Aboriginal Innocence

You have embarked on a path that I, in free translation, call the Heart Belly Walk.
From the beginning, it is important to be joining the opposites. At first, you may be very excited, perhaps even a bit anxious, to be engaged in learning something new, something potentially dangerous. Please calm yourself. Breathe easy.

You may also be confused and hesitant with the process of rather continual motion, you might want to go slower, to stop and pick it apart. Please keep moving forward. Our teachers and senior students will help you to do what you don’t know how to do through a ‘roughing out in bold stroke’ of the motions with minimal instruction on details. Have confidence, in the midst of quandary and frustration, that it will come to you, little by little, all in good time.

There is an ongoing ‘form’ for our study which you will gradually get to know. There are the courtesy forms, the self-discipline or concentration forms, and the forms of sincerity. These forms are not impositions—not something artificial or from another culture. As they are gradually internalized, they become clear channels for you to realize and express your (fuller, more enlightened) Self—through aikido and throughout your personal journeys and adventures in life.

Courtesy
If you go over the section on etiquette, you will have a set of guidelines regarding the overall framework in which aikido is practiced. We help each other regardless of experience. To acknowledge our practice partners and their invaluable assistance in our quest, is integral to the mastery of aikido. Begin with gratitude, end with gratitude.

Concentration
Please set aside ample time so that you can arrive early for practice and can prepare yourself mentally and physically to derive maximum benefit from the session. It is good if you can go over a few stretches and principle exercises, and engage in a little free practice with a partner or two before the ‘sit’ which proceeds formal practice.

Sincerity
Aikido is the ‘kind way,’ yet we often practice with vigor and in a quickening pace. If we are harsh and insensitive, or if we coddle or ‘baby’ each other, we are being insincere. Honesty with yourself, integrity-of-intent, combined with receptive yielding, full engagement and sustained contact are required. This may be the most difficult ‘form’ to understand and to manifest. Some indications in this area, including a few details are in the section on Practice. Be patient, for in the practice it will (again in gradual fashion) be ever coming clear.

It is helpful if you take the initiative in focusing your practice. Get help from as many of our students and teachers as you can, and if there is seeming variance in the way that those who help you do the techniques, please remember that this is an academy and it is up to you to synthesize.

Whatever your reasons for entering the study of aikido, you will find that as you begin to experience practice, your original rationale will deepen and broaden, as will your commitment to master this beautiful and important art.

Sometimes, the passages may be arduous; sometimes you’ll reach plateaus where you seem to be at a standstill in your progress; sometimes you may even think that you have lost faith. At such times, you can renew yourself by recalling the joys of discovery and healing and sheer fun that have been yours on the aikido mat.

As you might guess, I feel that aikido is of supreme importance and great value, now and in the future of human society. It provides a new alternative to the previous only choices of ‘fight or flight.’ It protects and heals everyone, it expresses compassion in every situation, and it removes all obstructions from our life-energy so that we can flow forward freely toward the fulfillment of our personal mission.

It may take many years before mastery, but the process is so rich, so informative, so rewarding, so enjoyable—what else would you like to occupy your time?

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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Aikido has a deep and lasting value in human society

- promotes peak physical condition and vibrant health
- heightens mental concentration
- develops good character, improves human relations
- provides alternatives in resolving conflicts
- increases self-discipline, confidence, ability to share

Though Aikido has been understood as an Oriental art, it has become a Global art, a transcultural activity. The largest number of Aikido schools is in France (where it enjoys government participation), followed by the United States, and then by the combined European States. It is practiced in Canada, Mexico, South America and Africa. It continues to be studied in Japan, China, Malaysia and other parts of the Eastern Hemisphere. Traveling students regularly visit the local Aikido school which offers a safe and honorable way to find new friends quickly in what otherwise might be a somewhat hostile and foreign environment.

Aikido is a fully accredited course at a number of American universities. It is also included in the curriculum of a growing number of elementary and secondary schools—public and private. It has been steadily proliferating as an educational offering for the past 25 years.

Peak physical condition and vibrant health
Students experience increased balance, coordination and agility. Aikido as exercise or physical conditioning is unparalleled. It combines the benefits of swimming and diving, hiking and mountain climbing, running and dance. Endurance and stamina are developed optimally. The stretches and motions of Aikido techniques form a physical therapy to keep the internal organs healthy, to condition the joints and strengthen the musculature. The strength developed in Aikido is accompanied by flexibility so that power can issue fluently through the entire body. Sensitivity is heightened because Aikido does not ‘work’ when only muscular strength is applied. The proper position must be precisely and softly ‘felt’ so that energy can flow forward without obstruction. This manifests the ethical stance that Aikido ‘never intends to harm.’

Heightening mental concentration
If we are not careful, we can be injured. Aikido practice, which otherwise might be dangerous to life and limb, is framed by certain courtesy forms. These help us to approach the study with respect for each other and provide a basic safety. Yet, as trust builds among students, the practice can get quite vigorous and the pace can be accelerated. As this occurs, strong concentration is an absolute necessity. We cannot be lackadaisical, and yet we must relax. Unreal and distracting fears and fantasies yield to increasing mental clarity. There is no room for extraneous thought. Once we experience this it can then be naturally applied in any endeavor.

Character development, interpersonal relations
The ethical stance of Aikido is often expressed as its ‘philosophy’. This might lead to a misunderstanding that to study Aikido is to learn and accept a particular belief system. There is no need to adhere to a ‘philosophy’ in Aikido, and yet it provides continuing proof to the student that good character is a reachable — and practical goal. If a student is Christian, it vivifies the Christ. If a student is Buddhist, the Buddha is illuminated. It can help Buddhists understand Christians and vice-versa. In down to earth terms, Aikido communicates that tolerance and understanding, honesty and kindness, self respect and respect for others, always doing one’s absolute best—all lead to a fulfilling, meaningful life experience.

Providing alternatives in resolving conflict
There is not life without conflict. How we cope with conflict is what matters. In the most stark terms, when conflicts arise, it is a situation of kill or be killed. Aikido illustrates numerous alternatives; all of them effect a mediation which results in a successful resolution for all concerned. Aikido, used as a metaphor, has inspired innovations in business conferences and in governmental diplomatic negotiations. It has broadened and improved police training as it applies to reaction in critical, life-threatening situations. It is used by psychologists to ameliorate their patient’s mental or internal conflicts. Artists, too, find resolution for their creative conflicts through applied Aikido principles. Applied Aikido works to ameliorate all potential contention: to reconcile, to resolve peacefully.

Aikido is a perfect co-educational activity.
The different capabilities
of girls and boys, men and women
are shared in a balanced and respectful interchange
of mutual benefit.

Self-discipline, confidence, the ability to share
In Aikido practice everyone is a student and a teacher. There is an inexplicable, deep sense of sharing that is inclusive. Aikido nurtures the growth of the best discipline of all—self-discipline. In daily practice, there is an atmosphere free of competition where all students participate and experience success so that self-confidence can grow. These benefits are present on the mat during practice time and gradually influence all the daily activities of work, recreation and leisure.

Aikido is unique. Categorizing it (over) simply as ‘one of the martial arts’ may lead to a misinterpretation of its essence. Images of contending forces, competitions, a victor and a victim do not fit Aikido.

