From the Aikido Center of Los Angeles’ Aiki Dojo Message - With Rather Than Against
The best Aikidoist learns to fight with rather than against.
People often misunderstand Aikido as being solely the Art of Peace. On a certain level, it is but at the beginning of our training it really isn’t. Peace, as author John Stevens has us believe, is Aikido’s destination but that “place” is at the farther end of our training. According to Glenn Yoshida Sensei, training has two stages called tanren (鍛錬). Tan means “to forge” and ren means “to polish.” This idea lends itself to the understanding that training is a journey where we start out as one person but arrive much later as someone different.
In the beginning stages of our training, we learn to aragau (抗う) or “fight against” our opponents. Here, we fall into the typical definition of fighting as “a violent confrontation or struggle.” Actively contending, resisting, and struggling with our opponents is how we tan (鍛) ourselves and grow stronger not only physically, but technically and mentally too. At the beginning, we see the person standing in front of us as merely a person to attou (圧倒) or “to overpower” or “defeat” because they are our “opponent” or “enemy.” This is not right or wrong - it is just part of the journey. Thus, for a bulk of our time as a beginner, we work harder, not smarter.
Later in our training, we ren (錬) and refine what we have learned in the previous stages of our training. Here, because it is Aikido, we learn to awaseru (合わせる). Awaseru can mean “to fight” or “to put blade to blade” but in an Aikido sense it means “to join together.” This is where we understand the meaning of the ai (合) in Aikido. The more we resist or fight against, the worse our technique is or the harder it is on us. Thus, we are forced, either by age, life, or pain, to move with our partner rather than clash against them. This is also where the person standing in front of us changes from being our opponent to being our partner and we learn to awaseru and fight “with” them rather than “against” them. Until this time, we were actively trying to resist them or dominate them. Now, we learn how to move with them and put them into a position where we use their own actions and koudouryoku (行動力) or “leverage” to defeat them. In a sense, we fight with them and work smarter, not harder.
In Aikido and in Life, there will always be something that rises up to throw us off balance. Some days we just wake up and our foot hurts for no reason. Other times it is that larger than life person cranking our wrist. Regardless, we have to overcome it. Normal people think that balance is a state that they achieve. Balance is a dynamic practice where day in and day out things come up, destabilize us, and we re-stabilize ourselves. Having the mentality to fight against these destabilizing factors causes us to unduly suffer. Using our Aikido training, we learn to fight with the untoward things that come up seemingly out of nowhere. Fighting with them rather than against them enables us to take things in stride and face them with grace.
Everything, in Life and in Aikido, is either a test of our level or a lesson we need to learn. Carl Jung said, "Whatever you resist, persists.” Understanding this, the best Aikidoists always fights with rather than against.
Today’s goal: Whatever happens today, don’t give up or give in - go with it!