The best Aikidoists never let their bodies forget.
Over the weekend, the dojo went camping and I was surprised at how hard the ground was. I spent several years as a boy scout and have gone camping numerous times and I don’t recall the ground being so hard. Lying there in my uncomfortableness, I remembered something Furuya Sensei used to say quite often: “Every day, hold your sword.”
What Furuya Sensei was talking about was tenareru (手慣れる) or “familiarity” or rather how not to lose familiarity. With regards to sleeping on the ground, there is a primitive sense that our bodies had that we have kind of lost with the advent of modern technology and the comfort that it brings. I am not advocating for people to start sleeping on the ground, but it might be a good idea occasionally. For Aikido or swordsmanship, tenareru means “to get familiar with” in terms of a skill acquisition. Familiarity is about the ephemeralness of skill. If we don’t use it, we lose it and the only way not to lose it is with regular practice.
Aikido is a paradox. Although it is a martial art, its aim is to destroy the Self and not the other. The techniques in Aikido can be metaphoric in that there are philosophical teachings buried inside them. For instance, in zagi kokyu-ho, we have to learn how to not resist or fight with our partner in order to move them. The more we use physical strength, the harder or more difficult it is, and we end up getting into a pushing match or deadlocked in struggle.
From the standpoint of the sword, we must conform to the sword and not vice versa. If we hold and cut with it incorrectly, the sword could break or become impaled in our opponent. To insure that doesn’t happen, we have to set the hasuji (刃筋) or “cutting angle” correctly. One way we do this is by how we grip the sword. This is not something that one spends any time thinking about when they pick up the sword and start fighting. This is something that they have trained themselves to do without thinking. If we don’t touch our sword regularly, we run the risk of losing familiarity with it. This could be detrimental and that is why Furuya Sensei reminds us: “Every day, hold your sword.”
The same goes for Aikido. Some of us have a natural tendency to resist or fight which may or may not be a conscious act. Thus, we have to unlearn that tendency and learn to awaseru (合わせる) or “move with” our partner and their attack. The more we do it, the better we get at it and the more it becomes a habit. If we don’t do it regularly, then we run the risk of falling back into our old resistive strategies.
Students often ask me how to get good at Aikido. The answer is as old as time. The only way to get good at anything is with constancy and consistency. We don’t have to train every day, but we should have a regular training schedule. In between classes, we should make time to at least pick up our sword or practice some aspect like footwork or some hand movement. This keeps us familiar with Aikido. Therefore, if we take Furuya Sensei’s advice and hold our sword every day, we just might make Aikido a habit and stop fighting every person we meet. The best Aikidoists never let their bodies forget because they never lose familiarity and thus “Every day, hold your sword.”
Today’s goal: Do one thing today to stay familiar with your practice.