Aikido is complete as a means for personal protection. Its distinction is that safety is maintained not through destruction, but through a transformation of any would-be assailant(s). Energy is affirmed while harmful potential is diverted.

Manifest Aikido is forthright and resolute; at the same time, it is an expression of deep compassion. As such, it eradicates the compulsion for war and can be seen as a powerful tool for establishing a sustainable peace.

There are many good reasons for including Aikido in public and private education. Here we’ve touched on some physical, mental and interpersonal benefits. We cannot, in words alone, elucidate Aikido fully. Books can be helpful, but they cannot provide a complete understanding. ‘Hands-on’ exploration is the only way that Aikido is fully revealed.

Note: The symbol at the top of the page is a graphic representation of the ‘First Form’ of Aikido.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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Let’s learn something about the name of our art so that we can form a certain and clear mental picture to help us navigate. As you focus your study with the ideas which underlie the art, it will smooth the way. As you experience practice and understanding deepens, occasionally go over these concepts for ‘course correction.’

There is something, first, to be said about pronunciation:

AH — EE — KEE — DOH

The word — a/i/ki/do — is correctly pronounced in four syllables—equal in stress and duration. Use the open vowel sounds. AH as in far. EE as in see. KEE as in key. DOH as in motion. DOH should be pronounced without an ‘oo’ at the end. It is not a dipthong.

Are you still saying Ai KI do? Most do at first and, for many, it is never corrected. It’s not crucial for your understanding of the art, but if you wish to have a little fun, see if you can teach yourself the correct pronunciation. Work with any even rhythm. For instance, when you are walking a steady pace, try accompanying each footfall with a syllable. Stop then, and listen as you say the word all at once. This may take a few sessions of effort before “a/i/ki/do” becomes ‘second nature.’

The meaning of the word—aikido—is rich and deep. The three ideographs each express an expansive aura of meaning:

Ai is simultaneity, is a joining, a confluence, a blending…
It is a perfect meeting full of harmony and affection.
It means going forward together.
It connotes receptivity, acceptance, peace, and affirmation.
In Aikido, it denotes love.

the Heart, radiating

Ki is energy, breath, atmosphere…
In Sanscrit, pran; in Hebrew, ruach; in Egyptian, fohat; in Latin, spiritus.
It means life-force or vital energy.
It is the vapor, the ether, everything in it and its source.
It is God, or the existence and movement of the universe.

the Belly, empowering

Do is path, or Way…
It means a system, a method, a process, a yoga, and a spiritual practice.
It is a bridge connecting the mundane and the profound, the prosaic and the sublime.
It is a means for clear perception and complete understanding of reality.
It connotes complete embodiment of spiritual truth, the tao.

the Feet, treading

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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The following is a brief outline of the internal names of Aikido In. These have been inspirational to our development and remain as direction finders when forks in the road appear and new choices must be made.

Aiki-in seibu enyu Daidoshii
‘The great leader who spread loving kindness through his art of aiki and helped multitudes’: this is O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba’s posthumous buddha name. We use his name so that our lineage will be clearly aligned directly with the first master of aikido. His first name, Morihei, means abundant peace. O’Sensei means great teacher or ancestor (sensei, literally: ‘born before’).

Taikenrei
Tai: peace, joy, home; Ken: sword, knowledge, mountain; Rei: respect, appreciation, grace, sun; Taiken: wisdom, supreme power, emanating from universal law.

Summative meaning of Taikenrei: ‘respect and appreciation for the supreme and luminous knowledge of the graceful mountain sword (stopping*) power of the universe which leads us to a wise and joyful peace.’

*Aikido is bu, literally: ‘to stop the spear’.

Meristem
Meristem is a botanical term. It is pure potential. In plants, the sequence of life development requires the meristem, as transition, in order to accomplish each phase: meristem <> seed <> meristem <> sprout <> meristem <> leaf and stem <> meristem <> flower <> meristem <> fruit <> meristem <> seed…

The plant not yet ‘born’ has the meristem. The oldest oak tree produces the meristem even as it yields its life to nurture its surrounding offspring.

As a reference in the academies of Aikido In, the appellation Meristem delineates our approach to the art of Aikido and serves to remind each of us that we can all keep growing, continue to develop. As a ‘best’ way to insure that this does not falter, we must constantly empty out, rediscover zero, begin again.

In
(pronounce as in Hallowe’en): temple…seal…art…karma, cause or destiny

We have been known by various names all of which, in spirit, still hold. Meristem, the arts organization, created the Aikido kai International. (Kai has a broad meaning spanning organizations from small clubs to associations, societies, and even foundations.)
The Aikido kai International then became Aikido International,

Now we are Aikido In.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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Courtesy among students and teachers is most important in the sincere practice and study of aikido. The etiquette forms provide a framework for deeper concentration and, as we truly express our appreciation of each other, a harmonious atmosphere (aiki) is created and enhanced.

Please remember and observe the following:

• Always have clean practice clothes and keep your fingernails and toenails cut short.
• Be punctual for the formal practice hour. If you are unavoidably detained, wait for the approval of the teacher in charge before stepping on the mat.
• Do not leave the mat during formal practice periods without first receiving permission of the teacher in charge.
• Bow in the direction of the picture of O’Sensei Morihei whenever entering or leaving the studio, when stepping onto and off the mat, and at the beginning and close of a formal practice period.
• Bow with the teacher at the opening and closing of formal practice, and whenever he or she instructs you personally.
• Kneel and maintain a straight position (seiza) when the teacher is demonstrating or explaining aikido. Listen attentively and refrain from fidgeting, adjusting clothes, etc.
• If you bump into someone as you are moving in practice, please bow, acknowledge ‘no blame,’ and continue practice with your partner.
• Express respect for your partners by bowing and thanking them for practicing with you. Remember at all times that you are practicing for mutual self-improvement and that, regardless of relative experience, you can learn with every partner. After practice period, go back and thank those with whom you have practiced.

…to continually express respect for our practice, our partners, and ourselves…the purpose is to free us…for fuller concentration, deeper study…a few more details:

• Practice clothes are to be clean and in good repair. Rips and tears are unavoidable; as necessary, be prompt in sewing and patching. This is for safety as well as aesthetics. Frequent laundering with the addition of a small amount of bleach should keep your practice clothes fresh.
• Tailoring: jacket sleeves are to be about half way between the elbow and the wrists, pants length between calf and ankle. Optimum length for the hakama is halfway between the top of the foot and the top of the ankle.
• Put your identification mark on all practice clothes and mark your jacket on the outside left lapel with your first name.
• Women are to wear natural or white crew-neck tee shirts under their jacket. No colored or ‘billboard’ tee shirts please.
• Daily folding of the hakama is recommended. Teachers will gladly show you how.
• Wear footwear between the dressing rooms and the studio so that our canvas will not be unnecessarily soiled.
• Please carry your practice clothes to and from practice in a bag or other closed container.
• Avoid the use of perfume, cologne, lotions before practice. Little or no makeup is best. The heat of practice and the combined aromas can become cloying. Contrary to what the advertisers tell us, the natural scent of a clean, healthy human being is quite pleasant.
• Do not chatter in the dressing rooms. Before entering the studio, let the act of changing clothes help you begin your concentration on aikido—for your own best practice. Please walk quietly to and from our studio whether there is activity in the other room or not.
• Once again, keep your finger and toe nails well trimmed. Keep long hair secured. Do not wear watches, jewelry or eyeglasses during practice.
• Remember, the studio is open for practice before and after formal practice. Please do your best to arrange your schedule so that you can be in the studio and warmed up before the ‘sit’ of formal practice begins.

