Thank you all for your help and support over the last year. We enjoyed training with all of you in 2020 (what little training there was before the world locked down for Covid-19), and we’re looking forward to restarting training with you all in the coming year!
Konjin – from Abe no Seimei’s Hoki Naiden (The Book of Yin and Yang)
2021 is the Year of the Ox (actually, the Metal Ox), promising success through hard effort (we can all hope).
The primary deity of Onisaburo Deguchi’s Omoto religion is also an “Ox” – “Ushitora no Konjin” (艮の金神), the “Ox-Tiger” kami who guards the North-East segment of the compass. Actually, Ushitora is a Daoist diety from Onmyodo – “The Way of Yin and Yang” – Sokaku Takeda’s grandfather Soemon was apparently a master of Onmyodo.
San-dai Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba at the Aiki Shrine in Iwama
Above you can see the twin banners that are displayed at the Aiki Shrine in Iwama during the Taisai (合気神社例大祭) each year in April, commemorating the passing of Morihei Ueshiba (at one time they also hung in the dojo itself).
“Ushitora (Imi-tsutsuchi) no Konjin” (艮鬼門大金神) on the right (traditionally representing the North-East) and “Hitsuji-saru (Imi-tsutsuchi) no Konjin” (坤鬼門大金神) on the left (traditionally representing the South-West).
Yin and Yang, representing stillness and motion:
静中触动动犹静 “Seek motion in stillness, seek stillness in motion.” The Taiji Classic – “Song of the 13 Postures”
動中静、静中動 “Stillness in motion, motion in stillness.” Seigo Yamaguchi Shihan, Aikido 9th Dan
静中の動。合気道の基本は此処に存するといわれている。 “Motion in stillness. It is said that here is the foundation of Aikido.” Ni-Dai Aikido Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba
静動一致 “The unity of calm and action.” (Official English translation – the Kanji read “stillness” and “motion”) Ki-Society Founder Koichi Tohei
Kokuzo Bosatsu, deity of wisdom and memory. Todaiji temple complex, Nara, Japan. 1709 CE.
There are eight Buddhist deities assigned to protect the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, and who work to protect the people born in those years. The Buddhist protector of the North-East, Ushitora no Konjin’s segment of the compass is Kokuzo Bosatsu, who is often pictured holding a wish granting jewel (如意宝珠 / chintāmani / nyoi-hōju) – a jewel said to have the power to produce whatever one desires.
The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom (大智度論 / Mahāprajñāpāramitā Upadeśa) states that this jewel can be obtained from the head of a Dragon King.
Coincidentally, Morihei Ueshiba believed the Dragon King to be the patron god of Aikido. Here Morihei Ueshiba is portrayed as the “Dragon King” (天之叢雲九鬼さむはら竜王). This portrait is said to represent the unification of stillness and motion – bringing us full circle (and isn’t Aikido supposed to be circular?).
Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba in front of a self portrait of himself as the Dragon King
We hope that you can find the wish granting jewel and that all of your wishes will be granted in 2021!
Hau’oli Makahiki Hou Happy New Year 明けましておめでとうございます!
Thank you all for your help and support over the last year. We enjoyed training with all of you in 2019, and we’re looking forward to even more great training with you all in the coming year!
The capstone to another year of training in Hawaii, in December 2019 the Sangenkai Hawaii intensive workshop once again attracted attendees from all over the world, with a large group Australia Sangenkai members as well as mainland, local and neighbor island Sangenkai members – continuing the tradition as the only workshops in Hawaii that command a regular international attendance.
And now I’d like to finish with some thoughts for the coming year in this statement published at the end of 2018 by Dan Harden, discussing Aiki, Shugyo, and his continuing relationship with Roy Goldberg Sensei, one of the highest ranking Daito-ryu instructors in the world:
Most people now know that Roy Goldberg and I resumed our training many years ago after a few years off.
We were training at my house all day today and realized this was our 28th year anniversary of knowing each other and training together. While we each took a different turn in our training under Kiyama shihan; Roy remained, pursuing aiki in kata traveling with Kiyama to Japan, staying at Kiyama’s home. We also trained privately with Kiyama in Roy’s home, year after year, with Roy eventually becoming Kiyama’s highest ranked student—indeed becoming one of the highest ranked Western practitioners in the world: receiving Kyoju Dairi and being awarded 7th Dan and the third scroll.
I remained, (perhaps true to my nature) in pursuit of the same aiki body, in MMA, Judo and grappling and tried to develop aiki-in freestyle and at speed. What a delight it was to come together again and discover where we each had gone and then continue blazing our trail together. Two friends in Shugyo.
What a surprise when Roy showed up with a gift. He had commissioned two rings to be made by a world renowned jeweler. They are hand carved figures of Fudo Myo-o. The very definition of his name expressing our mutual pursuit: “Esoteric training to achieve immovability.”
Without my knowledge Roy had offered—rooms full of people—his opinion of my direction, and a written a forward to my upcoming book. I had done the same about him both in public and on a private Daito Ryu website.
So today we thought we would celebrate our venture with the rings and our sharing our opinions about our two paths.
This was my opinion of Roy expressed to some rather frustrated students of Daito Ryu wondering why they never “got it.”:
It’s my understanding that quite a bit isn’t shown to ni-dans and san-dans and such.
There is quite a bit that comes later…if at all. I know you all practiced for years. Everyone practices, but not everyone is chosen. I don’t know why you weren’t shown, but stating what Aiki is or isn’t, by your personal experience as defining the entire art, is simply not a good plan.
We have spent years reading on many forums and in countless interviews done with Stan Pranin where Japanese Daito Ryu shihan openly stated that they did not teach the majority of their own students. Instead, they picked one or two “so that the secrets wouldn’t flow out of the school.” (more on that later).
For that reason any of you making statements that “I don’t think this or that is in the art, because I wasn’t shown it and haven’t seen it.” Is rather ridiculous at face value and can have serious logic flaws.
For starters it can be seen and can be mimicked without actually getting it.
Teaching?
