Aikido in Brisbane

So why open a dojo?

The decision to open up a new Aikido dojo is certainly not for the faint of heart. In the modern world, its establishment alone is filled with many challenges and responsibilities, including arranging insurance, dojo space, affiliations, mats, licences, management and financial systems, compliance with legislative obligations, policies and procedures, advertising, …. and the list goes on.

With all these issues, and the fact that it’s much easier to be a student or guest teacher at someone else’s dojo, the most common question I get asked is why did you open up a dojo?

For me the answer to this question is simple – it’s something I’ve dreamed of doing since the first day I stepped on a martial arts mat some 40 or so years ago. Back then it was a Judo mat, but as time went on I transitioned into Judo’s sister art, Aikido. While the martial art changed, the dream to start my own dojo never waned.

So what is it about a dojo (or “place of the way”) that makes it so special? The obvious answer is that it’s a place where you get to learn, explore, share, and practice your Japanese martial art of choice with those who have a similar passion and interest.

For me, however, a dojo is more than this. It’s a place where we can leave our problems at the front door and for the relatively short time that we are there, live in a world which is positive, encouraging, free of politics, welcoming, non-discriminatory and fun.

The way I see it, the world is full of institutions, systems and individuals apparently hell-bent on putting people down and stripping them of their confidence. A dojo is an escape from this. My suggestion to anyone who has walked into an Aikido dojo and experienced feeling worse about themselves than when they went in – find another dojo.

And so when I opened the doors of Aikido Warrior Dojo for the first time on Saturday morning 8 March 2014, I had no doubts about what I was doing – this is where I was supposed to be. The fact that we were immediately greeted by 2 “welcome swallows” who decided to join us while we set up seemed only appropriate.

Finally a big thank you to everyone who helped set up Aikido Warrior Dojo in the last couple of weeks. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Ian Grant Sensei
Head Instructor
Aikido Warrior Dojo

Aikido training – Drawing the line between cooperative and pointless practice

The need for a cooperative dynamic in Aikido practice is widely acknowledged by most of us who practice the Art. Aside from the non-competitive philosophy that underpins Aikido, there is the practical reality that many techniques would be unsafe to practise without at least some element of compliance from our training partner.

A question worthy of consideration, however, is where to draw the line between cooperative practice and pointless practice (i.e. practice that removes or substantially diminishes the opportunity for both parties to learn).

For example, having our training partner just “tank” at the first opportunity removes the learning opportunity for both the nage and the uke. The same could be said where an often well-meaning training partner just rolls out of a technique regardless of whether the person supposedly executing it has functionally done anything to cause such a reaction.

For training to have learning validity, I think a good starting point is an acknowledgement that Aikido practice is between two equals. That is, it’s not between a human and a rag doll, or a human and some form of “uke-bag”.

Quite the contrary, Aikido practice involves an ongoing 2 way interaction between the attacking and responding partners (i.e. the uke and nage) who are acting as equals with a view to enhancing their mutual knowledge and skills. This is so, whether it be in the form of kata or free-form practice (taninzugake).

That being said, where one draws the line between 2 equals engaging in productive cooperative practice, as opposed to pointless practice, is something that might cause reasonable minds to differ. Certainly, even the very notion of such a concept as “pointless practice” imports an element of subjectivity.

However, as a working model for uke’s trying to keep on on the right side of the cooperative line, I think a practice methodology whereby the uke acts as follows is not a bad start:

The uke does not give up their centre (this is something the nage learns to take, which is not possible if it is sacrificed by the uke);
The uke gives the nage their weight to work with (without this, the nage has no sense of the reality of what they are doing).
The uke gives an honest attack (e.g. if the attack is a strike to the head, they don’t aim to miss or predict the nage’s response).
The uke gives a committed attack (i.e. the uke follows the attack through to the end and doesn’t stop half way);
The uke stays mentally connected with the nage from the beginning through to the completion of the attack (aside from importing an element of realism, this also enhances the safety of the practice);
The uke ensures that the intensity of the attack is commensurate with the abilities of the nage, the skills of the uke to safely respond and the purpose of the practice.

How far the uke can go beyond this line before degenerating into competitive and potentially dangerous practice is worthy of an article on its own. Certainly, enthusiastic free form practice can inadvertently and quite quickly slip over into competitiveness and potential danger. Fortunately, one of the roles of the class sensei is to intervene at this point and save us from ourselves!

Ian Grant

Aikido without kuzushi – It’s like pizza without cheese

For Aikido to be practised with any element of martial integrity, the ability to employ kuzushi when applying a technique is a critical skill.

