A Brief Experience of Aikido

Aikido is based on yielding to the power of the attack and flowing with
it to control the attack. For this exercise you'll need a partner to supply
an attack.

Stand with your right foot forward, and your left foot back and turned out
to the left about 60 degrees. Your torso will be angled slightly to the left.

First, as a preparation for the defense, let's start with a movement that
is very common in Aikido. Step back with your right foot. Step back about
190 degrees, swinging a little farther than just a straight back step. Do
this a few times, until it becomes smooth and easy. It should be a flowing,
balanced movement.

Now, for the second part of the exercise, stand in the right foot forward
stance. Have your partner stand in front of you with her/his right foot forward.
Have him put his right palm on your right shoulder and shove you back. It
is important that it be a strong yet gentle and gradual push, with no impact.
That way there will be no risk of injury. As your partner pushes, brace yourself
and try resisting. That allows all the power of the shove to impact your body,
which is just the opposite of Aikido.

Try it again, but this time as your partner shoves, instead of resisting,
take a step backward with your right foot, going softly along with the power
of the shove. If you yield to the power of the shove it will not affect you.
Make sure that your foot, hip, back and shoulder all move together, like a
door swinging open. Don't twist your body or lean off the vertical line. Move
with an upright balance and flow.

For the last stage of the exercise, stand about three feet from your partner.
Stand with your right foot forward, and have your partner stand with her/his
left foot forward. Have her step forward with her right foot and try to shove
your right shoulder with her right hand. As she steps forward, you step back.
This is the same movement you practiced above, but you are yielding to and
blending with the shove as it moves toward you and before it actually touches
you. This has more flow to it since you and your attacker are both moving.

As you yield to the shove and step back, turn your torso a bit toward the
right, and simultaneously reach up with your left hand and gently grasp your
partner's attacking arm from underneath, by the elbow. Continue turning your
torso a bit more to the right, letting your feet swivel a bit as needed. As
you turn to the right, maintain a firm grasp on the attacker's arm and pull
it forward a bit, to begin the process of unbalancing the attacker. Be careful.
Don't unbalance your partner to the point where she falls. Aikido teaches
methods of safe falling, but your partner more than likely does not know them.

Practice slowly so that you can move smoothly and with balance. The defense
movement should have an elegant simplicity. It should be as smooth as two
gears turning together. As you get comfortable with this movement, you can
speed it up. Make sure that you keep breathing calmly and that your muscles
stay as soft as silk. Aikido uses flow and inner energy, not effort and muscular
hardness. Make sure that you don't feel that you are defending yourself against
an attacker. Instead, try feeling a kindness toward and connection with the
attacker. That will improve the smooth efficiency and effectiveness of your
technique. And more important, it will begin creating the habit of responding
to attacks with a sense of love rather than aggression, which is the real
goal of Aikido defense practice.

Aikido techniques consist of three elements: entering, blending, and throwing
(or locking). Entering means closing the gap between you and the attacker.
Blending means yielding to the attack with a circular evasion movement. And
throwing means adding power to the attack, in a direction consistent with
the attack's movement, so as to offbalance the attacker and throw him (or
use a joint lock and pin him).

In the move you have just done, you entered by stepping back. As you did
that, you evaded the attacker's thrust with a slight turning action of your
torso, and you grasped the attacker's arm in preparation for the throwing
movement. There are many, many attack/defense movement combinations in Aikido,
and the full defense techniques can be much more intricate than the one you
have just practiced, but they all have a smooth gentleness and a supple power.

Chief Instructors

Paul Linden and Peggy Berger are the two chief instructors, and they both hold
rank under the United States Aikido Federation headed by Sensei Yoshimitsu Yamada.
Paul began his practice of Aikido in 1969 and started teaching in 1975. Peggy
began her practice of Aikido in 1977 and started teaching in 1981. Paul is a
sixth degree black belt and Peggy a fifth degree black belt. Paul and Peggy
founded Aikido of Columbus in 1982. (For more information about their background
in martial arts and movement education, click here.