Aikido Basics. Phong Thong Dang

      Restrooms and Changing Rooms

      It is important to have bathroom facilities available. They should be clean and fully supplied with a toilet, a sink, hot and cold water, soap, and paper towels. Always wash your hands after leaving the restrooms.

      Having changing rooms available also adds to the safety of the student. Most schools have separate changing rooms for males and females.

      Water

      Because your workout can be exhausting, the ability to rehydrate your body is an important safety feature. Most schools have a water cooler available. Many students bring their own drinks. Please remember to dispose of your paper cups or bottles appropriately.

      Keep Equipment in Good Condition

      To prevent injuries, all training equipment provided by the school, or by yourself, should be kept in good condition and repair.

      Awareness and Vigilance

      Awareness and vigilance are among the most important factors in safe training. A competent instructor will always be aware of and vigilant about what is going on. If you forget the basic rule of safety, a good instructor will remind you. Vigilant instructors who see some aspect of the training environment that needs attention or repair will see to it. They watch over you so you can train.

      Safety is not just an issue for someone else. Your safety in training in aikido is the responsibility of yourself, your training partners, and your teacher. Take your role seriously. You can prevent injuries to yourself and others by using common sense, paying attention, and following the simple rules presented here.

      WHERE DOES ONE START when learning aikido? When you stand and watch an aikido demonstration, it appears graceful and easy, yet its effects are magical and powerful. All artists start by learning the craft. The craft consists of the basic elements that make up the abilities and skills of your aikido repertory.

      In the beginning, the techniques of aikido illustrate its underlying principles. In the end, the principles drive the techniques. Every movement will be a natural illustration and application of a natural principle. The techniques appear to work all by themselves.

      The basics of aikido begin with knowing how to stand and move. All aikido techniques are based on full-body movement and unique footwork. As you progress in your aikido training you will be confronted with various attacks in the form of strikes and grabs. You will learn how to enter and blend with those attacks, using your footwork, and to redirect them into either throwing techniques or locking and pinning techniques.

      THE PRINCIPLES OF AIKIDO apply to your relationship with yourself and your relationship to your training partner. All aikido techniques are behavioral illustrations of these principles. The techniques become ways of seeing the principles in action. Once you have worked on the techniques, you will no longer think of them in terms of movement, but in terms of principles. In the end, you won't even think in terms of the principles, because they will become a part of you.

      The relationship between you and your training partner best illustrates these principles. If you are the one practicing the technique, you are called tori. Your training partner, who receives the technique so you can practice, is referred to as uke or nage. As you practice, you will alternate between tori and uke. Such is the balance of aikido.

      Important TrainingPrinciples

      O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba believed that those who want enlightenment never stop forging themselves. Words or theories cannot express the realizations of enlightenment. Perfect actions echo the patterns found in nature. The two most important principles to remember when practicing are to (1) enter and blend and (2) to break your training partner's balance point.

      The General Sequence of Techniques

      There is a general progressive process, or sequence, to aikido techniques. The first technique is to enter and blend with your training partner's approach or attack. The next is to redirect and unbalance the attacker. You then either use a throw or control your training partner with a pinning joint lock. Last, you let go and move on. Many say that the blending and taking of balance are the basis for all aikido techniques. Pay close attention to these two principles at all times.

      In aikido, most of your training practice will be from a stationary position. You will stand there as your training partner approaches and attacks. You will walk through your technique in a sequential step-by-step fashion. This is where you start. Eventually, your training practice will become more dynamic and fluid. As your training partner approaches, in an attempt to attack, you will begin to enter and blend by moving with his momentum and inertia. The step-by-step process will become one step. Finally, the blending becomes a means to take your training partner's balance, and he or she will fall in response to your movement.

      Enter and Blend

      "Enter and blend" means to flow with your training partner's approach or attack, rather than resist it. To enter means to move into the attack. Blending means to join it, become one with it. You will seldom be instructed to back up. You will be asked to step off the line of attack. You will be asked to move forward toward your training partner, or at least into the space next to him or her. This emptying of space allows your training partner to be carried by momentum to a point beyond the anticipated target without meeting resistance.

      In judo and jujitsu—the latter being an art from which aikido derived many techniques—there is a saying that goes,"When pushed, pull, and when pulled, push." These movements were often linear in nature, pulling the opponent directly into you, or pushing yourself directly into the opponent. O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba added the element of a circular step (tenkan), so that rather than following a direct linear course, the throw follows a downward spiraling motion that adds power to the throw and the impact.

      Breaking Balance

      There are several ways to determine the balance point of your training partner. If you were to drop an imaginary line directly down your centerline onto the ground, it would land at a point directly between your feet. At ninety degrees directly forward and back from that point, at about a shin's length, is the balance point. If you aim a technique toward this point, it will be easy to break your training partner's balance. Another way to determine your training partner's balance point is to measure, at a radius of a shin's length, a circle around each foot. If you extend that radius by allowing, or pulling, your training partner's range of motion to go past their full extension, he will lose his balance.

      Emptying can be used to unbalance. To empty a space is to not physically be where your training partner expects you to be. As your training partner reaches for you, allow his hands to continue forward beyond the point where they anticipate impact. By not being there, you will cause your training partner to lose his mental focus and physically overextend beyond his balance point, losing his balance. When your training partner is off balance, he is very easy to move, control, and throw.

      Relax

      Stay relaxed as you practice. A relaxed body is often the sign of a more relaxed mind and an openness to learning. Resistance produces tension in the body. This tension creates rigidity in the muscles, which makes injuries more likely. You are less likely to get hurt if you are relaxed than if you are tense. At first, it will take some effort to stay relaxed during training. Eventually, however, you will experience and know both the power and the safety in maintaining a completely relaxed body.

      Breathe

      Inhale as you begin entering and blending. Exhale as you execute the technique. Always exhale as you take the fall, as uke. Remember to breathe during training, and exhale during ukemi. Learning a new skill can be stressful,