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Chapter 2

Training Philosophy

Practice these methods intently with your entire mind and body, temper yourself ceaselessly and advance on and on; weld yourself to heaven and earth and unify practice and enlightenment. Realize that your mind and body must be permeated with the soul of a warrior, enlightened wisdom, and deep calm. (UESHIBA, M. 1991, P. 27)

The inner development of the advanced aikido practitioner establishes, incorporates, and utilizes a practical but comprehensive training philosophy.

In the beginning, aikido students simply show up for class and follow the examples of the instructor. Eventually, after consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido understands that the instructor can only teach a limited amount. The student's true success in aikido depends on one's ability to research, understand, and apply the aikido concepts to one's technique and training.

Training in aikido occurs long before you set foot in the dojo. That is the formal training. To get the most out of training, you must develop a good training philosophy. This chapter will present insights into and guidelines for developing an advanced aikido mindset, the hierarchy of training skills, training goals, physical motor training, training psychology, etiquette, dojo training relationships, keiko, shugyo, misogi, takemusu-aiki, and thoughts about the future.

DEVELOP AN ADVANCED AIKIDO TRAINING MINDSET

The appearance of an "enemy" should be thought of as an opportunity to test the sincerity of one's mental and physical training to see if one is actually responding according to the divine will. When facing the realm of life and death in the form of the enemy's sword, one must be firmly settled in mind and body, and not be at all intimidated; without providing your opponent with the slightest opening control his mind in a flash and move where you will — straight, diagonally, or in any other appropriate direction. Enter deeply, mentally as well as physically, transform your entire body into a true sword, and vanquish your foe. (UESHIBA, M. 1991, P. 31)

Wherever the head goes, the body follows. To get your body to train, first you must get the right training mindset. There are a few mindsets that can help a student of aikido, or any art in life, progress faster. The idea is not always to simply train more, but to train more effectively and wisely. One of the best training mindsets is to accept that one is learning a martial art, that it will take time to learn, and that you will make mistakes regularly, which give you the opportunity to train and learn.

Train as if your life depends on it. As a martial art, train as if you intend to use aikido someday to protect your life or the life of loved ones. Do not train as if your life is currently threatened, but train as if someday it may be. Take your training seriously with the proper intent and intensity for practical real-world applications.

As a spiritual art, train as if your spiritual life depends on it. No matter what your training partner does, you must uphold your own level of ethics and behavior. One's spiritual development depends on sticking strictly to one's work and progress. No one can do it for anyone else. We can help our training partners, but we cannot do it for them anymore than they can do it for us.

Train as if you enjoy it. O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba stressed taking training in aikido seriously as a discipline and a dangerous martial art. He also wanted aikido practiced in a joyous manner, celebrating the spiritual nature of the art. Research also suggests that one learns better and maintains training longer if the process is enjoyable.

Train with intense intent. As mentioned, two items that are very important in training are the intent and the intensity with which one trains. Intensity follows intent. If your intention is to spend time socializing with your fellow students, then the intensity of your training will be minimal. If you train with the intent only of achieving physical fitness, you will train with a higher intensity than is the case when the intent is socializing, but not enough to be able to defend yourself. If you train with the intent that you will be able to defend yourself someday if you need to, you will train with a higher level of intensity. Decide what your intent is and train with the appropriate intensity to achieve it.

Train consistently and persistently. Progress does not just come. Acquiring skill requires consistent attendance and persistence in training.

At first, train with a goal in mind. This will help focus your training. Training without a goal in mind is like taking a journey without a destination. You may travel around in circle and get nowhere. Next, train just to train with no specific goal or intent in mind. This is more process oriented, rather than content or intent oriented. Training with no specific goal means that you have a direction set, to progress, but no real destination as in reaching a specific goal or rank. Eventually, the training comes on its own. Training becomes the intent, content, goal, and process all in its own right. The destination and journey become one. Training is not something that you do. Training becomes identity and who you are.

Train to make a statement. Initially train as if your behavior while training is making a statement about who you are. What do you want people viewing your training to think about you? Train in such a way that your behavior communicates that statement.

