This article on “What’s your Principle?” has been provided By David Rae from the Paisley-Elderslie club.
The difference between Ki-Aikido and other martial arts is the focus on uniting mind and body. This is quite an important difference.
I first joined a Ki-Aikido club way back in the 80s. I practiced with them for two years and really benefited from the focus on being relaxed and in the moment – not just in Aikido but also in everyday life. This “soft” focus helped prevent anxiety, anger and tension creeping into my martial arts practice. It helped me deal with negative emotions during everyday life.
Sensei Williams teachings uses core principles to help us coordinate our minds and bodies. To utilise the power of our “Ki,” in Aikido and everyday life. While there are several principles, it is important to remember that – if you have a principal principle – you have them all. For example: if you are extending your mind, you should automatically have a light posture and be relaxed.
Sensei Williams teaches us that by focusing on one principle it can help us to attain a balanced frame of mind. Not only when practicing our Aikido, but also in everyday life.
Often, each of us will have a different principle that is the key for us to coordinate our mind and body correctly. For me, I find that completely relaxing is the best starting place for me to reach that state.
That might sound, at first, like an easy thing to do. But completely relaxing is not as easy it sounds. Tensions occur in the body, and they occur, mostly, as a result of negative emotions we experience in our daily life. It’s no good turning up at our class full of tension. Wound up like a rubber band and then expecting to let all that go and carry out our techniques. That’s why it’s important to practice these principles throughout our lives. That and to gain the benefit of relaxation in day-to-day life.
Think about what is making you tense, anxious, afraid, or angry. Think about where in the body tension is. By letting go of tension in our body, we can release negative emotions. By letting go of negative emotions we can release tension in our body.
Relaxing is not about ignoring our problems. We need to recognise our fear, shame and anger. Recognition alone does not solve our problems. Only by having faith in ourselves, and in our abilities to face whatever comes our way, can we succeed.
In the words of that song – “Let it go, Let it go …”
David Rae, 1st Dan
Paisley-Elderslie Club