Remember Takeda and Tokimune saying repeatedly that “they showed different things to different people in different places?”
What do you think you get when you ask those people what they think the art….is?
Remember Tokimune and Sagawa admitting that they never taught their ENTIRE school the true art?
Weird huh? Imagine being an insider, being the secretary or president of Tokimune’s organization and finding out thirty years later he was actually only teaching Kondo… Who many considered AN OUTSIDER??? That wasn’t even a regular member of the dojo. That really happened.
I think you need to consider who else might have done that.
Teaching inconsistencies:
Sagawa taught a lot about solo training, and breath work, then claimed he didn’t!!
Kodo practiced Aiki-in-yo-ho breath work and solo training.
So did the Inoue So did Takuma Hisa So did Okabayashi. So did Tokimune So does Goldberg So do I
Much of which, Daito ryu People on forums have claimed didn’t even exist.
We need to finally accept that there are levels of teaching in Daito Ryu not available to all.
There was in the end, a benefit to becoming Kyoju Dairi,
In Goldberg’s case, we sat at countless dinner tables, and on mats all over New England hearing Kiyama state over and over that Goldberg is his number one student. Indeed when Goldberg received the third scroll, Kiyama openly stated that “Roy had single handedly changed his mind. That now he could see westerners were capable of true shugyo.” This, while expressing dismay, that most of his students never really pursued the same path. Roy, and Danny Kiyama discussed much of this recently.
I was proud of seeing what my friend had accomplished after all these years. I was also surprised to hear of Kiyama’s decision to put in the paperwork for Roy’s Shihan, and Roy, summarily leaving Japan.
When I asked him why one night at one of our favorite watering holes. He told me: “Our philosophies were different. I felt it was necessary to spread this art to *real* Shugyo people. I have seen, first hand on many trips to Japan, the Kodokai shrinking, both in Japan and the United States and this once magnificent art could die. And all my teachers efforts could be in vain. As so many teachers have said “only teach one or two….so that the secrets wouldn’t flow out of the school.” I think times have changed and we need to teach, or this art will continue to fade. Interestingly, Roy had recently received a letter from one of the leading Kodokai Shihans in Japan, supporting his efforts and decision. Stating: “I watched you and found your skills quite impressive. I support and am anticipating your future activities.”
Roy’s forward:
Dan is one of the best Martial Artists I have ever encountered. And I know that not just from a couple of seminars but some 28 years of training together in Daito Ryu. With his obsession to Shugyo, he has brought the combat part of Daito Ryu alive again. His internal power and aiki is pulled from another era. His approach reflects people like Sagawa and Takeda who took on any challenger
I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the leading martial artists in Aikido, Tai Chi Karate, Judo and classical jujutsu and Daito Ryu, none was able to create such soft power. Call it internal power or aiki or however you want to analyze it, he’s got it.
Being a Physical Therapist for 45 years, I have tried to understand many of the aspects of Daito Ryu and realized it never helped me on the mat. Kiyama Shihan would always say “Goldberg! It’s in the Shugyo! Computer never understand! Do Shugyo. You decide.”
Many people may say “Well Dan is a just a big guy, that’s why he hits with such power.” But, these are only people who have never touched him. What he does is both powerful and soft and a true expression of Aiki, at speed, force on force, in a way I’ve never seen. I have also had the privilege of watching Dan tossing Shihan across the room with little effort. Many of these Shihan, are presently training with Dan. We must applaud Dan Harden Sensei for the depths he went to, to find this.”
On this anniversary we wanted to recognize the different paths we took, and help those who were unaware we were training together privately. And now for the first time to openly share our research in Aiki-in-yo-ho, the creation of the aiki body, the one true power in Daito Ryu. And also acknowledge each others work, the future of the art and share our plans to work together in the future.
So many talk…..
We are continuing to spread the essence of this magnificent art in both the United States and internationally, to those like us… In pursuit of true shugyo.
Katsushika Hokusai the goddess Marishiten riding a boar
— Hau’oli Makahiki Hou — Happy New Year — 明けましておめでとうございます …and much Aloha!
Thank you all for your help and support over the last year. We enjoyed training with all of you in 2018, and we’re looking forward to even more great training with you all in the coming year!
February 2018 Sangenkai Intensive Workshop in Hawaii
In 2018 our Sangenkai intensive workshop attracted attendees from Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, the mainland USA, Sweden and our local and neighbor island Sangenkai members as well as a large group of New Zealand and Australia Sangenkai members, continuing our tradition as the only Aikido group in Hawaii to hold workshops that command a regular international attendance.
At the top of this page is the goddess Marishiten (摩利支天) pictured as a wrathful demon riding a boar (for 2019 🙂 ) . Marishiten is an esoteric Buddhist deity closely associated with the warrior tradition in Japan. Esoteric Buddhist practices were very popular in many Japanese warrior traditions – and for Sokaku Takeda and Morihei Ueshiba as well.
A section of Tokimune Takeda’s private notes on his father Sokaku’s teachings on the Kuji-kiri and esoteric Buddhist disciplines
“If you don’t research the Kuji Kiri you won’t understand Aikido.” – Aikido Shihan Sadateru Arikawa
Esoteric Buddhist references abound in Tokimune Takeda’s notes of his father Sokaku’s instruction – and no less in Morihei Ueshiba’s lectures, but before we go too far, I should mention that this is not about religion, strictly speaking, but about martial training – about a system of visualization and imagery that goes back through China to India and has deep roots in Asian martial systems because…it works, and works rather well. It works so well that modern athletes and Olympic champions now use imagery and visualization in their day-to-day training.
Hiroshi Tada demonstrates the Kuij mudra Rin
“When one looks at O-Sensei’s Doka and other writings they might think that they are related to Shinto, but they actually contain the teachings of Shingon esoteric Buddhism.” – Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada
Morihei Ueshiba using the Kuji mudra
Another esoteric Buddhist deity that figures prominently in the warrior tradition is Fudo Myo-o, the “Immovable Wisdom” that represents an important principle of training in the Asian martial traditions, but is often badly misunderstood. Attached below is an essay by Dan Harden on the subject of Fudo Myo-o (originally posted on e-Budo, but edited for clarity as a stand-alone essay) – I hope that it will prove thought provoking and useful to your training in 2019. Happy New Year!
