amount of power. But for someone of average size I think that this type of work is essential from a martial standpoint. Most Aikido folks pay lip service to the idea of "atemi" but don't actually put enough attention on it to develop the skill that would allow them to put an attacker down with one shot. If you don't have that ability, the martial side of ones practice is not fully capable.... it sort of wishful thinking.

I hope you enjoy the videos. I spent a lot of time trying to dissect exactly what went into my teacher's ( and any really high level) technique, particularly the energetic or psychic side of things. I haven't seen any other instructional materials which attempt to break things down in that manner. Have fun working on them.
- George

George S. Ledyard
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Old 03-15-2009, 11:01 AM   #23
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Relaxing

Quote:
Walter Martindale wrote: View Post
re: 1. Yes, use only the necessary muscles to perform a given action. No, the latissimus dorsi muscles can't raise your arms (well, not unless you're upside down)- they attach to the scapula and pull it down and to the posterior humerus and pull it down and back, as in doing a chin-up or to pull on a rowing oar... perhaps bracing your shoulder with your lats? The prime movers in raising the arms are the deltoids, whether some pilates instructor has bluffed you into thinking something else or not...If you brace your shoulder girdle and contract the lats I suppose that its action on the scapula might lift the arm a touch, but the other head of the lat. would pull the arm down.

Has your pilates instructor even looked at an anatomy chart, let alone studied anatomy?
Walter
Oh yeah.. Re: number 2... I kinda thought you were supposed to attack with intent? Or are you speaking for Nage?
I don't have the anatomy so I will describe what should be happening from a "subjective" point of view. If I told someone to point at an object off in the distance, normally, they will raise their arm with a relaxed extension. Yes, the muscles do something, but the overall effort is minuscule. No one associates this movement with power or fear so they simply extend their arm up. Because you told them to point at something, their mind went "out" to that object which meant that the extension was energized by the movement of the mind. Aikido technique should not require any more effort than that.

At a recent seminar I trained with all sorts of people and found that many, if not most, of the folks on the mat couldn't simply raise their arms to present for the katatetori without putting all sorts of tension into them. It made it impossible to accept the energy of my attack on contact. I think that they had internalized this tension through their practice and now tensed even before contact was made in anticipation of meeting. I think this is an example of how people imprint fear through incorrect daily training and the don't even know it. When I asked my partners to extend as if they were merely shaking hands with me it was totally different, very relaxed but integrated. This is because they didn't associate the shaking hands act with attack and defense. As soon as they thought they were preparing to meet an attack, they introduced all sorts of tension into the simple act of raising the arm.

As for point two... "Intention" is mental. Strong intention has nothing to do with physical tension or what we normally call strength. Janet is absolutely right that both people in the Aikido interaction are striving to give the opponent as little information as possible about how they are using their structure. That's why high level Aikido moves away from external power towards internal power. If you get a chance to train with Hiroshi Ikeda Sensei at some point, this is his main focus now. His movement is so small it's practically invisible, except when you are the uke you can totally feel it. You grab him and you fall down and your brain is asking "how did that happen?"

Proper attacks are absolutely no different from proper defense. Somewhere along the line, people got this ridiculous idea that a proper grab was designed to turn you hand purple. They come in and grab you, put all attention on squeezing your wrist, and drop their centers to stop your movement. Who told them that was an attack? If the sound you are making when you attack resembles a difficult time on the commode, you aren't relaxed enough.

A real attack uses exactly the same unbalancing process that is used by the nage. Exactly. When I grab your wrist I reach in and touch your center and then give the connection direction with my body. My hands are very relaxed. I should be able to grab your wrist and have you unbalanced and struck before you can start reacting. That's a real attack. If you can feel what I am doing, you can stop it or counter it. I want you stumbling off balance and unable to counter my strike before you even register something's wrong.

This is one of the things I really like about Endo Sensei. He insists that the uke and nage do precisely the same thing with their bodies regardless of which role they take. The whole point of his demonstrations is how tension takes away your freedom to move as needed whereas by relaxing properly, you have complete freedom to strike, kick, throw, whatever you need to do. You should be able to throw an atemi at any instant in the technique.

The uke role should be the same. What sense does it make for nage to be the one who is trying for relaxation and aiki in the technique while uke acts like an idiot, making his body as tense as possible to stop the nage's technique? That's crazy, yet many people practice that way. I think that many Senseis created this problem by asking their partners during demos to grab really strongly and try to stop them. It was their intention to show that they couldn't be stopped in that manner. But folks came to believe that this was actually the way to attack, rather than take the lesson home that attacking that way doesn't work. This is bad teaching methodology because it delivered the wrong message.

Anyway, it is very important to dissociate the idea of strong intention from any kind of physical tension whatever. 50% of ones Aikido is done in the role of uke. If you do totally different things with your body in the two roles, it just gets confused and you can't do anything. Speed and power are totally connected to a relaxed body. Freedom to move requires a relaxed body. Taking the partner's center without him feeling what's happening requires a relaxed body.

"Intention" is about the mind. It can be thought of as having two aspects, "strength of intention" and "quality of intention". "Strength of intention" is how hard or soft I project my mid towards my partner. This ranges from so small he isn't even sure if I have noticed him to feeling like I am blasting him. "Quality of intention" ranges from the benign, friendly and welcoming to the deadly, frightening, and repulsing. Regardless of what combination of "strength and quality of intention" you decide to use, physical tension and mental tension have no place in the interaction.

