11 Questions about Aikido from Jesper Nordin to Lewis Bernaldo de Quiros
In this long form interview between Jesper Nordin, a distinguished Danish conductor, and Lewis Bernaldo de Quiros, 7th Dan Aikikai, a dialogue begins to unfold on the essence of Aikido as a martial art – its goals, purpose, and appeal in our modern age – and topics relating to issues we encounter on and off the mat.
1. What if anything is there to be gained from just observing aikido practitioners?
LEWIS: In Japan it is accepted that when injured or otherwise unable to train, practitioners should be present during trainings to watch the classes (kengaku). The key thing is not only to maintain the discipline of ‘simply turning up and honouring one’s commitment’ but through watching the class to turn visual input into a kinaesthetic feeling in your own body (this whether just watching or training).
You should strive to ‘feel’ what you ‘see’. When training normally we see the teacher demonstrate and then are busy with our partners attempting to make a translation to our own process. We copy and try approximations as we try variations in movements we already know. This is like ‘moving the furniture around the room’ and is a slow hit and miss process.
But what if the teacher is showing a quality very different from what we know? we just will not find it by reaching into our memory bank of known movement-feeling states.
For a long time I took the ‘heaviness’ that I saw in Sensei to be similar to what I knew and so would try to ‘push down from above to somehow force more contact with the ground. This did not really work as it only created tension in the upper body and restricted breathing. Through taking ukemi and learning how to ‘feel’ Sensei’s body I was able to feel something quite different, a quality (following Tohei Sensei’s term) I refer to as ‘weight underneath’.
You have to learn to make a sensory translation such that you feel the other’s body as if it was your own – which will feel very different! Getting a hit on that gives you instant orientation in terms of directing your training.
Watching from the side one not only has the opportunity to watch what the teacher shows but can additionally observe the many different translations taking place on the mat. When we can connect with and ‘see/feel’ all the different versions of what the teacher has shown taking place before us this can give valuable insights into not only the technique but also ‘penetrate’ the numerous learning strategies on display (or lack thereof). All of this is valuable information in reflecting back on our own practice and ability in learning.
To be continued…
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