The Narita-san Fudo, associated with Morihei Ueshiba’s teacher Sokaku Takeda by Utagawa Kunisada
Fudo myo-o (Acala vidya) is a training paradigm that has lasted for millennia to create truly powerful skills. That it is being reduced to the lowest common denominator by modern martial artists, sport science, military personnel and cops is really no surprise. While we all agree on the mental aspect of training – more so in force-on-force or life threatening situations circumventing or at least dealing with an adrenaline dump aspect of training, to remain both calm and focused – the concept is far deeper than any of that.
It was the connection of the mind to control the body that led to a higher level learning that has existed for millennia. Trying to equate and more so -reduce it to just being a lower level training of mental focus in combatives is just simply wrong.
Okay, then…. mental focus under duress. Got it. Got anything else? Anything at all? No? Why? Most people simply haven’t a clue about anything else. No harm, no foul, But it is what it is. Some have some initial understanding of this type of training, but little actual skill in using it. Which bears out in their inability to demonstrate an enhanced mind/ body cultivation either in their arts or bodies. It’s either very, very hard or rather easy, to defend in person. It is interesting that the training models to produce immovability are still extant though not widely known, none of which I have seen incorporate the unshakable combative mindset idea. That..is different, rather they focus on the mind/body. One example is the hara or dantian: As one internal Chinese martial arts powerhouse who taught in Japan said. “Aiki? Where is yin? Where is Yang? How can there BE…aiki? You cannot pretend daintian, you will be found out!”
While I have seen better movement from a few Japanese teachers, as of yet I have never met a single person in Aikido, Daito ryu or Koryu who HAS a center, much less sophisticated use of one. Thus discussion of moving “from one” becomes a total waste of time. It would take years from initial meetings to have them start to actually create and move FROM one, forget a meaningful dialogue.
What remains is that there still exists people who know it and train this material. They are just exceedingly difficult to find and come in various knowledge and skill levels.
What are they training?
The immovable body as a concept.
All of the trade names and acumen for this work have existed for generations and have managed to survive direct translations from culture to culture, with the same terminology and practices used from Tibet to India to China and Japan as well as to specific family Indonesian arts. One would first have to know the terminology, and the practices to understand why the common phrasing is a base line. Once that is done, we can see the uses of common terminology and models from Tibet to internal Chinese martial arts, to Japan; the founder of Shinto ryu and other Koryu to Daito ryu on to Ueshiba’s aikido. Himself using trademark terminology of six directions, the working of attraction point between yin and yang, Aiki being the working of the two ki’s as heaven/earth/man. Ages old material. From B.C.E. to 2019.
Immovability… as a name?
Here we have just another example with Acala Vidya to Fudo Myo-o.
Acala vidya or Fudo Myo-o makes perfect sense – as it is written. “Esoteric training to achieve immovability.”
It makes no sense what-so-ever to call a person, deity or statue….an “esoteric practice!”
Why bring in vidya, as in prana vidya (esoteric training to work ki or chi), or Myo or Mikkyo?
Why?
Why mention a training when you were talking about a deity or person?
Because you were not! You were talking about a training concept and methodology.
The mention of a training, an esoteric one at that, is not an imagined state. Which in itself is nice little escape. What a convenient way to equalize all efforts.
”This is my fudo shin.”
“MY…imagined state.”
“You can’t challenge my imagined state….”
Yet we can challenge an understanding of the real concepts. And why can we? For the simple reason that the thrust of this in the ancient world had teeth. It had a profound physical training model behind it that produced physical, real world results for what feels like immovability and power. Not just being strong willed against adversity.
Another example for imagined versus real results are in simple but well known models;
I do this with yogi’s in mountain pose. They can get knocked over with a finger rather easily. Then, I show them an example of “the esoteric training to achieve immovability” behind it and surprise of surprises in about 5 minutes flat…they feel? Well…sort of like a mountain.
I wonder why they called it…. mountain pose?
I leave them to choose. You can teach:
Lift your heart chakra to the sun yoginis
or
Use it to be stable and feel strong….like a mountain.
It is the same with downward dog and other postures.
I dunno…maybe words have meaning. Maybe some ancient practices actually are defensible and others are just what they are…simply imagined states.
Why Acala vidya? Why esoteric training that produces immovability? Uhm…because it did, and does and was tracked and trained and discussed and actually useful for real people not living in an imagined state. As stated, it simply makes a direct causal link that it was the training to achieve something profound in many warrior cultures that also had health benefits as well as power that gave name to the concept.
Why was it not the norm?
The oft told tale of training in the mountains, training in temples, warrior monks being unusually powerful, has existed for thousands of years. Mind/ body training has been consistently trained solo, many times in isolation and tested and practiced in small groups.
First and foremost it was for a mental control of the body to do unusual things that were powerful and out of the norm. That training created different outcomes in combatives that in and of themselves, were forces not normal for an opponent to face, or normal to react to.
As well, the adepts at it generated unusual effects to forces on them. So… OODA loops for the opponent? They went out the window.
This was but a couple of examples of many reasons why the training has lasted for millennia. For those who can actually do it instead of just talk, it truly made a palpable difference on contact. The mind body training has created giants in budo and we in turn, look at the giants and follow them, instead of the training. Hence….the majority continue to suck and the giants remain, well, the giants.
In the dawning of our present age which I call “the age of distraction” higher level, mind/body physical training has proven to just be too much for the instant gratification crowd. Why spend countless hours perfecting a tank like body that is all but impossible to throw and with the ability to hit like truck? Go do techniques. Most modern budo people have dismissed or rewritten history to discount this profound training and reflect their stupefyingly ignorant penchant for banging into each other with fists, legs, bodies, and more so sticks, swords and any things else they can get their hands on.