I would go as far as to say that in the absence of employing kuzushi it would be almost impossible to successfully apply any Aikido technique against a structurally centred and non-compliant aggressor of equal size and strength.

For those not familiar with the term kuzushi, it is most commonly used in a martial context as a reference to unbalancing the person who is initiating the attack (uke). In other words, it involves bringing the uke’s center of gravity beyond their base of support and hence removing their ability to regain uncompromised balance. While in this unbalanced position, it becomes very difficult for the uke to resist or counter the application of an appropriate Aikido technique.

While it all sounds so simple, learning to employ kuzushi is far from easy in practice. Amongst other things, it requires relaxed sensitivity, timing, and the ability to redirect an attacker’s energy. If that isn’t challenging enough, kuzushi also needs to be employed at the time of first contact with the uke and then maintained throughout the application of the technique.

Unfortunately, I note there are a number of Aikido commentators around the web that appear to be concerned there is a trend in modern Aikido to de-emphasise and in some cases disregard the important role of kuzushi. I certainly hope these concerns are unfounded.

Excluding kuzushi from our practice would effectively render Aikido useless from a martial perspective. For me, Aikido without kuzushi is like pizza without cheese. It’s not something I’m interested in trying.

Ian Grant
Head Instructor
Aikido Warrior Dojo

How to do a forward roll?

For many people, learning to forward roll is probably one of the most challenging and frustrating parts of Aikido training. I read recently that fear of rolling is one of the major reasons that people avoid taking up Aikido. It is also apparantly one of the major reasons people leave.

Over the years, I have had the misfortune of witnessing way too many Aikido practitioners mistake a forward roll as some form of straight over the head circus tumble. The end result is always the same – injury followed by fear. This is particularly so if you try to circus tumble out of a correctly applied Aikido technique.

One of the most effective forward rolling methods that I have seen is that developed and applied by Donovan Waite Sensei (7th Dan). This method of rolling is what is taught at our dojo. Major benefits include that is more gentle on the body, easier to learn, and importantly martially effective.

For further information on falling arts in aikido – see our video library

Ian Grant
Dojo Cho
Aikido Warrior Dojo

Avoiding injury in Aikido training

It is only natural for anyone interested in taking up a martial art to be concerned about the potential for injury. Fortunately, serious injuries in Aikido are quite rare.

On its face this probably seems strange given that Aikido is a full contact martial art which amongst other things involves techniques where the attacker almost always ends up being sent to the ground. The outcome can largely be attributed to the higher emphasis on safe practice advocated by the vast majority of dojo’s.

While safe practice is a without doubt everyone’s responsibility in the dojo, there are many simple things that an individual can do to minimise their chance of injury during training practice. These include the following:

Always warm up

Make sure you get to class in time to participate in the preliminary warm up exercises. If for some reason are late, take responsibility and do some warm up exercises prior to starting active practice.

Make learning ukemi (the art of falling) a priority

It cannot be emphasised enough that learning to fall and roll correctly out of techniques (i.e. ukemi) is absolutely critical to the practice of Aikido. Practitioners who for whatever reason decide not to learn ukemi not only place themselves in a position where it almost impossible to become proficient in our martial art, but also place themselves at high risk of harm.

Learn to relax

Always easier said than done when you first start, but if you can maintain a relaxed state of mind and body during practice, your chance of injury significantly decreases. Remember its much easier to snap a twig than a pillow.

Listen to the Sensei (teacher)

Your safety is the Sensei’s priority. If the Sensei points out that a particular technique has the potential for risk take note of this and the stated ways of avoiding it.

Be aware of your surrounds

When practising techniques, remain aware that others are also sharing the mat – in short do not set yourself up to be thrown on another person. Conversely, do not linger on the mat after receiving a technique.

Be honest about your abilities

Don’t train beyond your abilities. If you need your partner to slow down or take it easy because you are getting out of your depth – be upfront. Further, if your training partner for some reason is starting to rely on physical strength rather than technique or for any reason is getting rough, speak up and bring it to their attention.

Practise more than once a week

I recently read a report that a research study undertaken for a master’s thesis found that persons who practice Aikido less than twice a week or more than 5 times a week experienced a significantly higher injury rate than those who practised between 2-5 times a week. This is something you may wish to keep in mind when planning your training schedule.

Other factors

In a study by Phillip Smith published in the Spring 2009 Edition of the Journal of Sports Therapy it was found that there appears to be no correlation between injuries in Aikido and any of the following factors –

grade of the student;
age of the student; or
years of practice.

Ian Grant
Head Instructor
Aikido Warrior Dojo