The name of our art defines the essential qualities of its technique, philosophy and ultimate aims. The literal translation is as follows:
Ai - Harmony
Ki - Spirit
Do - Path or Way
The general and literal translation is "the way to achieve harmony of spirit." This is, however, only a very cursory explanation of the Japanese characters. A closer look reveals much more.
Ai, the first syllable, translates to Harmony. Harmony is a complicated and many times misunderstood concept. We often think of harmony as an agreement of parts, ideas or action, friendly relations or cooperation. In music we may think of harmony as pleasing to the ear or consonant. Harmony has a far richer and deeper meaning.
The western tradition of music is built on a scale of 12 notes, each a half step apart. If you put your finger on any note on a piano and move it either up or down to the next key (white key to black key or sometimes white to white but never black to black) you will move a half step. Repeat this action twelve times and you will have covered all of the pitches i.e. tonalities that, for the most part, comprise western music.
By combining these twelve tones you can produce either dissonant or consonant sounds. put your forearm down on the keyboard and you will produce dissonance. Place you thumb and Little finger down on two keys a palms width apart and you will probably produce a consonant sound. Dissonance is generally considered harsh to the ears while consonance is considered pleasing.
The entire tradition of western music is built on the principle of resolving dissonance to consonance. Music made entirely of consonance is bland and boring. Music made entirely of dissonance is maddening and hard to listen to. Composers from Bach to the Beatles have employed endless creative techniques to raise and relieve tension by the creation of dissonance and then resolving this dissonance to consonance.
Harmony as it relates to martial arts is similar to music. An attack by a person who intends bodily harm is akin to a dissonant musical sound. The resolution of such an attack by an enlightened defender that prevents the injury of either person results in Harmony. This is the primary objective of the art of Aikido.
Spirit, like harmony, is a complicated concept. We generally think of spirit as being a life-force, a manifestation of living energy. But we can also think of spirit as a mental state. For instance, when we train with one another we train with spirit. Likewise a dojo can have a highly positive spirit or feel. Certainly we aspire to engender this condition at Nashville Aikikai.
We accept ki as a life force. We all have it and we all use our ki to varying degrees. We hear over and over from our Sensei's, "extend your ki." As we train we learn that ki extension can replace muscle in our technique. A spirited attack is driven by ki. A defense that has ki as its basis is more powerful than one that relies solely on physical strength.
From the understanding of these two concepts emerges the principle of Aiki. Again, the translation is simply, "harmony of spirit." Again that translation hides a more subtle meaning. In order to successfully defend against an attack, we must learn to harmonize or blend with the spirit or force of the attack. Every Aikido technique is founded on this principle. When we train we practice this principle repeatedly. As Nage we always strive to make our movements reciprocal to those of Uke's attack. When the tide of the attack turns to the defensive technique, Uke must blend as perfectly as possible in order to protect him/her self from injury.
Another principle that we employ on our road to understanding Aikido is simply cooperation. We know from early childhood that a team can accomplish more than an individual. Again Aiki is in play. We train in the spirit of harmony. Competitiveness is counter-productive to learning. Therefore, when we train we seek to engage aiki as our guide. The more we train in the spirit of cooperation the more we succeed. This, of course, doesn't just mean that we fall down for one another or teach one another on the mat. Both of these practices impede rather than enhance the learning experience. Rather, we follow good training practices and respect the ability of the person with whom we are training.
I have covered Aiki and its various meanings. Though I haven't presented an exhaustive discussion of this principle, it should give you an insight into the traditions of Aikido. Do (the way or path) remains. Because of the nature of this concept, I would like to dedicate an entire post to this subject. I will do so in a part 2 to this article.
Ai - Harmony
Ki - Spirit
Do - Path or Way
The general and literal translation is "the way to achieve harmony of spirit." This is, however, only a very cursory explanation of the Japanese characters. A closer look reveals much more.
Ai, the first syllable, translates to Harmony. Harmony is a complicated and many times misunderstood concept. We often think of harmony as an agreement of parts, ideas or action, friendly relations or cooperation. In music we may think of harmony as pleasing to the ear or consonant. Harmony has a far richer and deeper meaning.
The western tradition of music is built on a scale of 12 notes, each a half step apart. If you put your finger on any note on a piano and move it either up or down to the next key (white key to black key or sometimes white to white but never black to black) you will move a half step. Repeat this action twelve times and you will have covered all of the pitches i.e. tonalities that, for the most part, comprise western music.
By combining these twelve tones you can produce either dissonant or consonant sounds. put your forearm down on the keyboard and you will produce dissonance. Place you thumb and Little finger down on two keys a palms width apart and you will probably produce a consonant sound. Dissonance is generally considered harsh to the ears while consonance is considered pleasing.
The entire tradition of western music is built on the principle of resolving dissonance to consonance. Music made entirely of consonance is bland and boring. Music made entirely of dissonance is maddening and hard to listen to. Composers from Bach to the Beatles have employed endless creative techniques to raise and relieve tension by the creation of dissonance and then resolving this dissonance to consonance.
Harmony as it relates to martial arts is similar to music. An attack by a person who intends bodily harm is akin to a dissonant musical sound. The resolution of such an attack by an enlightened defender that prevents the injury of either person results in Harmony. This is the primary objective of the art of Aikido.
Spirit, like harmony, is a complicated concept. We generally think of spirit as being a life-force, a manifestation of living energy. But we can also think of spirit as a mental state. For instance, when we train with one another we train with spirit. Likewise a dojo can have a highly positive spirit or feel. Certainly we aspire to engender this condition at Nashville Aikikai.
We accept ki as a life force. We all have it and we all use our ki to varying degrees. We hear over and over from our Sensei's, "extend your ki." As we train we learn that ki extension can replace muscle in our technique. A spirited attack is driven by ki. A defense that has ki as its basis is more powerful than one that relies solely on physical strength.
From the understanding of these two concepts emerges the principle of Aiki. Again, the translation is simply, "harmony of spirit." Again that translation hides a more subtle meaning. In order to successfully defend against an attack, we must learn to harmonize or blend with the spirit or force of the attack. Every Aikido technique is founded on this principle. When we train we practice this principle repeatedly. As Nage we always strive to make our movements reciprocal to those of Uke's attack. When the tide of the attack turns to the defensive technique, Uke must blend as perfectly as possible in order to protect him/her self from injury.
Another principle that we employ on our road to understanding Aikido is simply cooperation. We know from early childhood that a team can accomplish more than an individual. Again Aiki is in play. We train in the spirit of harmony. Competitiveness is counter-productive to learning. Therefore, when we train we seek to engage aiki as our guide. The more we train in the spirit of cooperation the more we succeed. This, of course, doesn't just mean that we fall down for one another or teach one another on the mat. Both of these practices impede rather than enhance the learning experience. Rather, we follow good training practices and respect the ability of the person with whom we are training.
I have covered Aiki and its various meanings. Though I haven't presented an exhaustive discussion of this principle, it should give you an insight into the traditions of Aikido. Do (the way or path) remains. Because of the nature of this concept, I would like to dedicate an entire post to this subject. I will do so in a part 2 to this article.
Yours in Aikido
Tom, Sensei
Excellent post Sensei. As I am still new to the art, finding additional ways to relate Aikido to things (music in this case) provides another perspective to view Aikido and martial arts in general.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading your follow-up post on the way/path of Aiki.
Thank you!
-Dave