It hasn’t gone away. It is just starting to come out to the public. Those so inclined are discovering the arts did have secrets all along. It wasn’t B.S. and they do have worth. It is why they have lasted for eons. Hard physical work is required.
NOT flinching from a battlefield environment or being focused in a fight…was not it. Not that there is anything wrong with that. As I asked before:
Okay. On that we agree. Got anything else? Anything at all that it could mean? No? They did!
Muko (Takeo) Nishikido (錦戸無光／武夫) was born in 1940 on Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands near Saipan. After school in Kumamoto he moved to Osaka, where he began to train in Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu in 1959 and later established a dojo in Tokyo. In 1973 he met Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Kodokai Founder Kodo Horikawa in Kitami City in Hokkaido through the introduction of a friend. Upon feeling his Aiki for the first time he decided to discard his previous study of jujutsu and focus on Horikawa Sensei’s approach to Aiki.
Muko Nishida with Mr. and Mrs. Horikawa in Hokkaido, 1973
After commuting to Kitami for two years, he decided to relocate with his family to Hokkaido in order to further his training and received severe individual instruction in addition to the regular training at Horikawa Sensei’s dojo.
He later established his own organization to spread the teachings of Kodo Horikawa called Hikarido (The Way of Light / 光道).
The following article contains excerpts from “The Height of Aiki” (合気の極み), written by Nishikido Sensei and published in Japanese in 2017 by BAB Japan publishing company (BABジャパン出版局), which also publishes the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”).
Some of his emphasis on Ki, love and harmony in Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu may appear to be at odds with common perceptions of Daito-ryu, but it may be helpful to consider his statements in the context of similar statements from other prominent figures in the Daito-ryu world.
Tokimune Takeda, the son of Morihei Ueshiba’s teacher Sokaku Takeda and the Soke of Daito-ryu Aiki Budo:
“The essential principles of Daito-ryu are Love and Harmony”
“The goal of spreading Daito-ryu is ‘Harmony and Love’, keeping this spirit is what preserves and realizes social justice. This was Sokaku Sensei’s dying wish”
“There is no first attack in Aiki-jujutsu. Endure as much as you should endure. Even when it becomes necessary, neutralize the opponent without causing injury through Aiki.”
Yukiyoshi Sagawa, one of Sokaku Takeda’s senior students and one-time successor as Soke of the art:
“Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development”
“Aiki is the fitting together of Ki.
Through this harmonious reconciliation all things under heaven and earth in the universe move peacefully without disturbance. This harmonization is Aiki.”
Masao Hayashima (早島正雄), who trained with both Sokaku Takeda and Sokaku Takeda’s student Toshimi Matsuda (from the first page of his book – “Taoist Aiki-jutsu – the volume of Internal Power”):
“Aiki-jutsu is said to be the Budo of Harmony.”
Katsuyuki Kondo, Menkyo Kaiden in Daito-ryu Aiki-budo from Tokimune Takeda and successor to the mainline of Daito-ryu, in an interview with Aikido Journal‘s Stanley Pranin:
What are the main differences between Daito-ryu and aikido?
I don’t think there is any difference. In Daito-ryu, too, practice begins and ends with courtesy (rei). And its final goal is the spirit of love and harmony.
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Kodokai Founder Kodo Horikawa
applying Aiki to Muko Nishikido
Ai no Bujutsu – Aiki and the Bujutsu of Love
– Muko (Takeo) Nishikido (translation by Christopher Li)
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu is the bujutsu of “harmony” (和), as was stated by Kodo Horikawa, who established the Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Kodokai, in Showa year 25 (1950) in Kitami City, Hokkaido – “Neither cut nor be cut. Neither strike nor be struck. Neither kick nor be kicked.”. It is a bujutsu that handles the opponent without causing them harm.
In the case of the Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Hikari-do, the level of harmony is gradually enhanced as training progresses from the basic techniques in Shoden to Chuden and Okuden.
Harmony, that is, love.
Why is that? Because it prevents contention. When one uses “Aiki” even the very impulse to counter-attack ceases to arise.
Without harmony one cannot be led to love. The greater the harmony the deeper that love becomes. In Hikari-do we grasp this in our training through the techniques.
At first there is no real feeling when the techniques in Aiki-jujutsu are applied to you. That is because one cannot understand how or what is being done to you.
When Aiki was first applied to me I thought “What is this?”. The will to fight disappears. The desire to attack the opponent disappears.
Aiki completely strips away the feeling of the opponent to fight and their strength. That can be stripped away not only for just a single person, but even when there two, three, four, five or six people.
Seated Thousand-armed Kannon Bosatsu Fujiidera temple, Osaka – 8th century
One works to create a body that that can manage situations like that in an instant. One works to create a body like the Thousand Armed Kannon (千手観音), so to speak.
When one says “thousand”, in the past this meant a number without limit. This means that no matter where one is grabbed on their body they become able to use Aiki.
In a manner of speaking, it means that more harmony can be achieved by two people rather than one, three people rather than two, four people, five people, six people. It is the world of harmony. For that reason, contention disappears.
I think that this is real love. One person, two people, three people, four people, five people, six people – love becomes deeper and deeper.
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu is the bujutsu of love.
And then, as one draws closer to real training in the inner workings of Aiki, even the smallest portion of the ego becomes unable to enter. One enters into a selfless world without ego.
This is what I have grasped to this point.
When expressing Aiki as a chart we get something like the diagram above.
On the right side is the world of power, the world physical strength. In terms of the spirit, it is the world of the ego. On the left side is the world of Ki, the world of Aiki. In terms of the spirit, it is the world of egolessness.
In the center is the zero point, in other words nothingness (“Mu” / 無). One who has become enlightened to nothingness comes to this point. “Ah, it’s nothingness” is one kind of enlightenment.
However, even if one becomes enlightened to a state of nothingness, one cannot do anything. Even a master potter will say “Nothing can be done from nothingness”. This is still the zero point. Just coming here one can still go to the right side of the world of strength, the world of the ego, or one can also go to the left side of the world of Ki, the world of Aiki.