If you are uncertain regarding details of etiquette in our academy, please ask a teacher or senior student. They will be happy to offer clarification.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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Having chosen a school, and a teacher, and therefore, a particular approach to the art of Aikido—

Please do your best to do your best!

Though it is difficult to explain, I will attempt it for your best growth as individuals, for the strength and integrity of our school, and for the new student’s clarity. To wit:

There are many approaches to any art. This is also true in Aikido. Since the death of the First Master (O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba 1883-1969), Aikido has branched and rooted in many directions—backwards, forwards, and sideways.

Before Aikido, there was Aiki jujitsu. O’Sensei Morihei studied and developed his art for many years and went through a lengthy authorization process before he was given the authority to use the name Aikido.

Jujitsu means ‘combat techniques.’ Do (tao) means ‘way.’ Explicitly, a way of life, a way to realize the meaning and purpose of existence. Do implies a spiritual discipline which leads the practitioner to a clear and total experience in the moment-to-moment activities of everyday life. It is not limited or confined to that which might apply in the case of a situation of battle.

Today, many schools use qualifying adjectives to delineate their ‘style’ of Aikido. There is Yoshinkan Aikido, Tomiki Aikido, Shin Shin No Toitsu Aikido, Keijutsukai Aikido, etc. There are nearly polar differences in the way in which students are taught and practice Aikido.

All schools will have a particular approach based at first, on the experience and understanding of aikido of their founder, and then, as time goes by, on the carrying forward by the students (now teachers) of that approach.

Every Aikido school that endures will become, therefore, an academy wherein there will, in fact, be numerous interpretations of the art.

An academy is a place where, almost by definition, a new student must be confused. There is this interpretation, that point of view, sometimes they are only slightly different, sometimes they seem to be opposite to each other. Which is right? Which is true? Ah! Here is the essence of the academy matrix. The students must reason, and practice, and decipher, and adjust their understandings for themselves—always arriving at a new synthesis, a new interpretation.

Visitation Protocol
As we travel on vacation, or because of our work, we may wish to visit (and perhaps practice) at other schools of Aikido. This may be enriching, especially as we have been patient and formed a solid foundation at our ‘home school.’ Visitation too soon can confuse us and hold us back and is therefore, traditionally, discouraged. We suggest a delay of two to three years before experimentation with other schools. Then, as far as Aikido In is concerned, we hope you will feel free to get on the mat anywhere you feel the art is being practiced!

Often a qualifying adjective may alert you to the possibility that you might be entering a situation of ‘not-aikido’ which is, nevertheless using the name aikido. As examples: Yoshinkan is a version of aikido seemingly frozen at/in the 1938 timeframe. O’Sensei lived and developed for over 30 years after 1938. Tomiki is competitive: an oxymoron when combined with the word aikido. Shin Shin Toitsu includes ‘other stuff’ as well as aikido.

Sometimes the qualifier has been added only to distance the school from certain political pressures. Qualifiers or ‘style’ identification notwithstanding, we recommend that you observe first, let your belly and heart be the discriminator.

If you decide to request permission to practice and are granted entry to the mat, please be courteous and do your best to follow as nearly as you can, the ‘way ‘of the school. If, once you enter the mat, something impels you not to participate in a practice you consider too dangerous, bow to your partner (and the instructor) and sit until there is a change you can go with. Regardless of your experience, it is proper protocol to thank your host for their hospitality.

To clarify your experience, upon your return, please note down your impressions when fresh, and offer this to our master teacher who will share them with our faculty. Do not bring on to the AI mat any particulars regarding technical variations or approach without first checking with the AI teaching staff or master teacher.

Visitation can enrich and benefit your practice; or it can confuse you, traumatize you, and set you back—in a direction away from aikido mastery. You be the judge.

I certainly wish it were clear for all of us, that the use of the word aikido would mean the same wherever it is encountered. Sadly, in my experience, this is not true. Earlier, when this became evident, we considered using another name to better delineate our quest. But our search is one with that of O’Sensei Morihei; he named the art aikido. We’ll continue with that name to honor him and as an expression of our sincere effort to fully understand the true nature of this beautiful path.

Integrity
Inevitably, every group of students in a school will co-mingle and discuss their experiences—bouncing and checking and adjusting with the varied views expressed, and the response to their own understanding.

Now here we come upon a potential dilemma. It is acceptable, nay desirable that there be lively discussions, arguments, agreements, and disagreements among students. Indeed, it occurs among the teachers as well. Supposing, however, that a student or teacher should come to the conclusion that a given school’s approach is at base mistaken, in error. What to do?

In aikido, sincerity of practice is essential. If a student comes to be unable to accept the instructions and guidelines of the Master Teacher and of the Faculty and Teaching Staff of a school and carry them forward in an honest and diligent exploration toward mastery, that student should, in honor and respect, communicate this personal situation and resign.

To continue in the school, or worse, to complain continuously and attempt to disrupt the sincere study of others, indicates a lack of self-respect and is a serious breach of etiquette.

I have dedicated my life to the mastery of Aikido and to sharing this magnificent and difficult art with all who desire to join me in this pursuit. I have made mistakes and will make many more before I begin to get it ‘right.’ Before I am perfect, I will die.

Nevertheless, my lifelong duty is to carry the ‘torch’ as high as possible and to communicate to all—the students of Aikido In—and to all I meet on the way, my best understanding of the art and science of aikido.

If you’re with us, may God bless and keep and love you. If you must go another way, may God bless and keep and love you.

May we all accomplish our mission!

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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The following 5 ideas are powerful aids in centering. If you go over them,
restate them in your own terms and practice them every day, a few times a day,
you will deepen your awareness—through experience—of your state of being.
Try this on for size: if/as you can ‘get’ any one of them perfect, you have them all!

CONCENTRATE
Center yourself in the one-point about three centimeters below the navel. Image a tiny and intensely brilliant sphere as the receiving and disbursing point of the life-force.

SETTLE
In any physical position, and in any motion, let the feeling of your weight rest on the underside of all your bodily surfaces.

SOFTEN
Maintain a continuous self-monitoring of any unnecessary tension or excess tightness in the body. Let it go—through a softening feeling. Practice deepening your relaxation level while physically active and mentally alert.

ALIGN
Check your posture and alignment, especially in the thoracic region (chest). Feel the sternum (breastbone) as forward with the shoulders down and out. Encourage emotional equanimity: a feeling of balanced self-esteem, and a feeling for the positive potential in others.

EXPRESS
Touch the stream of life energy. Feel it as flowing through your center and out the fingers, toes, eyes, and crown of the head. Feel the aura, or radiating glow of livingness. In a healthy (whole, unobstructed) person, the sphere naturally extends two to three meters out in all directions from the body.

