Found my center, Now what?

Tonight, for a brief moment I felt centered. I have been training in Aikido religously for the past eight months or so, and the was the first time I felt it. We were practicing (i think) a reverse (sorry not up to speed with my Japanese technique names) Ikkyo.
I am starting to get a bit frustrated with Aikido because night after night I can't seem to find that non-muscle way of doing techniques. Not that I am going to give up, simply not my style, but I would like know if anyone else has gone for such a time without finding their center? or that Ki essance of Aikido. By the way it was for only a brief moment and I was unable to repeat this single success.

Thanks
Ryan

This happens all the time. Ok, not ALL the time but you know what I mean. It's those little moments of aiki that keep me coming back. I'll work for weeks or months trying to get something to work and then, usually when I've forgotten about it and moved on to something else, it just works on it's own. It feels amazing! No effort, no clashing, just pure blending. Of course I can never get it to repeat no matter how hard I try, but later it shows up again when I'm not thinking about it or trying to do it. I've found that for me trying to make it work doesn't cut it. I have to show up to class, practice with sincerety and not worry about trying to make something work. If I don't try it usually works on it's own

Bronson

If I don't try it usually works on it's own.

BINGO.

"Finding your Center" or any other way of wording this... is something that has to come and will come naturally. You can work at it all you want but you'll never be able to force it.

Best thing I could suggest is meditation. Not the esoteric Zen stuff that requires no material wealth and years of thought. What I suggest is find a comfortable chair, sit down and BE THERE COMFORTABLY. Just close your eyes and don't worry about anything going on. Birds singing? Door opened up? Phone rings? Blow it all off and just sit there and be there comfortably.

Don't think about your back or any part of your body. Don't worry too much about breathing so long as you don't stop! And don't do this in your car on the way home! But find TIME and a quite SPACE and sit there and be there comfortably.

Do THAT... and your Center will be easier to find with less effort. Funny thing is, your Center isn't hiding, chances are you're hiding your Center. Its funny when you figure it all out.

Enjoy!

Thank you, John!

I too experience most of my practice as struggle (very enjoyable struggle) with a few transcendent moments of aiki. I will return to meditating and see if/how it changes and let y'all know.

I've been practicing for about 9 months, and I've experienced that delightful effortless action maybe twice.

What next? Find your uke's center - now you're ready to rock-n-roll!

BE THERE

I've found this to be the most important thing I can do in class. I don't mean just show up I mean BE THERE. Whatever it is we're doing I try to give it my full attention and do it the best I can. I don't worry about results I focus on the process. It helps me anyway.

Bronson

I've found this to be the most important thing I can do in class. I don't mean just show up I mean BE THERE

I couldn't agree more. I've found the greatest impediment to my progress has been my belief that I'll "never get the hang of this technique"

I found picking up the language and remembering the sequences of techniques easier than some of my peers, but that just meant that I wasn't prepared to deal with stuff that I found hard.

The epiphanal moment for me was when my teacher was giving us all a one-line summary about what we should work on. For me he just said "Ian, don't sulk."

It was like a light coming on my head. I'm not sure I'll ever forget that advice!

I remember I couldn't do backward rolls at all, and they seemed to just get worse. Then I took a bit of advice from my testing partner: Just do it. That is, once you've practiced the technical particulars enough, you just let go and it happens: much better, oddly, than if you were consciously trying to activate those pre-set movements. I suppose your conscious mind just gets in the way.

Perhaps think of a single thing. For backward rolls, maybe kicking back to the wall (er, this may be a different style of roll than you're familiar with...). For ikkyo...take one of those bits of advice a senior student or instructor has given you, and think about that, letting everything else just happen.

i once had a particular feeling practicing Aikido. I felt i wasn't doing the techinque, instead, i felt that my body was moving by his own, and i couldn't resist that force. i thought that it could be my soul's force. but the strangest thing its i couldn't remember anything about what moment.

Iam still thinking what happened to me there.

Joe Cavazos (JMCavazos) wrote: What next? Find your uke's center - now you're ready to rock-n-roll!

Joe you hit the nail on the head. I think the times that you have found you center, you have also found your partners center. That is why you pulled off your technic so well. It is an easy thing to find your center. It is quite another thing to find your partners center and make it blend, connect, react with your own. When this happens, that's when you begin to feel the ease of the throws.

Ryan,

Found it. Evidently it rolled all the way here to Kalamazoo, Michigan USA. IT was frozen stiff but a little hot cocoa got it going again. Send me your postal information and I will mail it back to you.

Find and hold your center. Find and capture uke's center. Then find and control the center of the whole interaction so there is no separation between uke and nage.

Tom

I'll be headed back to my home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan sooner or later. I'll pick it up then thanks. A little of the frozen varity of kzoo center never hurt anyone.

Ryan

I'll be headed back to my home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan sooner or later.

When you get back you'll have to come down to Kalamazoo and take a training tour of all the aikido dojo. If you have enough time you could maybe get to both of them

Bronson