The right side of the world of strength, the world of the ego, is comfortable. Strength and ego can be used immediately.
Conversely, the worlds of Ki and Aiki are severe. One cannot grasp the real thing if they compromise. If one thinks to grasp he real thing they must pass through this world of severity.
Even when one attains enlightenment through Zen training, they come to this point of nothingness, the zero point. But if you’re satisfied there then you’ll reach a dead end. There is a much deeper world. Wherever you go, however far you go, there is a world without limits.
The more that one uses Aiki the more that their Ki increases, their harmony increases, their spirit enters into the world without limits.
When those people who have inhabited the world of physical strength, the world of power, the world of the ego until this time train in Aiki-jujutsu they will draw closer to the zero point. That is, nothingness. The world of enlightenment. Return to the origin. From there begins the determination of whether one will either return to the world of physical strength, power, the world of the ego again, or depart for the world of Ki, the world of Aiki.
In Hikari-do there are many types of training done in order to return to the point of nothingness. That can be called the enlightenment of the physical body – once the body has gone that far then next one is able to enter the world of Ki, the world of Aiki.
Demonstration at Police Headquarters in November 1973 Seigo Okamoto – Kodo Horikawa – Muko Nishikido
Building the Ki Body
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu first builds the “Ki Body” through training in the kihon (“basics”) and then enters into training in Aiki. When building the Ki Body physical strength (power) is not used. When the use of physical strength has ceased completely, there for the first time is the Ki Body.
There was a time during my third year of receiving instruction from Kodo Horikawa Sensei in Kitami, Hokkaido that I realized that my entire body was the Ki Body. “Ah, my entire body is the Ki Body”, I realized. When I truly stopped needing physical strength, that was my first glimpse of Ki.
In other words, I had made my way to the point of nothingness. However, I did not yet understand Aiki. If I had not been able to grasp Aiki it may be that I would have returned to the world of physical strength.
When one trains in Aiki they experience a liberation (moksha) from the physical body. In moksha there is a liberation of the physical body and a liberation of the spirit, Aiki is a liberation of the physical body. One understands – “Ah, this is the Ki Body!”. The body of physical strength becomes the Ki Body.
When compared with Horikawa Sensei’s sixty years of Aiki, my Aiki is still half of that at thirty years. Even if you just look at the shape of his body, Horikawa Sensei is twice as sharp as I am. I am still inexperienced.
That Horikawa Sensei – even past eighty years old he would say “Well, Sokaku Takeda Sensei was much greater. I’m just not there yet…”.
There are those kinds of steps in this world. It is the world of shugyo (“intense training”), so it can’t be helped. One has to build their body. Just one year, or two years of shugyo can’t hope to build the body and leap past sixty years of training.
Hoping to get even a little bit closer to Horikawa Sensei, I thought of my own method of training. I took a heavy wooden sword and swung it five or six thousand times every morning and night. I did that for five or six hours to seven or eight hours every day, and continued for about half a year.
Then, one day when I swung it ten-thousand times, the heavy wooden sword flew up away from me. I thought “Ah, it flew away!”.
So then I started swinging an iron bar several times heavier than the wooden sword. Likewise, I would swing it for a few hours in the morning and the evening about 2,500 times each, 5,000 times a day. And finally the iron bar became weightless and flew up out of my hands.
Normally I wouldn’t be able to swing it with my strength. Even with Ki I couldn’t swing it. I have swung an iron bar with Ki, but I couldn’t swing it more than a hundred times. My hands couldn’t hold it. Instead, I was better able to hold it when swinging with physical strength.
Then I thought “OK, I’ll swing it with Aiki!”. and I swung it with Aiki – two hundred, three hundred, five hundred, six hundred, one thousand, two thousand times I swung. That was the first time that I thought “Ahh, in the end one really has to train…”. If I hadn’t swung using Aiki I would probably have gone back to my original body of physical strength.
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Kodokai Founder Kodo Horikawa
Basic Techniques and the Ki Body
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu does not require even the smallest bit of strength.
That said, it’s not “relaxation” (脱力). I am not saying that relaxation is bad, but when one relaxes the become unable to forge themselves.
In Hikari-do we train from the first steps of basic techniques to training to build a truly physically resilient physique. What I am teaching is training methods for the building of the Ki Body.
I grasped this training method after meeting Horikawa Sensei. If I teach it to someone for one year their body will suddenly change. It will naturally become a physically resilient Ki Body. We have that methodology. In other bujutsu they train by learning techniques, not Ki. For that reason, they are unable to develop the Ki Body.
In order to build the physical body, one would normally lift barbells, or other things, but if you can grasp Aiki then things like that can be done simply. Muscular strength is unnecessary. Conversely, if one uses even a little bit of physical strength then they will be unable to use Aiki.
One must get a firm grasp on the basic techniques. This is important.
If one cannot grasp the basic techniques properly then they will not achieve the Ki Body. They will become unable to attain the real thing. They will develop into a body that is simply composed of techniques.
As long as one grasps the basic techniques they will quickly progress to the next level.
One dayI asked Horikawa Sensei, “Sensei, how many years will it take to get to Aiki?”. When I did that he said, “If you grasp the basics firmly, then two or three years will be enough”.
That’s because if one grasps the basics then they will naturally form the Ki Body. There are not that many people who think to purposely grasp the basics. Those who grasp the basics firmly progress quickly.
But everybody, especially those who have come to learn bujutsu, inevitably tries to throw the opponent or apply a technique and their feelings get drawn in that direction. When that happens those that could see become blind.
Among my students were some who said, “Nishikido can’t use Ki”. But there were also those that, when they finally came to training in the Hiden Ogi techniques, said “Ahh, so there is Ki, there is Aiki!”. Also, there were those who, even when shown “This is Ki. This is Aiki.”, would think “That’s just another technique”.
Training in Ki cannot progress well without a clear spirit of nothingness and concentration. That progress can be made is because that person’s spirit is in a state of clarity.