Train for self-improvement and to improve others. The higher principles of aikido stress the common good and best interests of everyone. Therefore, to train just for self-improvement is still very selfish and does not demonstrate or apply the higher spiritual principles of aikido. One must train the self, but one must also lose the self in order to help improve others.

When practicing as tori (the one executing the technique), stay relaxed, calm the mind, and follow the instructions given. This will lead to self-improvement. When uke (the one initiating the approach and attack and receiving the technique), give honest intention and intensity to the approach and attack so that the tori can practice and improve. Do not give too little intensity and intent. This makes the practice useless. Do not give too much or you are not training, but fighting for your life. This becomes a contest of muscle and ego, not a training environment for self- and others improvement.

Train slowly and pay attention to details. The best way to progress rapidly is to progress slowly. The best way to make big changes is to pay attention to the little things.

Train in technique and concepts. Train in both the physical techniques that apply the concepts and the concepts that make those techniques effective and efficient.

HIERARCHY OF TRAINING SKILLS

The hierarchy of training skills is similar to the hierarchy of training goals. One can either use the techniques to illustrate and learn the concepts and principles or use the concepts to direct the techniques.

Using the techniques to illustrate the concepts is all too often the usual standard operating procedure. This bottom-up thinking is a way to rationalize and justify what one is doing by finding an overall strategy that will explain the tactic or technique. In most martial arts, the tactical techniques of doing battle by hitting and kicking to overpower another suggests, dictates, or even promises that this route will bring about peace. Some people need to see the little picture before they can see the big picture. Some people will need the concrete before they can grasp the abstract. Some people will learn better by first having some verbal instructions and having an internal frame of reference.

Using the concept to direct the technique is the process of finding the higher belief, concept, or strategy that one sets for oneself in order to find a way, tactic, or technique that is consistent and congruent to it. Aikido is one of the few martial arts to have a belief or strategy of peace and harmony that then dictates taking the strikes and damaging techniques out of the training and application. Some people need the big picture before they can make sense of how the little pieces fit together. Some people will need the abstract before they can grasp the concrete. Some people will learn better by just seeing and imitating the technique, by having an external frame of reference.

The goal in aikido is the loving protection of all people. The strategies for accomplishing this goal are achieved through the concepts, such as irimi (entering) and awase (blending), redirecting, kuzushi (unbalancing), nage (throwing), and controlling. The application of these concepts and principles is achieved through the execution of the techniques of aikido. Therefore, the best goals are those that are in the highest and best interests and safety of all people. The best strategies are those principles and concepts that maximize the chances of achieving this goal with the least amount of damage. In other words, do the least to achieve the most. The best techniques are those that follow the concepts to achieve the goal as directly as possible.

In the beginning, the aikido students tend to be bottom up in orientation. Later, the students begin to transition from bottom up to top down. Eventually, the students apply the beliefs in peace and harmony, through the specific aikido concepts, in the actual training and applications of aikido techniques.

TRAINING GOALS

Training in martial arts, like anything in life, is best undertaken when directed toward a specific goal by setting specific objectives, and according to specific schedules. However, one must always take into account motivation and learning plateaus.

Training goals are individual, need to be stated in positive sensory-based terms specific enough to recognize and acknowledge the progress initiated and maintained by the individual student. To obtain advanced status and rank in aikido (goal) the student must show up consistently and persistently to train with the proper intensity and intent to learn what is being taught.

It is important to find your own motivation for practice. What motivates one individual may have no effect on another. Some people move toward a goal, while others move away from fear, shame, or danger. Some people want external public acclaim, while others want an internal satisfaction. Some want money, prestige, or fame, while others want solitude and peace of mind. Some people want to be different, while others want to belong and be the same. Some people train because they feel they have to; others train because they simply want to. There is no right or wrong motivation for studying aikido. Each student must come to understand his or her own motivation and use it to continue training and progressing in aikido.

The training plateau is the understanding and acceptance that there will be times within the training schedule that one is not learning any new skills. There will be times that one does not always have the necessary motivation to maintain a schedule, to do the task to meet the goal. The training plateau can be one of the most exciting and important times in aikido training. The initial learning curve in which one learns a great deal tends to have its own momentum based on the excitement of learning and progressing. The learning eventually, and inevitably, will hit a few plateaus where nothing new appears to be learned and the old techniques may appear and feel boring. Mastery (LEONARD 1992, P. 39) suggests that through the repetitive and realistic rehearsals of training and practice of the known techniques, the skill will go from conscious competence to unconscious competence. The learning curve will then have a new base line from which to learn new skills and concepts. With this goal of unconscious competence in mind, the training plateau is no longer a plateau but a necessary, and welcomed, stage of training and practice.

