Thoughts From The Edge

By Kenton McCarthy (Aikido of Scottsdale)

I started Aikido training this past summer and became a passionate and dedicated student right away. That's why October 13th is such an important date. I tore my MCL that evening. Not through an Aikido technique per se but just a clumsy move on my part during a technique.

Since being sidelined I've had plenty of time to think about many things as I am not actually doing many things. I approached watching with both dread and lament but the more time I spend watching the more I appreciate watching as a distinct and valuable technique. I appreciate it to the point where I would recommend it not only to those physically unable to currently practice but even to those who are able to practice. Now why would I suggest that? Because often one can glean more from observing than actually doing.

When asked how my knee was progressing I commented to Glenn Brooks Sensei how much I was learning from watching. He then shared with me some things he was taught under Akira Tohei Shihan. Tohei Shihan relayed to him long ago the term Mitori Keiko, which refers to just that: watching training. There is training with a partner, training with multiple attackers and the training that comes from observing. I can't begin to tell you how meaningful and valuable this training has become for me now. Both from a broad perspective but more so, I should think, from the view that lives down in the details.

The subtleties I have come to notice by watching are many. Some techniques possess or depend on them more than others but the thread which runs through all of them is this. The subtleties may be small but they seem to mean the difference between an effective and an efficient technique. In yoga one of the most important poses is called savasana and yet it is one of the simplest. Crudely put, it consists of laying on one's back, doing nothing and not moving. Hence the name corpse pose. Stunningly simple but full of nuance that may take years to perfect, if ever. Merely laying down on the floor on one's back is not savasana and vice versa.

A quick view of an Aikido technique shows bulk moves - a kind of structure - and the result, be it a throw or a pin. So what makes it work? Those overt bulk moves or the stuff that happens at the margins? Well, some of the former but more than we may realize necessary of the latter. The house I build may look good from the street but if not properly finished it may collapse under the slightest gust. I see the finishing and marginal touches of a technique as the glue that unifies the technique. But here is where things can get dicey. Uke knows this. As uke I know where I am going to end up so how much do I contribute to getting there? Do I go there or do I let nage take me there? Or do we harmoniously go there together? This is where the nuance I have witnessed comes into play. Good ukes have nudged me back to a proper technique, some have even countered to display where a lagging technique can make me quite vulnerable.

From economical footwork to a gentle twist of uke's wrist to a barely perceptible shift of the hips I've seen these small pieces can make a huge difference in their confluence with the large block components of the technique. I can, perhaps, in the right situation, knock an opponent half my size down just as one twice my size could do the same to me. Effective? Indeed. Efficient? Not so much and it requires a specific set of conditions that would allow it.

The way a guitarist's finger comes off a string, not just at the right time but with the right 'feel', giving it the right sound. The unquantifiable 'touch' of a surgeon. The word a writer adds....or omits. We all imbue into a technique our own individual motif. All the major structures and moves meet the subtleties and bring completion and unity.

And from unity comes flow without forethought. And that flow provides for a more seamless technique.