The state of nothingness is not “indifference” (無関心), it is to be able to see clearly that which is not visible. The “Ki” which was invisible to that point becomes visible. One comes to see it with their spirit. They come to see it clearly.
When one become capable of that one becomes capable of seeing Ki all of the time. To grasp this one time is simple, if one cannot grasp it then of course it is difficult. Those with idle thoughts have a difficult time grasping this.
Even if I teach “If you do this than you will see!”, there are those who are impatient and think “It’s not this, it’s not that”.
The basic techniques are the same, if you do that then you will not be able to see it. It’s quick if you focus on what I am teaching, but people can’t seem to focus.
The Resilient Aiki Body
It is written “Aiki”, but it is read “Ki wo gassuru”. That is what Kodo Horikawa Sensei said. (*See the more detailed explanation towards the end of this article).
In order to use Aiki, the body must become the Ki Body. The entire body becomes the Ki Body, and is used through the unification of Ki.
To become the Ki Body means not to use physical strength. When one does correct basic training in Aiki they will naturally become the Ki Body.
If one does not use physical strength then their strength will degenerate. When physical strength degenerates the muscles also become weaker. It’s difficult to maintain physical strength. In order to triple one’s physical strength they must really participate in a large amount of physical training. But in order to develop the Ki Body it’s acceptable to throw away that physical strength. Normally, in order to achieve the Ki Body, a normal person would take twenty to thirty years at the earliest. When one uses this with unified Ki, the Ki fills the body. As one further unifies and uses this Ki they become more and more filled with Ki. That is even further unified and utilized.
This is Aiki training. This is Aiki conditioning. For that reason, there is no end to Aiki conditioning. And thus, it builds a resilient Ki Body.
When one becomes able to use Aiki the Ki Body becomes even further developed. Even when training in the basic techniques of Aiki the Ki Body becomes further developed.
There is no other bujutsu like this. From basic techniques to a training method that build the Aiki Ki Body.
The Aiki bodies of Sokaku Takeda and Kodo Horikawa
Once one becomes capable of using Aiki, then one becomes able to build the Aiki Body with Aiki. Not the Ki Body, creating the Aiki Body.
Horikawa Sensei’s techniques were incredible, but his body was also incredible. His body was filled full with Ki. Not a soft, fluffy Ki. He was filled full with a sharp, intense Ki.
Since Sensei was a school teacher, he had never done any kind of physical labor. I always wondered “How did he develop such an incredible body?”. He didn’t have the shape of a Ki Body, his body was in the form of an Aiki Body.
Sokaku Takeda and Takuma Hisa Receiving Menkyo Kaiden in Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu, 1939
Sokaku Takeda’s body was also firm and sharp. There are pictures of them together, but when compared to Sokaku Takeda’s body Takuma Hisa still looks something like a child.
I think that Takeda Sensei must have handled Takuma Hisa Sensei like a child. Horikawa Sensei’s body was incredible, but Takeda Sensei’s was far and above even that.
Development of the Tendons and Ligaments
All schools of bujutsu build a resilient body through severe training. It is through that that one can become capable of using techniques such that are called “divine techniques”.
Aiki as well was born at the end of the struggles of our ancestors devoting their entire body and souls to their training.
There are several hundred schools of bujutsu in Japan, but the name “Aiki-jujutsu” exists only in Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu.
No matter how weak one’s body is, if they truly understand Aiki and train correctly then they will develop a resilient Aiki Body.
In Daito-ryu one first develops the Ki Body through training in basic techniques, and then begins to use Aiki. When using Ki the tendons and ligaments of the body don’t work very much. However, when one begins to use Aiki after developing the Ki Body the tendons and ligaments begin to work.
There was a time when Horikawa Sensei was admitted to the hospital after he cut his Achilles tendon two-thirds of the way through. At that time one of the doctors in the hospital said in wonder “This person’s Achilles tendon is three times as thick as a normal person’s!”.
Horikawa Sensei’s toes and fingers were also incredible.
Even normally when nothing was happening they were all stretched out wide. Just the same as I when I am stretch my finger and toes out wide to their tips.
The tendons in Horikawa Sensei’s Achilles tendon and his toes and fingers were the result of sixty years of Aiki conditioning. In other words, the tendons and ligaments throughout Horikawa Sensei’s entire body were strongly developed.
When the tendons and ligaments throughout one’s entire body are worked through Aiki training (conditioning) the tendons and ligaments start to develop and one can build the resilient Aiki Body.
Muscles, when one takes even a short break from muscular training, soon become weak. When one becomes of an advanced age their deterioration becomes visible. However, once tendons and ligaments are developed they do not deteriorate. Even when one reaches an advanced age that resilient body is preserved, and one can remain with a youthful appearance indefinitely.
Horikawa Sensei told me “Even if you’re sick in bed for a week or ten days, it’s no hindrance to using Aiki”. Even if you’re sick in bed for a week or ten days, the conditioned body does not deteriorate.
Gassuru Aiki
This happened one day in the third year of receiving instruction from Horikawa Sensei, the first year of receiving individual instruction in Kitami.
I asked Horikawa Sensei loudly “Sensei, Is Aiki kokyu-ho (a breathing method)?”. Horikawa Sensei was very hard of hearing.
Sensei said “What? Kokyu-ho? Hahaha…” – he just laughed and that was the end of it.
Then, after a few days had passed I was having tea at Sensei’s house after morning practice and an Aikido demonstration was being broadcast.
After the demonstration was over Sensei said this – “They call it Aikido, but they aren’t using the slightest bit of Aiki!”. As one would expect, at that time I asked “Sensei, what is Aiki?”.
When I did that Sensei stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, and said “Aiki is…”. I held my breath and watched Sensei’s face. And then this is what he said next.
Sensei told me “Aiki is written Aiki, but the meaning is Ki wo gassuru, it is read Ki wo gassuru.”.
“Sensei! Aiki is Ki wo gassuru?”, I said without thinking. Sensei said, nodding, “Yes, that’s right.”. I said “Thank you!” from the bottom of my heart.