Use mental concentration, in and out of aikido practice, to test, experiment with, and experience these concepts. The five ideas, expressed as a five-pointed star, form a symbiotic unity: If we experience one idea completely, the others must also be present, true, and complete. This open energy state is also expressed as ‘no-mind’ or ‘pure being.’ Concentrate to feel the points, one at a time, in the following progression: Concentrate, Settle, Soften, Align, Express. Then, roll through the ideas in recurring succession. Pause in each until you feel the idea, then go on. This will strengthen and coordinate the mind and body and allow a fuller expression of aikido in techniques practice.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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Occasionally, in our practice we vocalize, either as we move, or from kneel-sit position. There are four basic sound forms we work with: Iei! is usually practiced from kneel-sit position. Ei-Ho! is usually practiced in principle exercise and techniques motions. These are both uttered to reach toward a completely fulfilled expression of our essence, with an effort to be spontaneous, instantaneous, and complete.

The third, H o… is essentially a whispered and extended outbreath followed with a closed-mouth inbreath in an exercise to eliminate all stale breath and start fresh.

The fourth exploration of sound is an exploration into the theory of sound and cosmic connection: We use the open vowel sounds, Oo-Oh-Ah-Eh-Ee, uttered softly. Sometimes this may include certain consonant-vowel combinations. This is an essential condensation of O’Sensei Morihei’s understanding of the labyrinthine field, Kototama, which posits that we can effect our consciousness with certain successive sounds and increase our knowledge of universal laws or forces.

In many spiritual disciplines, there is the practice of mantra, the prolonged repetition of sacred syllables or holy ideas. There is great store put in the value of certain vocal sounds and rhythms, expressed audibly or repeated internally. Continued concentration without gaps is thought to lead to complete realization and identification with the divine, or that which is at the core of all that exists.

The ideas of the five-pointed star are a kind of mantra activity and I hope you will find them beneficial.

Sometimes students have asked, “What should I be thinking during the practice of Aikido?” The first best answer is: “Nothing.” But many cannot comprehend this, let alone accomplish it directly. This is where creative personal mantra practice might help. We can lead ourselves forward with encouragements; positive thinking or affirmations or visualizations of the particular improvement we seek. Or we might repeat a thought to counter our tension or rigidity or excess excitement.

That which is repeated over and over has a tendency to become mechanical and therefore empty of effect, so I suggest you experience ‘that which is now working.’ It is important that you feel the effect. This is where ‘personal’ and ‘creative’ come in. Work with a phrase that touches you inside and clearly changes your state. Pay attention to its growing strength and note if/when it dies. Some thought forms may be fleeting; although helpful, they are sparks that die quickly. Some will endure; these you can return to and utilize again and again. Essential: make sure your mindfulness is warm and alive and be aware of its affect.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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From the beginning, do your best
to unify your body and mind as you
explore the motions of aikido.

Due to our culture, we have a strong tendency to want to figure it all out mentally, to have the particulars first explained so that we can then move the ‘appropriate ‘ parts of our body ‘correctly’ (usually through separate mental ‘command’). As we continue in this manner, we reinforce a gap between the mental and the physical. We must remove this artificial gap.

Aikido acknowledges the mind and body as one entity. The tension in our little toe, the numbness of our left elbow, the belly cramp, the buzzing feeling in our forehead, our emotions, and our rampant thoughts are not separate, isolated processes. They are expressions, in gestalt, of our state of being.

As our mental activities are quieter and we are able to relax and be more totally attentive to the feelings coursing through our body as we experience our partner’s motion, our response will be truer and more appropriate. Our ability to ‘get’ the motion is enhanced on many fronts at once.

Silence
Because our formal practice is generally in silence, there is a force exerted from the beginning on each of us to unify and integrate our total being in this moment. In the short-term, this creates a difficulty for the new student. Old habits are ‘ordered’ out; we have not yet replaced them with the new.

The verbal silence remains a goad and an alchemical refining force for the experienced student or teacher as motions must be very clear if we expect there to be communication and ‘pickup’ by the newer student. This means that the experienced student must ‘connect’ non-verbally with their practice partner and do their absolute best rendition of the particular motion, in this context.

The new student may, at first, find themselves in a total quandary as to what is taking place, but gradually as the tendency to ask for verbal explanation is successfully ‘stifled,’ little clarities begin to appear, the approach is more total.

There are many reasons for holding fast, even ferociously, to the silent base of our practice. Don’t be put off by it. Its importance will become clear as you begin to reap its benefits.

Concentration
On the way to practice, as you dress, and when you come onto the mat prior to practice, do what you can to bring your concentration into the best mode for maximum reception of what is offered in the session.

When in the kneel-sit before formal practice, make a strong request to yourself to sit with good posture, to be alert, and to relax completely. We must calm the body-mind; it is absolutely necessary if we hope to receive aikido. The physical position is an ancient one and is said to, in itself, carry us into or express center. If this position is totally new to you, or if you have enduring or excruciating pain, you may use a cushion. Many, however, discover that the strength of discipline will carry them through the initial difficulty, and that short periods of sitting in this position are soon both easy and restorative.

When we begin to stretch and explore some of the principle exercises, there is further opportunity to deepen our relaxation and improve our concentration. Many of the motions are simple and therefore it is easy to leave off the quest and begin to do them always in the same way. Please keep your attention alive, keep questing to discover the deeper aspects—the fulfillment—of the particular stretch, position, or motion.

Carry this attentiveness throughout practice into the techniques explorations with your various partners and you will begin to experience the spirit of aikido.

Stretching
Aikido increases muscle tone while requiring a full expansion into our potential range of motion. It is necessary, as a prelude to practice, to warm up thoroughly and to stretch ourselves well.

Caution: Please do not enter yourself into a contest to see how far you can stretch. Be honest in your stretches, but do not try to match what you see anyone else doing. Maxim: It matters not how far you can stretch. It is all-important how you stretch.

Do not harshly bounce into and beyond your present limits in stretching. Your body will recoil and you will have the opposite of the desired effects. Extend easily to your limit, rest there for a time, and then gently extend a little beyond while attending and relaxing your breathing and opening your body and mind with faith that as you do this regularly you will experience the necessary release. Do not hold a stretch for too long, and learn to recognize the good sensation of a ‘good for you’ stretch. This sensation may be strong, but it should not be alarming.

Breathing is a very important indicator in your stretching efforts. Be sure it is free and easy. Our breathing is quite reflective of our state and, when we open to its needs, will always help us to accommodate, integrate and release. We all have habits of holding or pushing our breath; as we can simply allow our breath to be what it needs to be, in this moment, a new balance arrives.

When beginning pair exercises or techniques with a partner, do your best to trust and to build trust. Know that your partner has no intent to hurt you, and that you are simply trying to receive the gestalt or totality of the movement. All of aikido is receiving; as you learn to yield, with integrity, to your partners’ motion, a gradually growing understanding of the technique will be yours.

