by Hoa Newens

In an interaction with another sentient being, how we treat each other is of the utmost importance. Even if we are about to take each other’s life there is a proper way to do it. In a duel to the death, warriors of old would state each other’s names and the reason for the fight. Other unspoken rules include respecting your opponent by doing one’s best during the match and not pulling punches, leaving an honorable way out for a desperate opponent, honoring the opponent’s last wishes, and taking proper care of the dead body. Nowadays, we see this stuff only in movies and other fictional accounts.

History tells that warriors of old understood well that the meaning of life is anchored in proper interaction with fellow human beings. The code of behavior is paramount in a warrior’s training. Only half-baked warriors would focus exclusively on technical excellence and only assassins would concentrate on killing methods.

The Joy of Training

Recall your most recent interaction with a training partner on the mat. Were you fully engaged and focused during the entire interaction? Afterwards, was the engagement fulfilling? In my experience, most serious Aikido encounters are fulfilling, and most participants part ways with feelings of buoyant lightness, inner satisfaction, and aliveness. How do we ensure that it always ends up this way or better?

The joy of Training

​Let’s ponder briefly about the purpose of our training, whether it be in Aikido or similar arts. Why do we come to the dojo and train? Perhaps, to get physically fit; to gain self-defense skills; to learn mind-body coordination; to experience the power of ki; or to immerse oneself in Budo and its soul-enthralling aspects. Any or all of these could be our motivators; however, I suspect that a sense of inner satisfaction is at their core and is what makes us return often to the training hall. Aikido keiko makes us feel good. A need that lies deep within our being is fulfilled every time we return from class.

After your next class or seminar, sit down quietly, close your eyes, and note what you feel; allow it to bubble up and let it linger on. Relish on feeling the afterglow inside you. This simple introspection, when repeated regularly, will allow the sense of inner fulfillment to expand and take roots. It is like a small light from your depths has been switched on by the training and you are allowing it to shine on and grow, shily at first but firmly. What is most important during this time of looking in is to not give in to any form of thinking. Do not let the mind grab on anything that might have happened during the training. Indulge only in the present feelings.

There are two possible sources for this post training ecstasy.

The first comes from the enhanced circulation of energy within the body resulting from the opening and closing of the joints and energy gates when Aikido techniques are done correctly. The heightened ki flow makes us feel more alive.

The second is the result of our consciousness being stoked up by its interaction with our training partners’ consciousness, especially if this interaction was sincere and harmonious. This is not unlike the joy that we feel upon reuniting with close family after a long absence. Fragments of consciousness always long for wholeness.

The Conditions for Fulfillment 

At this point, it may be appropriate to elucidate the meaning of fulfillment. In the most general sense, a fulfillment is the completion of something that is wanting to be completed. In terms of our human life, we came to this world for a purpose, and fulfillment is the achievement of this purpose. Another way to look at it is that we were born as potentialities, and fulfillment is the realization of these potentialities. From a cosmic vantage, fulfillment is the reunion of things that were originally together but were separated. Concurrently with my birth, my destiny was predetermined in the celestial records; when I finally meet my destiny in this world, I am (my destiny is) fulfilled. Back on the mat, my training partner and I are two fragments of the same consciousness that were separated at birth but are continually longing for each other subconsciously. So, when we are able to reconnect, albeit briefly, on the mat through doing Aikido, we experience a sense of fulfillment.

There are certain factors that facilitate the inner fulfillment and others that hinder it, as we explain below.

As we enter the dojo, change into our keiko gi, bow to the shomen, greet the sensei and other classmates, we begin a process of unraveling that helps us unload extraneous materials that have attached to our being during our preceding interaction with the mundane world outside. We need to unload this mundane dust to preserve the sanctity of the dojo as the place where we practice The Way. For this purpose, the rituals and etiquette just before class must be maintained. Rei must be vigilantly observed, and students must take the appropriate time and care to follow the rules. Entering the dojo in a rush, greeting loudly without the proper bows, or not acknowledging the sempai’s and sensei’s presence, etc. are acts that take away the sanctity of the dojo and do not help in the self-purification process that is a prerequisite for fulfilling training.

As we bow to the shomen and begin class, our consciousness has been cleansed from some of the crud that was stuck on us, and now should be turned fully on and sharply focused on rei. Everything that happens on the mat between the bow-in and the bow-out should be crystal clear to our consciousness, allowing it to capture in high definition the interaction between training partners, students and sensei.