- George

George S. Ledyard
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Old 03-15-2009, 11:44 AM   #24
George S. Ledyard
 
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Re: Relaxing

Quote:
William Hazen wrote: View Post

Start with hard practice and learning how to relax will come naturally.

William Hazen
Hi William,
I think we differ here. If training very hard were to result in proper relaxation naturally, there would be far more relaxed practitioners around. In my own experience, I trained very hard for 26 years and had no clue how to relax properly. It wasn't until the Aiki Expos and training with Kuroda Sensei that I started to get it right. That's way too long. Most of the senior folks I know are way too tense and it isn't through lack of hard training, it's through lack of properly directed training.

I believe that hard training is required to develop a strong spirit, one that doesn't give up. It can, if done properly, allow the practitioner to get past the fear of impact, making it possible to really connect with the partner.

But proper relaxation comes via very simple static technique, at least initially. It should be slow enough to feel safe (not triggering the practitioner's fear response at all) and at a power level that allows the person to repeatedly have success. Popkin Sensei suggests about 60% power to start with. Otherwise people will try to hard and tense up again.

I think that this can be followed up with (or done simultaneously with) slow to medium speed movement practice designed to teach specific movement patterns while imprinting the proper mental and physical relaxation. In other words, this shouldn't be stressful for either person. Chuck Clark Sensei has some of the best methodology of this the that I have encountered.

I think that training must be result oriented. Don't do anything in your training which isn't directed at your goal. The idea that, by allowing someone to train with too much tension until they simply get too tired to be tense anymore sounds ok... but I don't think running out of steam because one is too tense teaches much on the way of the specifics involved in relaxing properly. What I see happen in most cases is that the persons training simply get in better and better shape so that they can continue training too physically longer.

Gakku Homma recently wrote an article in which he advocated the train hard approach. I think he makes my point for me. I am sure you know what in mean.
Homma Article
(His lengthy bad mouthing of Ushiro Sensei was funny, but off topic here, since he wouldn't last two nano-seconds on the floor with Ushiro were they to meet)

Okamoto Sensei from the Daito Ryu Roppokai once said about Aikido "oh, that's that hard style"... by which I am sure he meant that people were way too tight and physical.

Certainly, our own teachers figured this out for themselves... but based on what I see in the general picture, I am not sure that the way they did it was the best or most efficient way to do it. I haven't seen the same results with most folks even though I don't question that they have trained very hard for years. I admit to being highly influenced by the Systema folks in this regard. I should say that they do, of course, take people right out to total physical exhaustion. But they do it in their conditioning exercises. They don't let people train tense when they are doing what we would call their waza. That way they avoid associating the wrong thing in their bodies with their movement.

I am trying myself to find the proper balance between the different ways of training and trying to find what produces the optimum result.

George S. Ledyard
Aikido Eastside
Bellevue, WA
Aikido Eastside
AikidoDvds.Com
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Old 03-15-2009, 11:59 AM   #25
tarik
 
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Re: Relaxing

Hi George,

Quote:
George S. Ledyard wrote: View Post
A real attack uses exactly the same unbalancing process that is used by the nage. Exactly. When I grab your wrist I reach in and touch your center and then give the connection direction with my body. My hands are very relaxed. I should be able to grab your wrist and have you unbalanced and struck before you can start reacting. That's a real attack. If you can feel what I am doing, you can stop it or counter it. I want you stumbling off balance and unable to counter my strike before you even register something's wrong.
I currently believe that connecting this way (joining our structures into one so that my partner's balance is affected by me relaxing my knee, for example, rather than by my arm pushing on them) is 'atemi' rather than what most people seem to feel constitutes ukemi. For me, 'conditioning' has been less about building strength in different areas and more about learning how to change my intent to accomplish things with more whole body movements and less (to no) usage of local musculature that we frequently unconsciously employ simply to pick up a pen or even to move my mouse while editing this document.

Quote:
George S. Ledyard wrote: View Post
This is one of the things I really like about Endo Sensei. He insists that the uke and nage do precisely the same thing with their bodies regardless of which role they take. The whole point of his demonstrations is how tension takes away your freedom to move as needed whereas by relaxing properly, you have complete freedom [snip]

The uke role should be the same. What sense does it make for nage to be the one who is trying for relaxation and aiki in the technique while uke acts like an idiot, making his body as tense as possible to stop the nage's technique? That's crazy, yet many people practice that way.
[snip]
50% of ones Aikido is done in the role of uke. If you do totally different things with your body in the two roles, it just gets confused and you can't do anything.
Ironically, right now I'm struggling with introducing the same kind of relaxation I am working on using in my atemi into my ukemi. My ukemi is altogether too tense, partly from fear, and partly from being used to deciding (most of the time) when I am going to fall rather than having the decision made for me by my partner.

Quote:
George S. Ledyard wrote:
If training very hard were to result in proper relaxation naturally, there would be far more relaxed practitioners around.
I have been learning how to train slowly for years (exclusively for about two years) and I'm still having a tough time with it, but it's starting to pay off. Ironically, someone I've been training with recently told me that in his attempts to share his training with fellow students in his home dojo, he was told that they find this approach to training "boring". <shrug>

One thing that has paid off for me is that dealing with tense attackers has become "boring" to me. It's too easy. But learning to do and deal with something much more relaxed is a real challenge.

Last edited by tarik : 03-15-2009 at 12:09 PM.

Tarik Ghbeish
Jiyūshin-ryū AikiBudō - Iwae Dojo

MASAKATSU AGATSU -- "The true victory of self-mastery."
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