When grasping your partner, do so with a tone that is clear in intent (integrity-presence) and that provides you with maximum feeling of the slightest move your partner might make. This means that your grip should be neither too loose nor too tight. Let your body yield to your partner’s motion without anticipation or resistance; let your feet be solid on the mat and the last to move.

Mutual Assistance
One meaning of the ‘Ai’ in aikido is mutuality. There is a subtle aspect at work as we can more truly help each other. We practice usually in two or three person partnerships. Everyone’s desire is to have a beneficial practice. As we reach to give this rather than get it, we help each other immensely. It is true, too, that we get much more out of our practice, as it will be clearly more balanced, more sincere.

I think we have all had the experience of meeting a friend in a rush when we’re relaxed and ‘laid back,’ or of being the one in a rush and feeling our hot overexcitement meet the ‘cool’ of our friend. On the aikido mat, this disparity is quickly transformed when our partner moves to meet our energy and we, at the same time, are moving to meet our partner.

Some of us may tend toward the ‘speedy, let’s go, let’s go!’ side; some of us may want it all to be ‘slow and easy, smooth and comfortable’ too much of the time. Give your partner a good practice, a good feeling. It will modulate and broaden your potential, and will likely be strongly reciprocated. Your own best practice is truly only possible as you increase your sensitivity and concern for your partner.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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I hope that everyone will avail themselves of a wonderful opportunity to test their own understanding: to study with, assist, and learn from our youngest members. They are the future of aikido! Essentially, it is best when we approach practice with children in unity with our overall practice. However, there are three elements which require special attention, especially when we are working with the younger (6-10) children:

Pace
It is important that we move forward in smaller increments and give details repeatedly until we are sure the child or children have them down. This can be quite difficult as we must also not dwell too long on any one thing. It means going over generally, then going through again pointing out a few details, then once more choosing different details, then putting it together, though imperfect, and moving on to something else and proceeding in a similar fashion through the various parts of the warm-ups, exercises, and techniques.

This is a situation where it is acceptable to do things in a step-by-step-putting-it-together (ABC) mode. It means speaking in a somewhat louder and very clear (diction) voice and moving forward briskly. This while making verbal descriptions very brief, and yet very specific, with an emphasis on proper physical positioning and motion.

Concentration
We must be sensitive to the attention span of the group of children and of the individual child and gradually increase it in breadth and depth. This may mean frequent changes at first so that their attention is drawn forward, then carefully extending the time in each exploration as the concentration holds. It will also mean devising ‘exploratory search games’ (mental imagery which elicits perception, feeling and discovery) to keep their attention focused on the specific details of the motion so that they will form an accurate and sturdy foundation regarding posture and alignment, joining motions, correct sequencing, active receptivity, etc…

Size-Weight Relationship
It is important that as soon as possible the children are working with other children of their own relative size and weight. The adult may come in to the practice quite actively at first (in kneel-sit please), but should be always working toward the time when the children can be practicing well with each other (with an ‘overseer’) and, eventually (with familiar exercises and techniques) on their own.

The children have fewer rigidities, they tend to have an open mind, their physical condition and health tends to be better, their imagination and curiosity are burgeoning…it is a reality that the children are our teachers. We’ll help them best, as we can make ourselves most sensitive and receptive to them, and continue in this as we proceed. Ignore their tendency to admire and be in awe of the adult. Instead admire, be in awe, and keep beginning with their angel-self as your guide.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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Some years ago in a store window in Asakusa; a popular Tokyo district where visitors get a flavor of the ‘old’ Japan:

Two beancake-maker-bakers placed first dough, then filling, in black cast iron fish-shaped molds, closed the molds, placed them over the fire for baking, and turned them from time to time as they baked. As the cakes were ready, they extricated them from the molds and stacked them on display trays. Each had arrayed about them mold racks, a pot of batter, a bowl of the filling, the cookers, and the tray shelves for the finished product.

The three of us stood and watched the process for a while. One cookie-maker worked feverishly, his movements were very rapid, he seemed to be in a race with time, he was tight and seemed nervous and behind in his work and trying very hard to catch up. The other fellow, in contrast, was languid and relaxed, proceeding through the process very smoothly and carefully and in a rhythm that suggested that a concern for speed was not a factor in his mind as he worked.

At first glance, it seemed that the ‘quick,’ racing fellow must surely be making more cakes. The study of aikido led me, however, to think otherwise. I conjectured to my friend, the young man from Idaho, the one with the watch, that the languid fellow was probably making more cakes. Aghast, he said something like, “No way!” I suggested a friendly wager. He took me up, and we timed and tabulated the process.

The results: the ‘slow,’ smooth, careful fellow was producing almost twice as many beancakes! On close inspection of the cakes themselves, it was also true that the calmer baker was creating goods of a higher quality and with greater consistency. The ‘nervous’ fellow’s cakes were often baked unevenly, somewhat scorched, somewhat lumpy. A living proof of the trite but true saying, ‘haste makes waste.’

Sometimes in aikido practice, students are impatient with the fundamentals, they want to rush headlong into the fast and vigorous ‘flowing’ practice. I hope this story will encourage them, and all students of aikido, to be patient and steadfast with the fundamental forms, to help beginners with completeness and clarity, even as they once again study and refine their own movements.

I believe they will then increase their ability to fulfill the necessary ‘join’ and to move as quickly as necessary while, paradoxically, experiencing a sense of ‘I have all the time in the world.’ They will also be deepening their sensitivity and gaining greater precision as they ‘produce’ higher quality aikido…and, they won’t get scorched and lumpy!

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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As mentioned before, there are styles—and—there are styles of aikido. There are those who use the name aikido and compete against their partners (here the word opponent might be more apt) for prizes. There are those who use the ideographs but practice something with lots of kicks, punches and blocks, and only a minimal suggestion of aikido in it.

Cooperation
O’Sensei Morihei forbade competition. It is a part of the definition of the aikido that is in Morihei’s lineage—I would say true aikido—that there is no competition.

Aikido’s power derives from the deft combination of energies, and expresses a highly refined ability to cooperate.

Sometimes students ask. “What do you do if the aggressor will not cooperate?” Answer: “It is our response-ability to find a way to cooperate with the life energy of anyone (and everyone) while forthrightly diverting that which would cause harm.”

It is best, from the beginning, to cure any tendency to compete: to go willingly and boldly where you have not gone before, to learn to relax in tenuous positions or (especially) when your body tightens. It is important to allow your partner to complete his or her motion and to stretch your body where it seems least ready, willing, or able. As you learn to be soft, you begin to understand a basic aspect of self-protection. If you fight against an irresistible force, you will only be hurt more. As you can yield (with integrity), no one, not even the behemoth, can crush you.

There are many benefits to be derived from becoming accomplished in deep cooperation while maintaining personal integrity. Our human history is replete with atrocities that have been committed when one race, or one nation, or one religion, or one person has sought to dominate and subjugate another.

Because it has been deemed necessary or inevitable in the past, it is deeply entrenched in our mythology. Competitive (war) games are rife. Manufacturers vie against each other with what is termed ‘cutthroat’ competition.

It is only recently that the history of cooperation has been investigated. Experiments have shown that education is richer when cooperation enables everyone to help each other, and (bonus!) that it leads to more and better learning by all. Research has also proven that even a little competition is deleterious to individuals. Where groups habitually strive against others in their group and against other groups, the harm is increased exponentially.