Until that time I had read a number of books about Aikido, but most of them wrote about Aiki as something like “Ki wo awaseru”.
Translator’s Note: Horikawa Sensei appears to be distinguishing between “awaseru” (合わせる) and “gassuru” (合する). “Awaseru” is commonly used in modern Aikido in the meaning of “matching” or “harmonizing” with the opponent. “Gassuru” in this context is used in the sense of “unification” within the body, without relation to the opponent.
He later (1963, from a speech at a demonstration at the Hibiya Kokkaido) stressed that this process occurs within one’s own body when he stated that “In Aikido Izanagi no Mikoto Izanami no Mikoto enter and move through this old man’s body” (「合気道は、イザナギの尊 イザナミの尊が爺の体内に入り行っているのだ」) – Izanagi and Izanami standing in for Yin and Yang.
He also presented this in his use of the phrase “Ten-chi-jin Aiki”, the classical Chinese model that “unifies the forces” (“Aiki”) of “heaven and earth” (“Yin and Yang”) in man (‘jin”).
“Aikido is the way and the principle of harmonizing Heaven, Earth and Man
(Morihei Ueshiba – from “Takemusu Aiki”, edited by Hideo Takahashi).
This also lends some elucidation to one of the core principles of Daito-ryu – Aiki-inyo-ho, the “Aiki Yin-Yang Method”, or in this light, a “method for unifying the forces of Yin and Yang”, the classical Chinese union of opposites also cited by Morihei Ueshiba above.
One last point – Nishikido Sensei titled his book 合気の極み, “The Height of Aiki”. But the character used for “height”, 極み, is also the character used for “polarity” in Taiji – 太極 – “supreme polarity”, the union of the opposing forces of Yin and Yang. In the classical Chinese model, Wuji – “nothingness” (無極) becomes Taiji (太極), the manifestation of Yin and Yang. This process was also described by Morihei Ueshiba in terms of the Kototama.
For that reason, when I heard Horikawa Sensei’s explanation I thought “As i suspected, it’s different.”. When I understood that it was “Ki wo gassuru” it became clear to me.
At that time I had already understood the basics of Aiki. I had already realized the concept of the Ki Body. For that reason, I was able to understand “Ah, so that’s what it is!”.
If I hadn’t heard those words from Horikawa Sensei, It may be that I would not have been able to grasp Aiki. I was extremely thankful for that single sentence. Even now I can’t forget the joy that I felt at that time. “Sensei, arigatou gozaimasu!” – I thanked Sensei from the bottom of my heart.
And so, that was how I was able to grasp the principle of Aiki.
There was also another event. One day I was watching Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba’s demonstration at Horikawa Sensei’s home. I watched, thinking “Ah, incredible!”.
I was able to see clearly how Ueshiba Sensei was moving. “Ah, I can see how Ueshiba Sensei is moving!”, I felt.
Previously, I had not felt that way. I just thought “Ueshiba is incredible. Aikido is incredible.”.
But I was able to see it. I saw clearly what Ueshiba Sensei was doing and how he was doing it.
It must be that when one arrives at that level, things that they hadn’t been able to see before become visible, don’t they?
Cuando Sam Chin visitó Hawaii el año pasado, nos dijo (estoy parafraseando) que no es tan malo no saberlo, siempre y cuando usted sepa que no lo sabe. Eso me llamó la atención: ¿no es esta la primera parte del problema?
Cuando comencé en Aikido, había muy poca información disponible en inglés. Lo que estaba disponible era, lo sabemos ahora, altamente desinfectado (nota de Juantxo: vamos, que esa información no era completa y llegaba solo cierta parte): he aquí un buen ejemplo en el sitio web de Aikido Journal, y en el de Meik Skoss en su sitio web Koryu.com. Había muy pocos no japoneses que podían hablar japonés en ese momento, y mucho menos leer las fuentes originales, y la mayoría de los japoneses en el ojo público presentaban una representación más o menos uniforme de la historia y los detalles del Aikido.
Ahora, por supuesto, hay cientos de libros en inglés sobre el tema del Aikido, entonces, ¿cuál es el problema
Pues bien, el material en inglés, especialmente el de fuentes originales, es más un resumen que un análisis detallado del material: todavía no se ha realizado una verdadera traducción académica.
De hecho, los materiales originales producidos por el fundador del Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, son tan difíciles de leer que incluso la mayoría de los japoneses declinan leerlo en su propia lengua materna. Si lo leen, sin un fondo particular y experiencia, simplemente no hay decodificación. Peor aún, cuando lo leemos en inglés, no solo es a través de la lente del traductor y su comprensión, sino que está completamente fuera del contexto del mundo en el que vivió el Fundador, que es altamente especializado y complejo, y fuera de la contexto de ciertos otros campos especializados que son realmente esenciales para descubrir qué está pasando.
Lo sé, lo intenté, y no tuvo ningún sentido hasta años después a través de la lente de un mayor conocimiento en ciertas áreas, y por eso estaré eternamente agradecido a la generosidad de Dan Harden, que ha sido tan amable de compartir su entrenamiento con nosotros.
Eso no es para denigrar lo que se ha hecho hasta ahora en términos de traducciones al inglés, todo tiene que comenzar en alguna parte. John Stevens me dijo que consideraba que su traducción de “Takemusu Aiki”, que sigue siendo la colección más completa del fundador en sus propias palabras, es una especie de “Takemusu Aiki – Lite”, por lo que sería al menos semi -comprensible para una audiencia general.
Aún así, nos quedamos con una situación en la que la mayoría de los instructores y estudiantes de Aikido, ya sean hablantes nativos de japonés o no, no tienen idea de lo que el Fundador de su arte dijo o escribió de manera detallada.
