UNIVERSAL NEXUS
In our practice of Aikido we are relying on a universal pole of connection of principles that while practicing them allow us to let go of our fixation on the horizontal linear consensus reality that seems to prevail in our common everyday interactions. Instead of stopping in the midst of an attack we maintain the principle of movement in relation to the momentum of the energy field that is moving towards us.
Movement helps us release ourselves from the stagnation of static thinking which tends to lock one in place, again, principle transcends ego, and allows us to move beyond what the mind thinks it wants to do in relation to the situation upon us. We need to have reliance on the universal subconscious that spirit in its magnificent genius has bestowed upon us to collectively be able to learn many principles and simultaneously apply them without thinking to the situation at hand with continuous movement being at the forefront.
Recently in class Brian and I were demonstrating this as he was attacking me with a concentration just being on my arms and hands, I totally relaxed in the exercise but he was seriously trying to make my upper body go where he wanted it to go, that might have worked if I had stayed in place, but I was continuously moving at his speed. The movement was completely destroying his every attempt to effect anything stationary, he was myopically focused on what he was trying to do and I was simply moving, and he was unconsciously trying not to fall or flip at the same time.
So this effect of total body movement as momentum is an example that can be replicated over and over because uke is only strong in one relationship, down the line of the attack, again, a linear, limited approach to control the situation. If only a tiny amount of energy is inserted amidst the attempted committed attack from almost any angle off the line, their body goes into catastrophic failure in its attempt to survive.
This is also a demonstration in the vertical dimension of how one can move beyond their linear, horizontal life conditioning, habits, beliefs and instead of staying in the mindset of those arenas, waking up the circular, spiralic dimensions that practice of Aikido can bring into ones life. We can think the spiritual dimension is some place far away, our universal nexus is our contact in our spiritual hearts with the source that created us, that contact starts to awaken when we can let go and “trust the process“, when we can let go of what we think is going to happen and make our initial move into the unknown.
Aikido provides us with a metaphorical structure to practice from just about any level of consciousness, over the years I have seen demonstrations from almost no force being involved, to serious animalistic portrayals. I have always said, we need to be able to calibrate our involvement relevant to the situation at hand, this is where Principles effected simultaneously are an extreme advantage because we are running on the subconscious which is faster than conscious. This allows us to move wholistically and thus very efficiently.
We are able to show the levels of possible evolution practicing the art and how a person practices it tends to show their individual level which hopefully evolves with their involvement and understanding. There are people who are truly innocent and have never been in any kind of altercation, it has been our experience that it has been hard for them to even want to harm anyone, but this can vary as no one has the right to harm another, another yogic evolutionary principle that was established by the founder in the universal principle of non-harm or ahimsa. Some of these practitioners seem to have already established this principle in themselves and so like the more evasive aspects of the art.
As we practice our art of living from Aikido principles we tend to expand more internally, but, as long as we are predominately focused on the defined “external” world or whirl we tend to cut off the connection we could have with the universal spiritual nexus that we are spiraling out of if only we would loosen the grips of our attachments to continuously try to control at least this level of reality with the limited concepts of linear consensus reality and hold onto them at the expense of awakening to the awareness that precedes and is inclusive of all levels of interpretive experience that is open ended intuitive Spiritual Prescence. Thank you, Will Gable
July 1st, 2010 at 8:24 am
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July 25th, 2010 at 4:58 am
Impressive and informative content.
In looking at the world of Martial Arts in general, one sees that there are many reasons that one has for beginning to study a martial art. They were attacked or got hurt in a fight before and want to know what to if they are attacked again, it looks cool, it’s fun, whatever the reason. Often there is a hope and expectation that what they are learning will give them a “GUARANTEE” to be effective in real life. Looking for the “Technique” and not looking at the “principle or idea” that the technique is conveying. And often, what one decides to study usually reflects where they are mentally and emotionally. Generalized examples of this would be: Tai Chi Chuan (Calm, centered, grounded person), MMA, UFC ( Competetive, aggressive minded person) just to name a few. That being said, the “Uiversal Nexus” is a fresh perspective on getting to the core of one’s self where not just what one has learned/been conditioned into, but also the “process of learning” becomes equally important. And through the “process of learning”, we can then reflect on what we have “learned” and determine if it is truley assisting and serving us in our own growth, understanding, potential and non ego based expression of what we are doing.