PHYSICAL MOTOR TRAINING

There are many aspects to physical training. They include nutrition, exercise, and skill.

Nutritional analysis and advice is beyond the scope of this text, but it is important to realize that the fuel the body relies on has direct effects on bodily performance. Eating the wrong foods, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and the use of drugs will eventually take their toll on the body and the mind. Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido will begin to be more nutritionally oriented and healthy.

Strength training is of lesser importance in aikido because the proper execution of an aikido technique does not require physical muscular strength. O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba specifically stated that training should not be a contest of strength. Nonetheless, everyone can benefit from a toned and conditioned musculature. The only way to strengthen or tone muscles is through weight or resistance training. Visualize the movement to help coordinate and unify the body and mind. Staying completely relaxed and calm, focusing on posture and alignment, and breathing and extending ki from one's center make resistance training a practice in the application of aikido concepts. It is important to put any skill into context, so please remember to lift weights, not people, and to throw people not weights.

Flexibility training incorporates stretching exercises. These exercises increase the range of motion and help prevent injuries in training. Flexibility can help the body respond faster and more efficiently by relaxing antagonistic muscles and improving the full range of motion. Visualize the movement to help coordinate and unify the body and mind. As in strength training, staying relaxed and focused on your center, while breathing and keeping good posture, can help you apply aikido concepts to flexibility training.

One develops cardiovascular fitness through any exercise program that consistently raises and maintains a high heart rate. These exercises include running, cycling, swimming, dancing, or fast-paced randori (multiple opponent attack). Aerobic, or cardiovascular, exercise is the only way the body burns fat. Cardiovascular fitness can greatly increase the ability to train harder and longer by increasing stamina and endurance. Visualize the movement to help coordinate and unify your body and mind. Staying relaxed, breathing, focusing on your center, and extending your ki will help you apply aikido concepts to a cardiovascular activity.

Skill training takes into account the technical proficiency needed for powerful execution of techniques. The best way to gain proficiency in a specific skill is through repetitive and realistic training. Specific skill training is best thought of as either gross motor skills or fine motor skills. The gross motor skills are those that the entire body participates in using the larger muscle groups of the body and are often the easiest to practice and gain proficiency in. Under stress, the gross motor skills maintain a higher degree of proficiency and effectiveness. Fine motor skills require the use of the smaller muscle groups and are far more detailed in their action and task. Visualize the movement to help coordinate and unify your body and mind. Staying relaxed, breathing, focusing on your center, and extending your ki can help you apply aikido concepts to skill training and acquisition. Slowing down and paying attention to the persistent and consistent repetitive and realistic training with and against honest intensity and intent will help one build aikido skills. It is hard to tell beginning students to slow down and pay attention to body movement. There appears to be a natural tendency to want to speed up. They need to develop the correct form, alignment, and coordination. It is wisest to pay attention initially to each individual movement and not let momentum, speed, and ego dictate training and condition in sloppy technique execution. Correction to overcome a bad habit is often much harder than learning a technique correctly to begin with.

Block training also tends to help long-term skill retention. Block training refers to the number of repetitions that one does of a task within any execution set. One set may be ten repetitions. Another set may be five repetitions followed by a break followed by another five repetitions. In the beginning, one will practice a single technique repeatedly, as if finding a training groove and staying in it. Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido will practice finding a training groove by doing only as many repetitions as necessary to find that specific feeling. Many know that it is not training more that achieves skill improvement, but training wisely. It is easiest to stay within a training groove or block. It is harder to keep finding that groove. Research suggests that the best long-term retention of a skill comes from repeatedly finding that training groove.

As stated earlier, under stress, the body responds best to the adrenaline pump, rush, and dump, when the advanced student keeps training simple and direct in strength, flexibility, cardiovascular, and skill acquisition.