Whenever there is a shared emergency or crisis, people work together in miraculous ways and accomplish the impossible. Aikido is a way to discover the benefits of cooperation, a way to experiment with and explore new, more hopeful patterns of interaction.

smoothness, continuity, completeness, softness
balance, receptivity, concentration, relaxation
stability, posture, precision, flexibility
spontaneity, spirit

Synthesis
We are each unique individuals. We learn everything we know from others. The language we speak becomes ours through early trial and error efforts to communicate. But we had to hear it first.

So it is with all that we do. We see and imitate physical motions. We read or listen to someone’s thoughts and our mind travels are extended. We choose ‘this’ over ‘that’ and our life path begins to emerge. In any subject area that we seek to master, we must learn ‘everything there is to know’ and then we must forget and begin again as if we know nothing. From this place, we can see that everyone, every event in our life, is our teacher.

Aikido starts and moves forward from this place. We respect those with more experience than ourselves and learn from them. We respect those with less experience than we have and learn from them too: often the fresh outlook is Very Big Teacher.

There are many quite simple (and eternally true) principles working in aikido that can only be truly understood after years of practice and years of starting again; of opening to new ways to learning itself.

The many surprises we experience on the mat help us to keep a beginner’s mind. The many partners who give us the gift of their presence prevent a narrow viewpoint while broadening our confidence and expanding our responsiveness. The many viewpoints expressed in the academy impel us to synthesize (and make it all coherent) while warming us to new possibilities. We begin to understand that ‘not knowing’ leads to wisdom, that openness in the moment is real life.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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Attendance
There is not a requirement regarding attendance in the aikido academy. It is recommended that a beginning student schedule their time so that they can practice at least three to four times a week. This way progress can be smooth and have a reasonable continuity. No one should punish themselves, especially at the beginning, by overdoing it. However, many students soon increase their attendance practicing daily or near daily.

When first entering the study, to practice more than one session may seem impossible. Here again, after a time, many try two sessions in a row and find that it is very beneficial. There is much to be said about ‘light fatigue’ and the lowered tendency to resist (less anticipation too) and what it can bring us. Remember that all practice sessions are yours. If and as you wish to attend more frequently, do it!

Punctuality
In aikido, we learn to be ‘on time’ with diminishing pressure. This comes through a growing ability to ‘join’ with our partners. Even if unavoidable, even though we regularly invite the latecomer onto the mat, it is a bit discourteous and disrespectful to be late to practice.

‘On time’ to practice means to be here as the studio opens (about half an hour before the formal session) and to thoroughly warm up and bring your concentration into the most fulfilling study. If you attend when there is a preceding session, it is good to be dressed and in the studio before the first practice is over, to observe and gain insights from the atmosphere and your own visual intake. Then, please enter the mat immediately for your personal preparation and practice before the next session.

The spirit of our school, its mission, and our individual quests are all greatly enhanced as we open ourselves to exercise and free practice before, between, and after all formal sessions; as we give more of ourselves to our commitment to master aikido…

Polish
Please, take a special interest in the condition of our studio. As we clean a bit, we can then see what else needs cleaning, fixing, order and care. We have no janitorial service, there is no one person (or selected crew) given the duty to take care of maintenance and cleaning for us. It is traditionally the responsibility of all the members to do their full share in the maintenance of the studio.

Please know where the dustcloths are and use them as well as the brooms; pick up noticeable lint off the carpet between vacuum runs. If the bag needs changing, don’t complain or wait for someone else to do it; change it.

You can study ‘broomstick aikido.’ Technique: Keep the broom low and don’t swing too vigorously or you’ll stir the dust into the air and into everyone’s lungs. Be aware of the rhythm and movement of everyone. Don’t collide with others sweeping, but rather blend so that you are acutely aware of the accumulating dust and its path toward the dustpan.

You can study ‘bloodspot aikido.’ Technique: From a bowl with water, wet the sponge well, then squeeze the water out onto the bloodspots. Wait a few seconds for the water to ‘aiki with’ and thin the blood. Then, suck the bloodied water or watered blood back into the dry sponge, squeeze back into the bowl, and rinse. Repeat if necessary.

You can study ‘trashbasket aikido.’ Technique: Bend over while keeping your center and pick up the only partially full basket. Walk to the dressing room and empty into receptacle. As you return to the studio, arrange the bag in the basket neatly. Bend over once more while keeping your center and replace the basket.

I think you get the point. Please notice the condition of our studio, see what is needed and do it. As more of us do this, the load is lightened, and our vision is sharp and clear.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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The following is an excerpt from Martial Arts: The Spiritual Dimension by Peter Payne used in Heart Belly Walk with permission.

“…but the highest level is found in Aikido, which truly shows what the good will can be in terms of the martial arts. In Aikido, the aim is always to defend yourself or others without harming your opponent. The spirit is one of universal love…”

The Good Will
…the student must make a habit of keeping attention at ‘the one point.’ In this state, any action undertaken will be backed by the totality of the person’s physical and spiritual resources, and the act of will acquires strength as well as skill… “Martial Arts; The Spiritual Dimension” by Peter Payne

This aspect of will raises the question of value, or what all this skill and strength is to be used for. The ethical questions of the martial arts are thrown into prominence. Westbrook and Ratti describe a variety of uses of power in the martial arts, ranging in degree of ethicality. The lowest level is that of unprovoked violent attack; little better is the goading of another into attack and then defending oneself violently. All the martial arts would agree in condemning such behavior. Intermediate is the code espoused by many external systems: do not provoke attack; indeed, do all you can to avoid it. But if you can no longer avoid it, retaliate with total power; kill with one blow.

Many internal martial arts adopt a more moderate ethic, similar to the Old Testament doctrine of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ Rather than responding with total violence or not at all, the response is graduated to the attack, as if the attacker’s own energy were returned back to him. A soft shove is countered by a soft shove, a hard punch by a hard punch, a death blow by a death blow. But the highest level is found in Aikido, which truly shows what the good will can be in terms of the martial arts. In Aikido, the aim is always to defend yourself or others without harming your opponent. The spirit is one of universal love.

The words of the great Master, O’Sensei Ueshiba, express the deepest level of good will, the highest ethic of the martial arts:

Aiki is not a technique to fight with or defeat the enemy.
It is the way to reconcile the world and make human beings one family…

There is no enemy for Ueshiba of Aikido. You are mistaken if you think that budo (spiritually oriented martial arts) means to have opponents and enemies and to be strong and fell them.

There are neither opponents or enemies for true budo. True budo is to be one with the universe; that is, to be united with the Centre of the universe.

This is not only the highest ethic, but also the key to the most effective technique in the martial arts. To quote Ueshiba again:

The secret of Aikido is to harmonize ourselves with the movement of the universe and bring ourselves into accord with the universe itself. He who has gained the secret of Aikido has the universe in himself and can say, ‘I am the universe.’

I am never defeated, no matter how fast the enemy may attack. It is not because my technique is faster than that of the enemy. It is not a question of speed. The fight is finished before it is begun.

