Harmony in Aikido

March 23, 1992

Mark J. Norton

An incident in class tonight caused me to lecture on the Philosopy of Aikido. Two beginner students group together to practice. One of them is quite young, but very strong. The other is older and more mature. The younger got the better of the older by exterting strength and not letting up. Eventually, the older had to leave the class because he was in great pain from the strain inflicted by practice.

This younger student wasn't being vindictive. Instead, he was thoughtless. If he noticed that the other was not doing well, he didn't acknowledge it, but instead kept up his fast, hard approach to Aikido. He showed little or no remorse after his partner had to leave, but instead remarked, "Well, I guess I'll work with someone else."

I indicated that this young student was resonsible for what had happened. Aikido practice requires two people, and both must help each other if advancement is to occur. If one person is superior in strength, speed, or skill, it is he who must adapt to the other and use a level of technique appropriate to the other's level. At the end of the class, I shared my interpretation on the meaning of the word Aikido, which I will try to repeat from memory here.

Lately in my work, I have been playing with the written form of the Japanese langauge, Kanji. Kanji is a very different way of writing than what we are used to. English and most western languages use an alphabet to spell words. Kanji (as well as Chinese and Korean) uses a single character to represent a concept. The word Aikido (gesture to scroll in kamiza) is composed of three Kanji characters: Ai, Ki and Do. Do means way. It comes from the chinese word Tao, which means a path throught life. Aikido is a long path, who's final goal we never reach. None of us will ever be perfect, but merely following the way is reward enough. Ki means breath or spirit. It represents the energy in Aikido. In a sense, this is where the strength and power of the art is. This power is kept in balance by the first character, which is Ai. Ai means harmony or balance. It means that we accept responsibility for our actions. Taken together, Aikido means Harmonious Spirtual Way. It is a way of using power and skill appropriately. It means that we must care for our practice partners. It means we are responsible for someone who is aggressive against us or would even harm us. Let's try to introduce more Harmony into our practice in the dojo.

A Rebuttal to Harmony in Aikido

March 26, 1992

Mark J. Norton

I was told that on the Thursday after my speech on Harmony (see above), another instructor gave a similar lecture from a completely different viewpoint. This was told to me by someone who was there, so it is third hand at best. This person, using the same scroll as a prop, indicates that the root of Aikido is Ki-ai, with emphasis on ki. The universe is a chaotic place and it is up to everyone to impose order upon it. This extends to random and violent behavior as well. By developing the skills of Aikido, we develop the ability to extert a greater degree of control on our surroundings and our fellow man. Thus, the goal of Aikido is not be in harmony with the all, but rather to impose harmony upon it.

There is some merit in this argument. Anyone who has faced the task of teaching knows that we must at times impose order upon chaos. Indeed, life itself is anti-entropic. Ordered rather than chaotic. It is in life's own self-interest to propagate more order upon the universe, rather than less.

If Aikido gives us the ability to impose order on unruly situations, then we must also accept the consequences and results of what is wrought. Responsibility is the crux of the matter here. Blending the the flow of a situation, neutralizing rather than opposing a force is a responsible means of handling a situation. If a man attacks me and I (with superior skill) cripple him permanantly, where is the fault? With him for attacking, or with me for not using force appropriately. My philosophy leans to the latter. I suspect this other teacher sides with the former. My feeling is that we must all accept responsibility for our actions. If I can existing harmoniously with other people, there will be little need to exert control or change. This requires flexibility of spirit and attitude on my part.

It is a complex issue, especially when one assumes a larger view. Consider a madman running amok in a crowd. He rushes up to me and attacks with a knife. In a brilliant display of blending and harmious action, I turn, and he sweeps on by me. I am unhurt and have acted without violence. But the madman has turned his knife on a small child instead. Disaster results. The mistake here is not to take the view of society as a whole. The larger view demands the the madman must be neutralized, even if it means directing destructive force upon him, for it is to the larger good.

Responsibility is again at the heart of things. Now I am responsible for society at larger as well. Not all of it, perhaps. But there can be a moment in time, when I must represent society at large. In that moment, I must act for the group and not myself. The trick is to recognize such moments and to act appropriately. The ideal result is that I can apply a minimal amount of control to neutralize and contain a threat or damage. Once neutralized, healing can begin (though surgery may be required).

In my speech on Harmony, I called for all members of the dojo to accept responsibility for their partners. If we can learn to practice together in a spirit of cooperation, fewer problems will arise. If people everywhere could learn to live together harmoniously, there would be less need to impose order on chaos.

These quotes were provided later on the other teacher's version of the meaning of Aikido. He said, "Ai can indeed be interpreted as harmony, Ki as spirit, and Do as the way, but this is only one explanation. Aiki can also be pronounced Kiai, which is the cry of the hawk. It is the sound used to draw on your inner energy while throwing (demonstrates a throw). Thus, my Ki is overwhelming his. These techniques all end in harmony (demonstrates a hold-down), by controlling the uke. If we look at the world we see strife. It is up to us to control it. People get injured in contact sports, in dance classes, and in Aikido. That's why we sign release forms; it doesn't mean its nage's fault. It just means something went wrong."