TRAINING PSYCHOLOGY

The field of sports psychology focuses on providing techniques to facilitate optimal performance. As a field of psychology, its focus is on mental and emotional development and discipline. Initially, sports psychology helps identify those internal mental and emotional blocks to better performance. It then begins to model, install, and imitate a more positive and constructive model of performance. Sports psychologists base these models on elite athletes in the field. Last, the field of sports psychology teaches how to let go and enter the "flow," the "zone," or in aikido, what we call takemusu-aiki.

One sees and experiences aikido mainly through the teaching of physical discipline and practice of the techniques. Most dojos and senseis permit very little, if any, talking while practicing and training. This type of introspection may need to be part of the personal study and journey of the aikido student. Two of the most common obstacles to optimal performance are fear and anger. One creates fear by negative internal fantasies about what might happen. Fear is strong enough to create an avoidance reaction, but usually only brings into one's experience everything that one is afraid of and trying to avoid.

Peak performers in sports and athletics demonstrate an absorption in the activity facilitated by a detachment from conscious awareness of their performance. The athlete feels a sense of ecstasy, a sense of personal power, an altered perception of time, and a sense of unity. "Peak experiences" have a high level of joy or ecstasy, feeling transpersonal and mystical, a sense of passivity, a feeling of unity and fusion, a loss of self, spontaneity, and a feeling of peak power. "Peak performances" demonstrate superior behavior, a high level of performance, a clear absorbed focus, a strong sense of self, and a sense of fulfillment with intended action but spontaneous performance. Most do not necessarily consider it playful.

The optimal arousal level refers to an inverted-u theory in which too little or too much arousal produces a decline in performance. Therefore, for optimal performance, the arousal level must be neither too much nor too little. Too little often leads to a lack of motivation or drive. Too much arousal tends to overwhelm. One need is to know that moderate zone where one is "psyched up" but not "psyched out."

The flow state (CSIKSZENTMIHALYI 1990 and JACKSON & CSIKSZENTMIHALYI 1999) characterizes a challenging activity requiring skill and a merging of action and awareness. The flow state has clear goals and feedback. The athlete concentrates on the task and the possibility of control, and experiences a loss of self-consciousness and a transformation of time. Athletes report the flow as fun, enjoyable, a loss of ego, playful, a feeling of control, a loss of time and space, and an intrinsic motivation. The athletes balance the challenge of the skill to allow themselves to feel neither too much anxiety nor too much relaxation, leading to boredom. Athletes learn to overcome inertia and get moving by facing down failure and by moving beyond their comfort zone by believing in their skill and ability. The flow creates an absorption in the task that transcends normal awareness, allowing the athletes to forget themselves, to let the competitors worry about themselves, to accept the environment as a given, and to focus on the process at hand. This flow of awareness results in a loss of a sense of clock time and any sense of effort. The flow uses winning only as a guidepost from which to set clear and specific goals that will enhance motivation and enjoyment. The flow emphasizes feedback from the kinesthetic (feel) sense of awareness and outcome information from the athletes themselves, the coaching staff, teammates, the opposition, and spectators. The flow focuses awareness in the present since the past is gone and leads nowhere and the future is still under construction. Total immersion in the present requires the ability to refocus, to use task goals, to keep things simple, to plan for the competition, to make backup plans, and to practice concentration that will direct attention. The flow only controls what is controllable by finding the optimal control level, recognizing the controllable, setting the stage, and choosing responses. Above all, the flow is fun.

The zone describes a transcendent experience in sports (MURPHY 1978 AND 1995). The zone has mystical sensations of acute well-being, peace, calm, stillness, detachment, freedom, floating, flying, weightlessness, ecstasy, power and control, being in the present, instinctive action and surrender, mystery and awe, a feeling of immortality, and unity. The zone alters perceptions of size and field, time, extrasensory perceptions, out-of-body experiences, and an awareness of a spiritual other. The zone facilitates extraordinary feats of exceptional energy, overcoming invisible barriers, and fosters an extension of energy, psychokinesis, or mind over matter. Sports and athletic performances evoke this spiritual zone through the physical and mental demands of the activities, the sacredness of time and space, and sustained and focused attention. An athlete in the zone has a sense of detachment from the results and demonstrates a dedication to the creative and integrative powers for the exploration of human limits. The zone has the ability to command long-term commitment to express a perennial philosophy of a fundamental spiritual reality that is a provisional reality of the ordinary world. The zone facilitates the need for discipline, for the knowing and expressing of a deeper perfection, an essential ecstasy, knowledge of and by identity, a rich inner world, and a knowledge and acceptance of the subtle energy body. Elements of a mind/body training program to facilitate the zone would include meditation, biofeedback, visualization and mental practice, inner seeing beyond simple visualization, dreaming, sensory and kinesthetic awareness, and the development of Ki, or the energy body.

