In the beginning of our training in martial art, we had clear, specific, attainable goals such as learning the required techniques, forms, etc. The content and methods to be learned and the rewards (such as rank advancement) were concrete and externally motivated.

Take, for example, the process of learning a new piece of form or kata. We first learn to make the large, more dramatic movements. Progress is easily measurable, because you can see yourself being able to remember and perform the movements. The ego is fulfilled through rank and status. But as you work towards the mastery of technique, loss of ego attachment is required.

I remember a couple of students in my tai chi class. They were great students but as soon as they learned the sequence of movements to the form, they looked at each other, and said “we got it,” and never came back to class. They had taken classes in every “new age” fad and had
accumulated a lot of phony credentials. I say “phony” because this couple never stayed with any of the disciplines to the level of mastery or diminishment of ego.

Most martial art students quit training within the first couple of months. Others quit when a goal is attained, or when a plateau is reached. What happens when a dog catches the car he’s chasing? What does he do with it? What happens when one feels that he really does know how to defend himself adequately, or gets really good at performing the full curriculum with a high level of skill?

Once the forms are learned the goals become more subtle and the rewards more intrinsic. The further you advance in the art, the more numerous and trickier the plateaus seem. Subtleties such as timing, blending, sensitivity to others, energy extension, and ultimately wisdom, are more difficult to measure, and their sense of achievement, harder to gauge.

Mastery is maybe the trickiest plateau. Instead of realizing that martial art is a life-long process, a person believes they have reached all of their goals. This is a very dangerous plateau, and one that is very difficult to get off of.

The last plateau you’ll find yourself on is the one that requires you to come down off the mountain of enlightenment you’ve obtained and share what you’ve learned with others. Although it may not seem like it, this mountain-top you’ve worked so hard to obtain is just another plateau. At this stage, in order to progress, the movement is no longer upwards within yourself but horizontal, moving outwards to others, and that may mean taking a few steps down to meet those awaiting your teachings.

Posted by aikitaiji.com at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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I see an intriguing comparison between Martin Luther King Jr's ethics of extreme non-violence and Morihei Ueshiba's (the founder of Aikido) art of harmony and unconditional love.

Let's look at the ethics of nonviolent martial art in light of Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of morality.

In stage one, a person does what's right out of fear of punshment, but will naturally do whatever feels good in the moment.

In stage two, a person develops a sense of fairness, but their own needs still come first. Seeking revenge and holding grudges occur at this level.

At stage three, a person develop's a sense of community, and is motivated to "take care of his own" through peer pressure. The individual adopts the values of the group. This may include a religious community, an athletic team, a gang, or national or cultural group. Harmful deeds may be done as easily as benevolent, as long as it goes along with the group.

At stage four, an individual maintains a given social order for its own sake, and is motivated by principles such as "doing your duty" and "respect for authority." External laws are followed, such as the ten commandments, and the laws of society.

97% of the population is operating at these stages of conventional morality. Although not fixed, a person has a level of morality where he spends most of his time.

This is where people like Martin Luther King jr and Ueshiba depart from the morality of the masses.

At stage five, a person believes in the rights of every individual, including an equal right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, regarless of their personal beliefs and opinions.

Martin Luther King believed that (unlike someone operating from a strict law and order morality) some laws are simply not just, and that we have a right, and even an obligation, to defy unjust laws. He valiently battled the laws of discrimination, and fought for poor people of all races.

At stage six, a person feels unconditional love, and is motivated by self-chosen ethical principles defined by his own conscience. This person is not motivated by reward or recognition, but serves others because it is his nature to do so. He will give more than justice requires, taking total responsibility for his actions, because he no longer feels free to choose wrong.

People at stage five and six agree with the philosophy of Mortimer Adler, that justice is the one unlimited good.

Astracting from Kohlberg's theory, a high-level martial artist operates as if there is no "other," because we are all connected as part of the Tao. Here is where true spirituality is born. This philosophy was taught by both Ueshiba and Jesus, when they said to "harmonize with your attacker" and "love your enemy." This does not mean that you need to submit to evil; an ethical warrior will fight for true justice.

The largest notable difference between the ethics of Ueshiba and Martin Luther King was the principle of nonviolent resistence. Martin Luther King spoke to the more noble part of a human being, while Ueshiba realized that there are many people operating at a stage-one level of morality who understand nothing but force. There are some people who simply cannot be reasoned with. The most beautiful thing about Ueshiba's art was that he could enforce justice, through the principles of harmonization, without harming anyone.

Aikitaiji, inspired by Aikido's principles of harmony, aims to transport individuals from conventional levels of morality, to the levels occupied by Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Ueshiba, and Laotzu.

Posted by aikitaiji.com at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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I was watching Joseph Cambell's "The Message of the Myth," and it raised some interesting points regarding Aikitaiji martial art training.

Many of us have found that the religions, moral codes, and life philosphies that were handed down to us don't seem to fit life as we experience it today. The religious stories don't speak to our inner core. They no longer resonate with our souls.

Modern life changes so rapidly and has become so diverse that our culture hasn't had time to evolve collective myths that give shape and meaning to our current ordinary experience.

We come to Aikitaiji martial art training looking to fill that void.

Aikitaiji students have come to an art deeply grounded in ancient martial metaphors to find an experience of here and now. How does Aikitaiji training give these old martial metaphors new life in the context of our modern day existence?

Aikitaiji offers more than a physical discipline. It takes us farther into the "inner reaches" of our selves. In our internal training, we're looking for a way to experience the world that will open to us the transcendent, that will put us in accord with the mystery of existence. We're not looking for the meaning of life but for the experience of the immiment transcendent in the environment and spirit.

The answer becomes that we find our own--our own metaphors, myths, and poetry. A deeper experience of life.

Posted by aikitaiji.com at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (109)

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I watched "What the Bleep..." the other night on tv. It proposes the startling idea that we can create the physical reality around us through our thoughts, emotions and imagination. The evidence presented came from Quantum Physics and experts in neuro science, psychology, philosophy, math and physics. Its a well-known concept in Behavioral Science that behavior arises out of thoughts and emotions. And one's behavior, of course, alters the course of the environment. But what's more mysterious is how consciousness can affect us on a molecular, cellular, and atomic level.

In the movie, they showed an example of how the emotional content of thoughts and statements changed the crystaline structure of water. The movie pointed out that our bodies are 90% water. Love creates an entirely different molecular structure than hate does.

Another intruiging idea is that each individual cell in our body has its own consciousness. Emotional states change the structure of the cell, so that it becomes more receptive over time to that particular emotion. And as the cells divide and create new cells, the new cells are now more inclined towards that emotional state, whether negative or positive.

In the atomic plane, matter exists only as possibility until our consciousness turns to it, deciding its particular identity.

So what does that mean to us as individual practitioners of martial art? We have to go back to the classical lessons that advice us to keep the mind and the chi together at the physical center of the body. The three main realms of a martial artist are his mind, his chi, and his body. Mind moves chi, and chi moves the body.

The relationship between mind and body is transmitted by way of chi. Both consciousness and matter are, essentially, energy or chi. The transmition and reception of chi can't be separated out from its physical and mental effects.

Training the mind and body through martial art practice charges the activation and accumulation of chi. Martial art practice teaches one how to extend chi out of the body, and inward to the atomic structures. As literal creators of both our inner and outer worlds, training the energy of creation (chi) takes on a much more profound meaning.

We find our best examples of how to train chi in Aikido Master Koichi Tohei's ki exercises, which are a regular part of the Aikitaiji curriculum.

Posted by aikitaiji.com at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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