The Principles of Ki were developed by Koichi Tohei (head Aikido sensei, and founder of The Ki Society). What Tohei refers to as “Relaxed Strength” is what Jiu Jitsu calls supple — it’s a state between hard and soft, between rigid and flaccid. Tohei maintains that the four sub-principles contained within the Principles of Ki are something everyone can practice, regardless of age, gender or physical condition.
Read MoreThe basic notion of hara is that we don't want to move our body as isolated parts, but rather move as a cohesive, unified unit. We can extrapolate this concept into our everyday life practices. For example, the more disjointed I am, the less effective I am. If I put the ironing board too high or too low, I'll be stretching or bending to the point that my back aches and I start hating ironing more than ever.
Read MoreLife is your To-Dude list. It’s not to fill it with over-achieving crap like a To-do list. It’s not to be doing one thing angrily because you really have too much to do right now, and this current task is in your way. A To-Dude list is to be filled by pointless things such as, today, I’ll take a 30-minute walk with no destination in mind, or, today, I’ll stare out of the window for 20 minutes with nothing to do.
Read MoreThe samurai, as shown in this brief insight, was just as deliberate about the small things as the large. He knew that to defeat the enemy — regardless of its size or strength — he had to first defeat the enemy within.
Read MoreThere exist certain ideals that can trigger us in powerful and often unexpected ways. Our monastery, for example, was formed out of a genuinely organic call and response. It was as though someone pulled a trigger. This triggering is often a constant refrain to the monk.
Read MoreThe attacks made on us by the rich and powerful are highly orchestrated, powerful, diverse and are occurring on many fronts. We need responses that work in pretty much any situation versus responses that are individually customized for specific or one-off attacks.
Read MoreEverything we’ve created exists because of our minds.
As we study Jiu Jitsu, we begin to realize that the fight or encounter is often won or lost depending on the state of our intention. The focus of our mind, combined with our ability to be supple and relaxed, is what determines the outcomes.
Read MoreCan the inner mystery be quantified, defined or identified? Mystics have long believed that it could. But what about artists?
Art has long been associated with our spiritual nature, or what we might call the inner creative pulse. Often considered an expression of the deeper self, artists sometimes refer to this mysterious energy as the ‘inner muse’. But what is it? And how do we more consciously connect to it?
Read MoreOften, when we are attacked in life, we either meet the attack with a forceful response, or we cringe and cower. It’s an all or nothing approach. And in many cases, people only know one or the other of these polar opposite responses.
There are times when flight or flight responses are effective, but there is an entire world of other responses, found in the middle, which are often overlooked.
Read MoreThe mind has many thoughts, and it’s rarely empty. Yet, when it’s able to pause, it can glimpse the emptiness. And a mere glimpse can change you forever.
Read More“I practiced the method of maintaining one point, one center, when there is commotion around you.” — from a student of Aikido
Read MoreWe often think of self defense martial arts as fighting arts and skills. But my Sensei often stated, “The biggest thing you have to defend against is your self.”
This advice is also true when it comes to stilling our mind. We typically associate a mind full of active and moving thoughts as a productive and healthy mind. But is it?
Read MoreWhat would be different about the way we approach life if we were meditating — in some form or another — pretty much all the time, or at least at any time we chose? And not in some dull-eyed space cadet way. Rather, in a completely normalized, functional manner.
Martial arts helped illuminate the path to get me there, and I eventually learned how to meditate in everyday life. I can actually describe how to do it, although not in this short essay. It’s a skill I practice everyday.
Read MoreI was in my brand new Jiu Jitsu gi (uniform) for the first time. I was 39 years old, needing something but not really sure what that ‘something’ was. I had all kinds of insecurity, but I couldn’t admit it. And all this tension built up in my shoulders and neck.
When I looked in the mirror I didn’t see any signs of tension. I saw a swimmer’s tapered physique. That wedge look made sense to me: I swam a lot. So this is how I looked when I hesitantly walked into my first Jiu Jitsu class in 1990… fit and ready. At least that’s what I thought.
Read MoreThe attack is coming. It could be a co-worker, a customer, a partner, a patient, someone in line at the cash register, or even a family member. Sometimes it catches us by surprise, other times we can see it coming. It’s rarely physical.
How do we deal with both the expected and the surprise attacks?
Read MoreThe martial arts has a long history, traceable to the second millennium BC. This means something: that 4000 or so years ago, we figured out there might be a better way to fight than using clubs.
Dude-Li, for example, was skinny and quite naked. He needed some kind of equalizer.
Read MoreRead MoreJujitsu is considered a ‘soft’ martial art, as opposed to ‘hard’ forms that meet an opponent’s force with hard, solid kicks and strikes. In jujitsu, which literally means “art of softness,” you don’t meet an opponent’s physical force with your own force. Instead, like water, or wu wei, you flow with the opponent’s force and use it against them to throw them off balance and flip them onto the floor before they even know what’s happening.
Dude-jitsu follows the same basic approach, only with one important difference: There’s no physical harm intended.
We need strong self defense: for physical attacks, work or social assaults, and for full-on, all-out, relentless, taking-no-prisoners “destroying the 99%” attacks.
Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.” - from The Art of War,
Read MoreThe martial arts, I came to learn, eventually delves deep into consciousness. Musicians, by comparison, learn that certain tones, timings, rhythms, melodies, changes or chords can strike their listeners strongly and emotionally. They may leap to their feet in joy, or slump in their chairs lost in tears and reminisces.
Martial arts works similarly deliberately on a subconscious level . Along the way, like the master musician, the martial artist may eventually become conscious of what makes these moments or events occur.
For the martial artist, we learn to ‘connect’ deeply within ourselves, to a spot that at first is frustratingly vague and highly elusive. We hear about from the early days of our training, this instruction to us to ‘center’.
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