Athletic programs that facilitate peak performances, the flow, and the zone, all have several things in common. The first is the centering of the athlete's attention and total awareness in the present task. The second is the use of repetitive rhythmic routine and training. The third is to trust one's training to the point where conscious control and thought are removed.

It can easily be seen that training with honest intensity and intent in aikido will produce peak flow and zone performances or what one might call takemusuaiki, the spontaneous and creative execution of aikido.

ETIQUETTE TRAINING

Everything in aikido begins and ends with etiquette and respect, essential parts of the continuous practice of aikido. Etiquette and respect should find natural expression in all one does. The essence of aikido is to unite "with the universes energy (ki) and to follow the dynamic flow of nature." (UESHIBA, K. 2004, P. 24).

This should be the basic principle in the mind of every practitioner. There are not a lot of formal rules of etiquette in aikido because by following the principles of nature all people will behave respectfully and with the highest good for all in mind. This represents the very positive, even optimistic, point of view of aikido.

HUMBLE CONFIDENCE, RESPECT, AND LOVING PROTECTION FOR OTHERS

In the beginning, students know that they do not know much about aikido. As they progress in training, they will often believe that they know quite a bit. Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, students of aikido come to know that they do not know and enjoy the idea that they will never know most of aikido. The advanced student accepts the lifelong learning process that keeps them actively engaged in training.

In the beginning, students look to the instructor to teach them all the aikido they need to know. Eventually, students of aikido accept that their instructor can only point the way. The path taken by advanced students is completely their own responsibility. The instructor can point the way and teach them the basics, but as for the finer points of the art, the advanced students of any martial art learn to depend more on their own drive to learn and to train.

In the beginning, one will either lack confidence or be overconfident. Aikido is difficult to learn. As one progresses in training, one has some sense of both confidence and humility. Eventually, the student of aikido maintains humility yet has attained a sufficient level of technical and conceptual skill to have something to be humble about.

In the beginning, one can seldom apply the technical skills of aikido in a structured training context. As one progresses in training, one gains technical application within a predetermined routine. Eventually, the student of aikido can apply the technical and conceptual aspects of aikido in spontaneous contexts.

In the beginning, one learns the basic techniques of self-defense. Eventually, the student of aikido is able to apply the concepts of aikido in his or her martial intent as a way of war but also as a way of life, as a way of peace.

In the beginning, one seldom has self-appreciation. As one progresses in training, one begins to appreciate him or herself and all others. Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido develops a deep appreciation and respect both for the self and for all others. The development of compassion implies that the advanced student knows that he or she can do great damage, but chooses to protect his or her training partner.

Eventually, the student of aikido learns to face all of life's opportunities with a humble sense of confidence in his or her ability and training. Such students demonstrate a respect for all of nature, including humanity with all its imperfections. They extend ki toward all in need of assistance, compassion, and loving protection.

Many would say that you can tell an advanced student by the way he or she stands, bows, and pays respect to others. Correct posture, discipline, and the respect of lowering one's head communicate a correct attitude.

A dueling scene in Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film classic, Seven Samurai, illustrates this point. Simply by watching the calmness, stillness, and proper alignment and posture of a character in the on-guard position, it is obvious who will and does win.

Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido stands relaxed and erect with the spine straight and eyes forward. When bowing from a standing position, slowly lower your upper body by bending gently at the waist. Your hands should remain at your side.

When moving, glide with a natural step moving from your center.

When seated in seiza (kneeling), your spine should be aligned, your body relaxed, your knees placed relatively close together, and your hands placed on your knees or in your lap. When bowing from seiza, slowly sweep your left palm down to the center of the mat in front of you. Follow that by sweeping your right hand around, joining your left in a triangle. As you slowly bow forward, place your elbows on the mat and your forehead on your hands. Try not to raise your buttock as you bow. Return to the upright kneeling position only after your bow has been completed.

