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THE PRINCIPLES OF AIKIDO apply to your relationship with yourself and your relationship to your training partner. All aikido techniques are behavioral illustrations of these principles. The techniques become ways of seeing the principles in action. Once you have worked on the techniques, you will no longer think of them in terms of movement, but in terms of principles. In the end, you won't even think in terms of the principles, because they will become a part of you.

The relationship between you and your training partner best illustrates these principles. If you are the one practicing the technique, you are called tori. Your training partner, who receives the technique so you can practice, is referred to as uke or nage. As you practice, you will alternate between tori and uke. Such is the balance of aikido.

Important TrainingPrinciples

O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba believed that those who want enlightenment never stop forging themselves. Words or theories cannot express the realizations of enlightenment. Perfect actions echo the patterns found in nature. The two most important principles to remember when practicing are to (1) enter and blend and (2) to break your training partner's balance point.

The General Sequence of Techniques

There is a general progressive process, or sequence, to aikido techniques. The first technique is to enter and blend with your training partner's approach or attack. The next is to redirect and unbalance the attacker. You then either use a throw or control your training partner with a pinning joint lock. Last, you let go and move on. Many say that the blending and taking of balance are the basis for all aikido techniques. Pay close attention to these two principles at all times.

In aikido, most of your training practice will be from a stationary position. You will stand there as your training partner approaches and attacks. You will walk through your technique in a sequential step-by-step fashion. This is where you start. Eventually, your training practice will become more dynamic and fluid. As your training partner approaches, in an attempt to attack, you will begin to enter and blend by moving with his momentum and inertia. The step-by-step process will become one step. Finally, the blending becomes a means to take your training partner's balance, and he or she will fall in response to your movement.

Enter and Blend

"Enter and blend" means to flow with your training partner's approach or attack, rather than resist it. To enter means to move into the attack. Blending means to join it, become one with it. You will seldom be instructed to back up. You will be asked to step off the line of attack. You will be asked to move forward toward your training partner, or at least into the space next to him or her. This emptying of space allows your training partner to be carried by momentum to a point beyond the anticipated target without meeting resistance.

In judo and jujitsu—the latter being an art from which aikido derived many techniques—there is a saying that goes,"When pushed, pull, and when pulled, push." These movements were often linear in nature, pulling the opponent directly into you, or pushing yourself directly into the opponent. O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba added the element of a circular step (tenkan), so that rather than following a direct linear course, the throw follows a downward spiraling motion that adds power to the throw and the impact.

Breaking Balance

There are several ways to determine the balance point of your training partner. If you were to drop an imaginary line directly down your centerline onto the ground, it would land at a point directly between your feet. At ninety degrees directly forward and back from that point, at about a shin's length, is the balance point. If you aim a technique toward this point, it will be easy to break your training partner's balance. Another way to determine your training partner's balance point is to measure, at a radius of a shin's length, a circle around each foot. If you extend that radius by allowing, or pulling, your training partner's range of motion to go past their full extension, he will lose his balance.

Emptying can be used to unbalance. To empty a space is to not physically be where your training partner expects you to be. As your training partner reaches for you, allow his hands to continue forward beyond the point where they anticipate impact. By not being there, you will cause your training partner to lose his mental focus and physically overextend beyond his balance point, losing his balance. When your training partner is off balance, he is very easy to move, control, and throw.

Relax

Stay relaxed as you practice. A relaxed body is often the sign of a more relaxed mind and an openness to learning. Resistance produces tension in the body. This tension creates rigidity in the muscles, which makes injuries more likely. You are less likely to get hurt if you are relaxed than if you are tense. At first, it will take some effort to stay relaxed during training. Eventually, however, you will experience and know both the power and the safety in maintaining a completely relaxed body.