When we train with our partners, we sincerely dedicate our energy to the betterment of both of us. This mindset is the most crucial factor that determines the harmonious outcome of the training and the resulting sense of fulfillment. If there is any attempt to separate from, stand out from, or dominate, our partners, negative results are certain. Recall the last time you trained with someone who showed little interest in being your uke, perhaps twisting your wrist vigorously in Nikyo then slacking off when it is their turn to receive the technique. Or recall the time when your uchitachi was clearly trying to smother you with their most ferocious strikes just to assert superior strength during kumitachi practice.

To dedicate our energy to the betterment of both of us, means that we must be fully alert and focused and giving our partner as much of our energy as it is safe for them at their level, while keeping an unalloyed connection with them throughout the entire engagement. We push each other to our respective safe limits. Implicit in this transaction are the essential elements of mutual respect and trust: each person has to believe that he/she can learn something from the training partner; and the partners are placing all their cards on the table and baring their souls and bodies, trusting that the other will do the right thing for their mutual benefits and not harm each other. This is truly the gist of Aikido training.

If any of the training partners has a mind of discord or dominion, it will surely contaminate the interaction and their energies will repel each other, resulting in separation rather than synergy. The aftermath of training may be cordial but not pleasant or fulfilling.

Awase Leads to Fulfillment

True awase is a conscious connection of one center to another, which can be hindered by either a misdirection of the consciousness, or shields raised by egos. The consciousness may be misdirected by straying from the true purpose of Aikido training, such as when it is focused solely on a superficial aspect, say fighting effectiveness. This technique won’t “work” unless I move faster than he does, place these atemi here, lock his arms this way and shove his head to the ground swiftly. This concern for “effectiveness”, though justified for a fighting art, will direct our consciousness toward controlling our partner’s body, a one-way only communication, and away from their total being. The totality of the person includes not just the body, but the mind, the ki energy and most importantly the consciousness. In a normal healthy person, these elements are concentrated in energy centers that are aligned along the central axis of the body.  

To reach our partner’s center of consciousness we need to keep ours focused on feeling the partner’s totality during the entire interaction and keep other variables constant by drilling the same exact movement over and over. Yes, it is boring; but that’s good because that’s when the mind gives up and let our intention (focused consciousness) shine through, from center to center. Recall the time when you and your lover were fully absorbed in each other, perhaps just sitting at the beach and holding hands; were you not so engrossed in oneness, with no words nor thoughts?

The second type of barrier to center-to-center connection occurs when one or both partners put up shields to protect themselves when trust is absent in the interaction. This may happen naturally in seminars where people from different dojos and styles meet and train together for the first time and where the general atmosphere may be more competitive than cooperative. The reluctance to put our body in vulnerable positions hampers our response and interferes with the flow of techniques. Trust is the absence of barriers between two human beings; they accept each other as they are and allow their deeper selves to reach out and connect.

Therefore, the more we open ourselves to our partners’ energy while remaining centered and the more focused energy we send their way the more fruitful the engagement, and fulfillment is the inevitable result.

Post-keiko mirth

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Whatever each of us does to find our center outside of mat training will help us connect better with our uke on the mat. When we are centered, we have no vulnerability to be afraid of, and we open up more. This is where stance training and meditation can help immensely. A second-best alternative is to work diligently on suburi and kata in an unhurried manner, with full awareness of our central axis. Students who are firmly grounded in suburi and kata always have strong taijutsu techniques and remain centered during awase.

When we practice awase on the mat we desire to give up one’s individuality and attempt to merge with the other. This is the true meaning of Ai in Aikido. Aiki training is the manifestation of the soul’s struggle to regain oneness in a world of duality. Each soul wants to break out of the shackles of duality and embrace each other on the mat. If you want to call it love, you’d also be correct, because in the higher sense, true love is the struggle of two to become one, especially when the two were previously one.

Since our implicit purpose in Aiki training is to “come together”, it follows that how we treat each other is of paramount importance. In the dojo, respect and trust are the lubricants of this reconciliation, whereas competition and egocentric thinking are the monkey wrenches.

When we focus our training on how we treat each other on the mat, the meaning of these oft-quoted words of O Sensei will finally sink in:

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