Always bow before and after instruction and when taking turns in practice.

Be friendly, but not social on the mat. This is time for training. Keep verbalization to a minimum even if you are making a training point to your partner.

An attitude of respect and gratitude should permeate all you do. That attitude will show.

CODE OF CONDUCT TRAINING

Following a strong tradition of etiquette and respect, and in the same spirit of bushido, the advanced student of aikido will naturally develop and express a code of conduct. This code of conduct is not externally dictated or motivated, but comes from an internally validated sense of knowing.

Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido will recognize and respect the genius of O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba. He or she will have a deepening faith and commitment to the teaching of aikido and the community that he or she shares practice and training with.

By developing a deep sense of connectedness, the advanced student of aikido will attempt to refrain from all bad or evil acts, to do only those things that are good and in the best and highest interest of all, and to continue to train and practice to unify and purify the body, mind, and spirit.

Pain and suffering in this world come from ignorance. Aikido is a means to offer peace and protective love to the world. Advanced students of aikido refrain from doing harm or killing, from stealing, from sexual inappropriateness, from telling lies, from abusing intoxicants, from misguided speech and slander, from arrogance, and from misusing the lessons and gifts they have received through their aikido training.

Knowing that the best media in which to present a message are modeling and self-expression, the advanced student of aikido expresses, to the best of his or her ability, the qualities of generosity, moral conduct, patience, courage, self-control, and wisdom.

Eventually, the student of aikido trains not only to better his or her self, but also to help and be a model for others in and outside the dojo.

DOJO RELATIONSHIPS AND RESPONSIBILITIES TRAINING

There are many roles, relationships, and responsibilities within a dojo. There are the tori and the uke. There is the status of kohai, tohai, and sempai student. There are the sensei and student relationships. There is also the Shihan and sensei relationship.

The tori/uke relationship is unique in aikido training compared to other martial arts. As mentioned earlier, the tori is the one executing the technique. The uke is the one receiving it. They are the two interdependent partners in training. One cannot train without the other. It is for this reason that the development and expression of the utmost respect, safety, and gratitude is cultivated and facilitated between all training partners. Success in aikido depends on a reciprocal and interdependent relationship between fellow students and training partners. This is the heart of aikido training. Because aikido is noncompetitive, the tori/uke relationship is one of cooperation. The uke must give tori an approach and attack that has honest intensity and intent. Since aikido uses the energy provided by the approach and attack, anything less than honest intensity and intent would not truly allow the training partner to practice. The techniques in which one is training would become ineffective and inefficient in real-life situations. This could lead to harmful consequences. Too much intensity and intent would not allow beginning students to practice and train. Similarly, the technique used by the tori is executed with honest intensity and intent, but not to the extent of harming the uke.

The kohai, tohai, and sempai relationships among students are also unique and special. Few people appreciate the direct interdependent relationships and responsibilities that are at play in these student status relationships. Many times, unconsciously, these roles only have unspoken expectations. Sempai is a senior student. Kohai is a junior student. The kohai will look upon his or her sempai with respect. The sempai will look upon the kohai with compassion, patience, and fond remembrance of what it was like to begin aikido training. Both sempai and kohai benefit from this interdependent relationship. As kohai, your sempai will give you much of his or her time and experience. Your sempai will only ask that once you become a sempai, you too give to your kohai.

Ultimately, there is no sempai, tohai, or kohai. There is only the training. If one thinks too much of rank, one will not be paying attention to the lesson or training and will totally miss the beauty of aikido.

The sensei-student relationship is very important in the training and practice of aikido. The student must learn to trust in the sensei and the sensei must be worthy of that trust. Like all relationships, it takes two to make it work and be productive, but it only takes one to make it fail. Both the sensei and the student make a mutually beneficial and reciprocal agreement that betters not only themselves but also all within the dojo.