When an enemy (or one who perceives himself as an enemy) tries to fight with me, the universe itself, he has to break the harmony of the universe. Hence, at the moment he has a mind to fight with me, he is already defeated. There is no measure of time—fast or slow.

Aikido is non—resistance. As it is non—resistance, it is always victorious.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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Modern aikido owes much to its predecessors in the combat or fighting arts. Many, therefore, think of it as a martial art. It does have the practical function of self protection, yet it is not a collection of fighting techniques. Its premise is that true safety lies in a relaxed response to danger without an effort to inflict injury. O’Sensei Morihei called it, ‘the martial art to end martial arts.’

We learn to confront hostile aggressive action without fear, without contention. The motions of Aikido can then blend, absorb and easily divert the action from any harmful result. No harm. This is perhaps the quintessential distinction of Aikido. Because of this elementary facet, some even question its inclusion in ‘the martial arts’—as misleading or as too confining considering its great scope.





In aikido, it is not a matter of attack and counterattack, of vying strategies, of tit-for-tat. There is no need for a defensive attitude. Yet, lest we be completely misunderstood, anyone who would assault an adept in aikido might injure themselves—severely.

People who stay with aikido as a life-long study are not solely, or even primarily interested in the ‘martial’ aspect. We tend to be peaceful people in the first place, we gain a certain confidence regarding personal safety through practice, but we continue in aikido because of its application to life as a whole.

Most of us are practicing because it is fun, because we get into better and better physical condition, because other students become friends, because the forms and motions of aikido are beautiful, and because the philosophical stance of aikido is compelling—it posits a real world where everyone is a winner, where the greatest power is, after all, compassionate love.





Many practice daily—to accelerate personal understanding, and as a way to share in the experience and progress of others.

There are numerous aspects to aikido. It cannot easily be explained within any one field. The best way to fathom its depth and breadth is to take up the practical study and, through perseverance, unlock its secrets for yourself.

‘Aikido is…a healing art…slow and gentle…interpersonal yoga…combat…reconciliation…extremely fast and lethal…peace…’

Now is the Time
To the first time observer, aikido may be totally confusing. It is too difficult, very easy, scary, chaotic, smooth and orderly, or all of these in unfathomable kaleidoscopic succession. Bodies are falling this way and that, sometimes slamming hard to the mat, often nearly colliding. Some of the rolls and circuitous movements may seem impossible, and yet you saw it happen.

The power and vigor shared by practice partners can be overwhelming to the uninitiated.

Many think that, though aikido is interesting and beautiful and they would very much like to learn it, that they must get their bodies (and minds) in better condition before they can hope to begin.





All of us must keep retuning to the beginning. Though there are not sessions totally geared to beginners, each practice period has fundamental exercises and techniques. Sincere practice means that each partner must meet each other at a level which is the most sensitive and the most conducive to mutual progress. In aikido, it is always a good time to begin. There are no prerequisites. We may or may not feel ready; we just ‘dive in.’

Relaxation, kindness and a deep ‘alive’ softness are essential to aikido. This we are always refining. As we acclimate to the wordless interplay between ourselves and our partner, aikido begins to reveal itself. We begin to find our way. Oops! It’s lost. Now we must rediscover, rebalance. Passages in aikido may be arduous, but they are never tedious.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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The chrysanthemum and the sword, the sacred sword, the sword of truth, the sword of no sword, the sword and the mind…

There is no dearth of ruminations on the sword. It appears everywhere, from ancient myths and legends, to dissertations on its strategic use or its important symbolic meanings, to romantic novels, television dramas, and modern films.

The ancient Tarot deck has much to reveal about the sword, its use and misuse, its destructive potential, and its transformative powers. The ace of swords is victoriously crowned, the trey pierces the heart, the nine is the death transformation, and the king conquers all. In modern playing cards, the suit of swords has become the suit of spades.

Swords into plowshares?

Sabre, broadsword, cutlass, rapier, machete, and dagger were once conventional weapons. Now they are collector’s items, They are used in competitive sports, such as fencing, and also in military ceremonies, and people still study to perfect the old established strategies.

But the sword is certainly far from the common sidearm it once was. Cooks, trailblazers, woodworkers, and hunters have practical use for cutlery, but it is now generally criminal rather than heroic to use the blade against another human being.

Swordplay today? Is it really integral to the study of aikido? Not necessarily.

Perhaps because I answer with less than fiery enthusiasm, I have heard it said that we do not use sword or staff in our practice at Aikido In. This is not true. The impression may have arisen because we don’t have public practice sessions focused on weapons and because we generally reserve direct work with sword and staff until some time after the passage into black belt.

These days, many in aikido work with the instruments of sword and staff from the beginning. Many hold regular “weapons” sessions, and some illustrate all techniques in terms of their relationships to sword movements.





At Aikido In, we spring from the premises that aikido can be mastered without ever studying sword or working with staff; that the movements of all possible weapons or tools are found within the body arts; that a good and growing foundation in these arts will enable us to move “aikido” with or without props.

Terminology is important: Viewing aikido as a “deconditioner” in the psychological sense, we say that we “practice” rather than “train;” we say—with many others now—“partner” rather than “opponent.”

We call swords and staffs “tools” or “instruments,” not “weapons.”

The New Collegiate Dictionary defines “weapon” as “an instrument of offensive or defensive combat; something to fight with; a means of contending against another.” It seems, according to this definition, that the use of weapons, as such, would be in direct conflict with the essence of our art. We must be very careful how we work with these instruments.

New students who ask about our well-rubbed swords and staves in their special rack are told to increase their sensitivity with people first before working with tools. When students do start this work, they are told to stand holding sword or staff—that’s all, no instruction. Later, we might suggest a more balanced placement for the hands or give them a focal image: “Stand as if facing yourself in the mirror, and point the sword tip at the center of your own throat or at a spot right between your eyes.” When the vertical cut is first exercised, a student may hear, “Cut through your ego, that which is binding you from within.”

The struggle is not with “the enemy within.” Why make any sort of enemy?

In our practice, we are always working to remove obstructions, moving and searching for a fully liberated state, but this need not become a duel. Sometimes it is plain, hard, frustrating work. At other times, unexpected gifts of discovery appear. In neither case, do we need to add thoughts of a contest with an enemy—real or imagined, internal or external.

How, then, do we work with the sword? Variously and creatively.

We don’t deny the ancestral use of the sword. Nor do we deny that a hardwood walking-stick can be used as a spear, club or shield. Aware of the past, we focus on our physical state and on the content of our minds in the present. Where are our actions leading us?





Primary in all our practice sessions is an effort for a fulfilled or fully-realized gesture. Some might like to do a thousand “cuts” day after day after day. We move with the sword less often, but each time we use it, we are carefully seeking the “one perfect cut.”

There is a form we call Plum Blossom, adapted from Iaido, which we return to in a gradual, expanding way. Sometimes we will work only on snippets of it. Sometimes we’ll do it all in extreme slow motion and sometimes, for “no time” between the beginning and the end. Sometimes we’ll work very large and sometimes purposefully restrict the space in which the form is accomplished.

