Editor's note: This article by David Ito Sensei originally appeared in the Spanish language magazine El Budoka and was translated by Santiago Almaraz Sensei. Read it here in Spanish: Es Ana Trampa!
It is a Trap!
Sun Tzu said, “All warfare is based on deception.” Essentially, what Sun Tzu is talking about when he is referring to deception is setting a trap for one’s opponent. If Sun Tzu’s assertion is true then the theory can be used against one foe or a 1,000 and thus it also applies to Aikido. Aikido, like all sophisticated martial arts, doesn’t defeat their opponents with force, instead they trap them.
Sun Tzu’s full quote reads: “All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near. Offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him.” Therefore, when we think about this idea of deception, what we are really trying to do is lure our opponent into a trap. A trap is defined as “a situation in which people lie in wait to make a surprise attack.”
“Military deception” or kihen (欺騙) is “an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force.”
Trying to incorporate this idea of deception into our training as Aikidoka, we look at Japanese swordsmanship and something they call kyo-jitsu (虚 実). Kyo (虚) means to be “unprepared” and jitsu (実) means “truth” or “reality.” Every good martial artist is supposed to be “good at finding weak points” or suki wo mitsukeru nogajozu desu (隙を見つけるのが上手です). Suki (隙) are “openings” that we knowingly or unknowingly put forth to our opponents and what they try to exploit to gain an advantage and take the victory.
It is thought that we capitalize on weak points when we are in jitsu or aware and our opponents are in kyo or unaware. Most importantly, kyo-jitsu refers to one’s state of mind during an encounter. In swordsmanship, we strike our opponents when they are in a kyo or in a conscious state of mind and we are in a jitsu or subconscious instinctive mindset. The rationale is that our reactions are based solely upon our previous subconscious programming.
Typically, a normal and untrained person reacts mindlessly from a conscious state of mind. The untrained person struggles and can’t “think” of what to do and is more apt to fall into a trap. Their minds are in a conscious state which is slower and can only take in 50 bits of information per second. A trained martial artist acts mindfully from a subconscious state of mind and can supposedly see farther than the presented deception. Subconscious mindsets are supposed to be faster and can process up to 20,000,000 bits per second.
For a trap to be good it has to have shikai (四戒) or “the four commandments.” In Kendo, shikai is referred to as the “four sicknesses.” The four sicknesses are: kufu (恐怖) or “fear,” gi (疑) or “doubt,” waku (惑 ) or “confusion,” and most of all it should be a kyo (驚) or “a surprise.” Therefore, because our opponent didn’t know it was coming, it was a surprise that scares them, confuses them, and makes them doubt themselves which causes them to give up. Ideally, a trap is done in one move and in a split second. Therefore, our movements have to be purposeful and efficient. In Japanese, they say, “itto ryodan ni suru” (一刀両断にする) which is an idiom that is supposed to describe someone who is decisive or discerning but it literally translates to mean “to cut something in half without hesitation.”
Miyamoto Musashi said, “If he attains the virtue of the long sword, one man can beat ten men. Just as one man can beat ten, so a hundred men can beat a 1,000, and 1,000 men can beat 10,000. In my strategy, one man is the same as 10,000, so this strategy is the complete warrior's craft.” Understanding Musashi’s assertion, the same strategy holds true in heihou (兵法) or “the art of war” for battles with 10,000 opponents or just one and thus can also apply to Aikido.
Aikido is a sophisticated martial art that uses technique rather than force to fell their opponents. Interestingly, jutsu (術) means “technique” but it can also mean “trap.” A good trap is complicated but simple. It is complicated in its theory and practice, but it is simple in its execution. Ideally, it is the opponent's actions which leads to their own downfall. That’s why when explaining Aikido, most Aikidoka say, “Aikido uses the opponent’s strength against them.”
The technique of trapping from an Aikido standpoint is a complicated skill that takes many years and lots of repetitions to cultivate. The first step is to neutralize our opponent’s attack with movement. However, this is not just any movement. An Aikidoka’s movement is supposed to be precise, efficient, and purposeful. We create an opening, deceive them into attacking us a certain way, use purposeful movement to thwart their attack, and then they fall into our technique or trap.
For instance, in shomenuchi ikkyo omote, we are not smashing the opponent into ikkyo. Instead, we are supposed irimi or “move forward” into their attack with awaseru (合わせる) or “harmony” in order to align with the power of the attack. As we move in, the opponent realizes that it was a trap which causes them to change from offense to defense. As they change their focus this causes their body to naturally turn away from our movement out of self-preservation. This turn away causes them to lose their balance and fall into our ikkyo trap. In a good ikkyo, the uke does all the work and the nage just sets them up so that they fall into the trap of ikkyo. Remember, a good Aikidoka is efficient, precise, and purposeful.
All warfare is based on deception. Deception is the ability to outmaneuver our opponents both mentally and physically. Deception is a mindset and traps are the techniques that we deceive others into falling into. True power is having the ability to do as little as possible but still obtain the greatest amount of return. Aikido is a sophisticated martial art where we trap our opponents into giving up rather than beating them into submission. Trap them - do less but get the same result.
