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| VIRGINIA KI SOCIETY A
thoughtful commentary on the philosophy of aikido AIKIDO:
A civilizing martial art Homo Sapiens has been called a hunter and fighter. History has shown us that this is pretty true. Civilization is one name for efforts over the years to evolve human social life from a dog-eat-dog existence where the environment is an enemy to be subdued, into a society where we care for one another and have a concern for what we leave to successive generations. Sports are often highly competitive, focused on winning, sometimes at all costs. Ethics and kindness, civilizing functions, have both been sacrificed on the altar of WINNING. Many martial artists have followed a similar path, stripping away those concerns for our fellow persons which have made us civilized, focusing instead on the perceived need to stomp an opponent into the ground and "teach a lesson that will not be forgotten". Some martial arts stress a high intensity of emotion and hostility in pursuing self defense strategies. Yet, there are some martial arts which stress inner forces and focus on calmness in action and control of emotions. Aikido is one of these "other arts". Morihei Uyeshiba (often called O'Sensei meaning great teacher), the founder of Aikido, created a martial way which focused on the harmony of nature rather than conflict within nature. This approach requires that the practitioner be calm and relaxed in order to respond effectively to the energies of the attacker and to utilize his or her skill. Punishment was never a goal. Ki training is the path to meeting the performance objectives of Aikido. As taught by O'Sensei, Ki was developed through diligent practice of Aikido. Koichi Tohei, founder of the Ki Society International and last Chief Instructor appointed by O'Sensei, found that, by employing a few simple principles which he developed during his teaching of others, he could speed the development of Ki awareness within students and show them how to improve the flow of Ki energy in their body. This revolutionized instruction in Aikido and is developing a group of Aikido students which start their training with relaxation and softness as a part of their "going in philosophy". This results in a martial artist who has their civilizing forces strengthened, rather than weakened, during training. As we progress in our attempts to live in a society which is decidedly schizophrenic in its approach to living, we need to keep working on the objective of increasing our civilizing nature. We need to use our power to spread calm rather than contributing to the din of conflict. |
George Simcox Sensei