Keiko: Everyday Training

The first level of training is keiko. Keiko is physical practice and training, but it is more casual. Most practitioners of aikido begin with keiko. They begin training and practicing, but the level of intensity and intent is still rather tentative and restrained. This level of training is necessary in the beginning. Too rigorous, too fast, too soon creates little progress and too many injuries. Accept that as your level of skill and proficiency increase, so will the intensity and intent of your training.

Shugyo: Rigorous Daily Training

The next level of training is shugyo, meaning daily practice. Shugyo is the daily struggle of life. Aikido suggests we use our everyday life, inside and outside the dojo, to refine and purify the quality of life for all people. Ultimately, there is only the daily commitment to doing the best possible in everything. Rigorous daily training is a commitment to harmony and peace. It is a commitment to entering, connecting, and blending with others. It is a commitment to redirecting one's own thoughts and behaviors, as a model for others, from anger and separation toward peace and harmony. This is the shugyo aikido inside and outside the dojo.

Misogi: Purification Training

Aikido training is or can be misogi, a means of purification of body, mind, and spirit. It is the honest, genuine intent and intensity of training that provide the opportunity to minimize the learned ego identity interference, and let the unity of body, mind, and spirit occur naturally. Misogi takes the ability to control or reinterpret the signals sent from the body to the mind. What was once thought of as pain, to which the mind would send avoidance signal, now becomes the fire to forge the spirit by accepting it and staying with it or even moving into it. Misogi is the ability to invite, withstand, and even enjoy severe conditions and training.

Takemusu-Aiki: Spontaneous Creative Execution

Takemusu-aiki (spontaneous creative execution) does not just happen. It takes years of realistic repetitive rehearsal, practice, and training, before one's body will respond without effort or thought. It is a goal, but it is not the journey.

Takemusu-aiki uses Ki as the natural life force to embrace dynamic and powerful martial techniques. These "divine techniques" come of their own after a lifetime of training. There is no shortcut to takemusu-aiki. There is only the training until the training itself manifests in the spontaneous and creative execution of an aikido response that is beyond, yet embodying, all concepts and techniques.

In the beginning, one will have difficulty practicing the predetermined attack-response patterns taught. The beginning and intermediate students have not learned yet how to respond spontaneously or creatively as they are still too focused on learning the craft of aikido. Eventually, the advanced student will be able to express the art of aikido by responding spontaneously and creatively, without thought.

Like the flow and the zone, takemusu-aiki demonstrates a detached absorption in an activity with a sense of spontaneity and peak power. There are several ways of training toward takemusu-aiki, but the actual experience comes from letting go and trusting that training. This state requires the ability to center solely on the task, the use of persistent and consistent training, and the ability to remove conscious thought and control.

To train toward the goal of takemusu-aiki, the advanced aikido practitioner never forgets to continually train in the basics of aikido. It is only through the honest and genuine training and discipline through realistic repetition that the basics become naturally occurring patterns of behavior and movement. As one gains proficiency in the basics, both the body and the mind relax. The advanced practitioner of aikido begins training against random attacks and allows the development of consciousness and responsiveness. Jiju-waza is the freestyle training against an individual. Randori is the practice against multiple attackers. Both jiju-waza and randori are essential to becoming more effective and efficient in technique and more confident and spontaneous. Takemusu-aiki is the natural product of consistent and persistent training with honest and genuine intent and intensity. At some point, the advanced aikido practitioner simply enjoys the flow of the training. Relaxed and focused, the attack dictates the response. The advanced practitioner follows the natural flow of ki, enters and blends with it, redirects it, and harmoniously resolves the conflict nonviolently.

CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE

Once one understands the past, the present and future are more understandable as well. You know how you got here. If you draw a line from the past through the present, you can get some idea of what the future may hold. Aikido has many possible futures. It can become stronger or it can become weaker. That choice is ours. Each of us plays a part every time we step into the dojo, onto the mats, and train.

Aikido, as a martial art, will only survive if we choose to train with honest intent to apply aikido to a fighting or combat context and scenario. While aikido originally came from a jujitsu fighting system, its current intensity, and intent in training and practice, brings its practical application and effectiveness into question. It is only by ensuring its martial application that aikido can remain a martial art.

The inner development of the advanced aikido practitioner, to make a practical and comprehensive training philosophy a part of life, requires training the mind directly.

TIPS FOR REFINING YOUR TRAINING PHILOSOPHY