Practice and Training to Knead the Heart/Mind (2)

When teaching overseas, in addition to leading seminars on the weekend which anyone from beginner to advanced level can attend, in some countries I have used 3 weekdays for seminars that were only for yudansha (blackbelt holders). In these yûdansha practices, there have been limits to the number of participants allowed, but the number of people who wish to attend grows each year. In the beginning, what the participants were interested in and sought were the soft movements and use of the body as I practice them. Recently, it seems that interest is deepening toward something more fundamental - the kind of mind and way of thinking that one must have in order to move and use the body in that way.

In Japan, when it comes to learning a traditional art, there are forms that have been transmitted since the days of old, by which a person learns the art. Aikidô is the same as other arts in that practice also takes place in forms. Forms are filled with important principles. By repetitively practicing forms we naturally come to acquire, or know, those principles. Forms consist of clear provisions, so that even when accounting for individual differences in sensibilities and ideas, the end result is constant and certain. Not only for those learning but for those who teach as well, even if a person's skill or senses are not superior to everyone else, forms allow a certain standard of instruction. On the other hand, practicing by forms also means practicing based upon an agreement; the moment to moment dynamics of the movement do not fall outside a certain pre-decided range. Because of this, there is a danger of the practitioners' senses becoming dull.

The way of learning by the repetitive practice of ancient transmitted forms is called "keiko". "Kei" of "keiko" denotes "to think", and "ko" means "old." Therefore, "keiko" means "to learn by thinking about the old." Among traditional arts, with respect to the martial arts there is also an emphasis on "tanren" ("training" or "discipline"). "Tan" refers to the strengthening of steel by heating and striking it, while "ren" means to make something that is hard soft and sticky.