Breathe

Inhale as you begin entering and blending. Exhale as you execute the technique. Always exhale as you take the fall, as uke. Remember to breathe during training, and exhale during ukemi. Learning a new skill can be stressful, and people under stress tend to hold their breath and need to be constantly reminded to breathe. Also, slow, deep, rhythmic breathing is a great way to stay calm and control your emotional state.

Enjoy Yourself

O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba taught that aikido should be practiced with a joyous nature. That does not mean that one should fool around and not take practice seriously. It simply means to keep a positive attitude about the training and enjoy it. A positive attitude helps you to stay mentally focused, emotionally calm, and physically strong. Besides, nothing unbalances attackers more than to see a slight smile on your face when they are coming at you. Learning to maintain a positive attitude during training, when someone is attacking you, will help you cope with the everyday stressful situations at home, school, and work.

Maintain Physical Alignment

One of the easiest general rules about the physical alignment necessary for throws is to keep everything pointed in the same direction. Your feet, knees, hips, shoulders, and eyes should all point at, and through, your training partner's centerline. If you aim your alignment toward the opponent's balance point, you will add power to your technique.

Keep your hands in front of you, on your centerline. To keep your technique strong and avoid injury, keep your hands where you can see them. Don't let your arms get beyond the sides of your body. Keep your elbows pointed down and tucked in front of your body. Keep your arms and ki at a natural extension, as if pushing forward. Visualize the weight of your arms, on the underside of the arm. This lowers the arms' center of gravity and provides you with a sense of upward support. At the same time, think of your arms as unbendable by holding them with a springlike tension, with a slight curve at the elbow. Do not totally lock the elbow, since this produces rigidity rather than fluidity. Never collapse your arm beyond ninety degrees. This will weaken your technique.

Try to keep your hands at hip width apart. A good training visualization is to see your hands and your hips as the four corners of a square, which move together. As the hip goes forward or back, the hand on the same side goes forward or back. Keeping your hands and hips aligned helps coordinate the full-body movement characteristic of aikido.

Always stand straight. You should feel as if you are being lifted up, allowing your spine to elongate. Keep the body erect and straight. Hold a proud upright posture.

Motion and Momentum

Aikido is a very fluid and dynamic art. In the beginning, you will train by standing in a static position and practicing the techniques. Later, as your training partner approaches, you will begin to enter and blend with him by moving in to meet him and gently guiding or redirecting his momentum into the technique. Your technique will no longer be a sequential series of moves, but one fluid move. This fluidity of motion and momentum makes aikido look a lot like dance. Aikido is a very powerful dance of self-defense and personal transformation.

Move from Your Center

Your center of gravity is slightly below your navel. All movements are aligned with, and originate from, this center. Motion and momentum are initiated from the hip, coordinating all movement as one. An easy way to stay aware of your center is to keep thinking about moving your belt knot first. The knot of your belt, and eventually your hakama, will be placed directly over your center and can be used as a point of reference.

Become the Center

When doing circular movements, become the center of the circle, allowing your partner to rotate around you. O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba believed that one should move like a beam of light, fly like lighting, strike like thunder, and whirl in circles around a stable center. Think of your center as the middle point of a circle. Think of your training partner's center as the middle of his or her circle. Standing at a distance from each other, you form an oval. As your training partner approaches or attacks, the distance between the centers lessens. Capturing the center, and becoming the center, leaves your training partner going around you on the periphery of the circle. A slight turn from the center will create a greater distance on the circumference of the circle. This circular motion makes use of both centripetal (inward spinning) and centrifugal (outward spinning) forces. Spin like a top. Hold your body straight and think of your turns as if you were a top spinning at the center of the circle. By becoming the center of the technique, you generate momentum and power.

Keep Your Training Partner Close

Do not let your training partner get too far away from you. To maintain control, keep very close contact. If you let your training partner get too far away from you, you will have to reach and overextend yourself beyond your balance point, breaking your own vertical physical alignment horizontally, and losing all your power. To maintain power in your technique, keep your circular movements tight and your training partner close.

Follow the Radius and Circumference