Aha! Usted dice que su maestro es un alumno directo del Fundador, un uchi-deshi, y aprendió a los pies del maestro. Desafortunadamente, la mayoría de los uchi-deshi eran niños pequeños sin los antecedentes para comprender el contenido de las conferencias, o la paciencia para soportar el dolor de sentarse y escuchar al Fundador en las frías mañanas invernales, lo decían ellos mismos. Aquí hay algunos ejemplos: estos son de entrevistas en japonés que aún no se publicaron en inglés, pero Stan Pranin tiene varias citas similares en entrevistas en el sitio web de Aikido Journal:
P: ¿Por qué se ha perdido la sustancia (de la técnica de Aikido)?
A: Nadie escuchó lo que O-Sensei estaba diciendo. Simplemente intentaron recordar la forma externa de la técnica. Aunque O-Sensei dijo “¿De qué sirve copiar mi técnica? Si haces una técnica una vez, ya está terminada “. Debido a que hablaba como un Kami-sama (Dios), pensaron que nada de lo que él decía podía ser entendido, y ni siquiera intentaron prestar atención cuando escuchaban. Mucho más tarde, cuando olvidaron todo, a veces recordarían “Ah, eso es lo que eso significaba”. Es por eso que la práctica de la mayoría de las personas hoy está vacía. No miran otros tipos de Budo. Desde el principio, el valor de un Budo se determina mediante comparaciones con otros Budo.
P: He oído que las conferencias fueron bastante largas.
A: las odiaba (risas). Hablaba sobre los Kojikki y otras cosas, pero mis piernas se quedaban dormidas y no podía entender nada, solo me hacía llorar. Pensar en esto ahora realmente trae cosas de vuelta.
R: En términos de cómo aplicar técnicas específicas, algunas personas dicen que O-Sensei dijo esto o aquello, pero en lo que a mí respecta, nunca escuché ninguna explicación.
O-Sensei venía al dojo, mostraba algunas técnicas y luego se iba. Si tenia ganas, hablab un rato. Todos éramos jóvenes, por lo que en su mayoría solo queríamos seguir con la práctica. (sobre el contenido de las conferencias) Hablaba sobre los dioses: Izanagi, Izanami, etc. En Sakurazawa-shiki (Macrobiótica) tienen algunas ideas parecidas, así que pensé que estaba hablando de algo relacionado con In y Yo (yin y yang en japonés), pero eso es todo lo que yo entendía.
P: El Fundador solía hablar mucho sobre el Kojikki (“Un registro de asuntos antiguos”), ¿no?
A: Sí. Una vez, el Fundador trajo un diagrama del cuerpo humano y dio una explicación mientras sostenía una copia del Kojikki en una mano. Mientras señalaba los músculos y los huesos en el diagrama, dio una explicación muy detallada, diciendo cosas como “Esto es Naohi (espíritu correcto)”, y así sucesivamente. Sin embargo, en ese momento solo me preguntaba qué significaba todo eso. Fue solo una vez, así que no puedo recordar los detalles muy bien.
A: No, no. Solo discursos difíciles sobre el Kojikki, y luego él te proyectaba y decía “¡Así!”. Sin embargo, a menudo dijo que el Aikido cambia todos los días.
Así que aquí está la primera parte del problema: la mayoría de las personas ni siquiera saben que no saben. Lo que eso significa es que la mayoría de la gente está haciendo alegremente lo que está haciendo sin tener idea de que hay, o debería haber, algo más; el entrenamiento en el que Morihei Ueshiba desarrollaba todos los días desde el día en que conoció a Sokaku Takeda en la posada Hisada en 1915 hasta que falleció en Tokio en 1969.
Ahora bien, ¿por qué no lo sabemos?
Creo que es posible defender firmemente que gran parte de los registros históricos fueron deliberadamente alterados u ocultados. El trabajo de Stan Pranin muestra mucho de eso.
También es posible prestar atención a un detalle que los estudiantes del Fundador omiten mucho: que lo que obtuvieron lo consiguieron al sentir, al ser proyectados directamente por el Fundador. Una corroboración de esto es que aquellos estudiantes que obtuvieron un poco o mucho de algo del Fundador tuvieron problemas para transmitir esas cosas a sus alumnos. Es fácil ver cómo esto lleva a un colapso en la transmisión, una degradación constante de habilidades donde los estudiantes del Fundador nunca igualan el nivel del Fundador, los estudiantes de los estudiantes nunca alcanzan el nivel de sus maestros y etc.
Peor que cualquiera de esas cosas es que muchos de nosotros nos hemos sentido cómodos sin saber realmente ni entender de lo que el Fundador estaba hablando. Pídale a la mayoría de los instructores de Aikido una explicación clara de los términos y objetivos expresados en “Takemusu Aiki” y obtendrá … muy poco. Es increíble, para mí, que un instructor en un arte se sienta cómodo al no entender claramente el discurso del Fundador de su arte.
Por último, por ahora, “¿por qué no nos importa?” – esta es otra cosa que me resulta increíble, pero supongo que es típica de las personas en general y no es un problema específico del Aikido. En general, las personas están contentas de hacer lo que hacen y lo que han estado haciendo, y cuanto más tiempo llevan haciéndolo, menos cuestionan.
Me sorprende cómo pocas personas, por ejemplo, cuestionan el sistema de clasificación “tradicional” en Aikido, aunque la “tradición” solo comenzó en la década de 1940 y realmente comenzó a ajustarse al intento del gobierno japonés de regular las artes marciales bajo el Dai-Nippon Butokukai.
Debería ser responsabilidad de todos y cada uno de nosotros en Aikido ser activos en el descubrimiento de lo que no sabemos, y cómo podemos aprender esas cosas, y preocuparnos por el proceso.
Además, creo que nos corresponde a cada uno de nosotros tener una comprensión clara de lo que el Fundador pensó sobre su arte, cuáles fueron sus objetivos técnicos, filosóficos y espirituales y poder expresar esas cosas de una manera clara y convincente.
De lo contrario, ¿cómo puedes decir que estás entrenando el arte de Morihei Ueshiba?
Morihei Ueshiba medita sobre Haleakala, Maui, 1961
![Aikido, qué no sabemos y por qué no lo sabemos … [Spanish Version]](https://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/wp-content/media/takemusu-aiki-hideo-takahashi.jpg)