We usually use gardening gloves, but sometimes we take them off. We work in isolation or in unison, face to face, or back to back. Where there is a problem, we tend to it. Whatever we gain is brought back and checked in the major, weaponless part of our practice. We may not return for some time. Keep it fresh, keep it new, keep beginning.

I once heard someone tell another, that I am a specialist with two swords. I have long enjoyed explorations with two swords, but no, not expert…I feel that what I have been able to understand of O’Sensei’s sword and staff has to do with an ultimate refinement of movement, energy and spirit. I find aikido complete in martial effectiveness. There is no need to dwell there, to get stuck. Attack and defense are conditions of contraction.

Aikido is expansive; its scope is not limited to the narrow realm of combat applications.

The ardor, which may once have been martial, is now transformed. The inexpressible is expressed as aikido exploration deepens—with people, with sticks, or with nothing.

Some say that it is necessary to learn Japanese language and culture in order to understand aikido. Some say that calligraphic studies are required, or kotodama, or Shinto, or Zen. I believe that any of these can help us to understand and express aikido. But then so can the study of countless other languages, and cultures, and religions. To confine what might be called “related arts” to things Asian or Japanese would be too limiting and would weaken the development of aikido.





O’Sensei explored many strategies before discovering aikido (which, to my mind, is not a strategy at all), and some of us may have to go over that old ground. But maybe O’Sensei made it possible to simply go forward. He was a farmer, but I would not say that all students of aikido must become farmers. O’Sensei himself advised us not to overlook anything, to study everything, and to enrich aikido with a deep, broad and cultured outlook. He said we must exercise and think, act and contemplate.

There is abundant lore regarding historical weapons and warfare, much of it misleading and confusing. How does it apply to aikido? Where are we heading? How do we navigate?

Today we see a proliferating effort to broaden our capacity for cooperation, for reconciliation of ancient enmities, for nurturing all life, for establishing an enlightened and sustainable peace among our diverse peoples. Much of this renewed effort is directly inspired by aikido.

Can we discover a truly sacred sword to help clear the way?
Such a sword might be both invisible and omnipresent.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba is the beginning. A grand and masterful being with an incorporating spirit, he transcended the arts of war and transmuted them into a Way to make peace.

This new art he called Aikido. He took great pains to distinguish it from predecessor arts:

“As ai (harmony) is common with ai (love), I decided to name my unique budo “Aikido,” although the word aiki is an old one. The word which was used in the past is fundamentally different from that of mine.”

Essentially, he insisted that Aikido is defined as emanating from a persistent and sublime expression of love, that we must always reconcile our practice with this concept and its manifestation.

There are now many versions of the art. Some interpretations are accurate and promise further developments in the realization of Morihei’s dream. Others are throwbacks and claim a connection to predecessor arts that is confusing. How do we sort it out?

If we confine our efforts only to the obviously realistic and practical, we will remain much too harsh. We will be rigid and our practice will become a brutalizing, desensitizing activity of continued warfare. We will be resisting the mastery of Aikido, refusing enlightenment.

If we dwell in an invisible ideal world of fantasy that is not grounded in experience, we will be vague and withdrawn, we will be out of contact with reality, cosmic or mundane. Our softness will be a dead ‘ragdoll-floppy’ softness. Our motions and thoughts will be anticipating the mastery of Aikido, as if we believed we are already enlightened.

Most of us alternate between anticipation and resistance, between the future and the past. Either we are soft and yielding; or we are energetically forceful. Can we be deeply soft and precise in our positioning? Can we be clear in our intent and instantaneously make minute adjustments in our projections?

To experience the whole picture, the full reality, we must not get stuck in the either/or duality. We must move forthrightly forward into full acceptance of and.

In Aikido, I believe we are all inspired to persevere by early, albeit brief, glimpses of an integrated state. As we continue practice, this experience becomes deeper, truer and more enduring.

In the Book of Changes: The hexagram of ‘the creative, heaven’ is all yang, solid lines. The hexagram of ‘the receptive, earth’ is all yin, broken lines. The commentary says:

“…the receptive is the perfect complement of the creative—the complement, not the opposite, for the receptive does not combat the creative, but completes it.”

As a dedication of this column*, as an inspiration to our progress, and as an expression of an Aikido perspective, I submit, for contemplation as it applies to practice, the following text:

From the hexagram for PEACE:

“…the receptive, which moves downward, stands above; the creative, which moves upward, is below. Hence their influences meet and are in harmony, so that all living things bloom and prosper.

…heaven has placed itself beneath the earth, and so their powers unite in deep harmony. Then peace and blessing descend upon all living things.”

* “The Invisible Sword “, “Changes” & “Generation” first appeared in early issues of Aikido Today Magazine in which I authored a column called “Heaven & Earth”.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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The seeds of tomorrow are here today, developed from those of yesterday.

With heartiness of seed: plants are resistant to parasites and immune to blight, grow robustly in extremes of weather in various soils, and bear abundant fruit of the highest quality.

To naturally improve the seed: carefully selected plants, called ‘grandfathers’ among gardeners, provide the seed and become ancestors of an even heartier strain of the particular species.

We now well know that we can’t force things in nature without costing us dearly in the short and long run. But we can, through trial and error, become a participant in the natural cycles and assist the process.

Humans are not plants, yet we ‘grow’ from the very first to the very last breath. Physical growth never stops. Our bodies are composed entirely of new cells roughly every seven years. Mental and emotional growth is inevitable with each new experience. Our spirit is effected by the food we eat, by our activities, by our thoughts. Everything we eat, everything we do or don’t do, everything we think—either refines and elevates, or weakens our individual ‘seed centers’ of belly and heart.

Aikido can be such a good seed, if we are fierce and unrelenting in our quest to arrive at its center.

The majority in aikido were, at first, young and male. The nature of the new art, however, made it inviting to intelligent women, and today the female population has increased to roughly equal and, in some cases, surpasses that of the males.

Age is no barrier. We can participate in engaging and valuable practices as children of four years and as seniors in our late nineties. Aikido has spread into many cultures. Its adherents are people of all races and religious heritage.

In our academy, mothers and fathers and daughters and sons explore aikido on the mat at the same time. Our course also touches lives in public and private education, from pre-school through college. Our studentbody and out-teacher corps is comprised of an even balance of men, women and children (yes, our more experienced young members are very helpful in sharing their experience with the newer children).

Aikido now expands and flourishes: an inclusive global art. It completes and transcends its martial origins, even its birth culture of Japan. It is an ultimate alchemical refinement in the progress of civilization and a new element in the universe unlike any predecessor.

We, who husband the seed of this new strain, are charged with an important and deep responsibility to our fellow students and to our descendants. It would be all too easy to allow dissipation, and thereby lose the essence. The ‘way of the world’ tempts us to pander to the status quo, to compete, to be ‘tougher-than-thou’ in a low sense, to just get by, to do ‘not-aikido’ and still call it aikido.

Aikido is waging peace, it is an aggressive transformation: we become strong and able to protect ourselves and our loved ones without brutality, hostility or defensiveness. Aikido expresses acceptance, compassion, understanding, and a very healing love.

Can we affirm aikido in each act, in all motions of practice, in every thought?

The seeds of tomorrow are here today.

© 2001 by David O’Neill “Heart Belly Walk”
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