Antonio Aloia
The following editorial was contributed by Jason Perna of Old City Aikido.
When I first stepped on an Aikido mat, O-Sensei had only been gone for about 20 years. My teachers still spoke of him often and instilled a very strong sense that O-Sensei was the absolute source and represented the pinnacle of martial understanding, a level that none of us who followed should reasonably hope to achieve.
His first-generation students, having all become teachers themselves, were all still alive and actively helping to spread the art, and as I began to encounter some of them, the message was quite similar. They all protected him very carefully and spoke of him in a way that preserved that sense of awe-inspiring devotion. The practice was mostly that of preservation – very careful preservation – without much room for experimentation or innovation. I didn’t question any of it at the time, but now, decades later, I am left to wonder if the message was the right one for the future of the art, or at least whether it was properly understood.
“I think the best way to honor O-Sensei is to move the art forward in a way that is sincere, relevant, innovative, and includes the scrutiny that I believe he himself would have demanded.”
Since it was reasoned that no one else would ever be like O-Sensei, and he was now gone, how could the art ever hope to evolve or improve? Since the mandate of preservation is always accompanied by some level of deterioration, each generation was left to grapple with the notion that they were simply not as proficient or significant as the last.
Hélio Gracie is widely acknowledged as the founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, yet in contrast to the culture I just described, there are probably very few modern jiu-jitsu practitioners who believe Hélio’s game would stand up to the scrutiny of today’s competitors. Competition and daily pressure testing have led to continual refinement and innovation, and, as a result, the modern art has evolved significantly. You know what, I’ll bet Hélio would be very proud of that legacy, proud to have poured his heart into something that has likely surpassed his greatest expectations. You know what else, I’ll bet O-Sensei would be proud of such a circumstance as well, proud to imagine that future generations of Aikido practitioners might refine and expand upon his vision, rather than merely being in awe of it. What great teacher, after all, does not wish to see their art refined and improved upon by those who follow? I think the best way to honor O-Sensei is to move the art forward in a way that is sincere, relevant, innovative, and includes the scrutiny that I believe he himself would have demanded.
“The practice was mostly that of preservation – very careful preservation – without much room for experimentation or innovation. I didn’t question any of it at the time, but now, decades later, I am left to wonder if the message was the right one for the future of the art, or at least whether it was properly understood.”
Of what use am I to my students if my goal is only to be some diminished version of my teachers? I believe I should instead be working as hard as possible to go beyond the understanding of my teachers, not for the purpose of highlighting my own accomplishments, but as means of demonstrating to my students a path to someday surpass me as well. It is my wish for all of them to do so. I embrace a perspective that looks ahead with enthusiasm, and dares to believe that we might take the art further than even O-Sensei could have imagined.
Steady on…
Josh Gold
Isnt’t what you are describing exactly what O-Sensei did with Takeda’s art and the early Daito Ryu and jujutsu? Isn’t that what all arts and sciences do? Build on the past for a better future.
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Sir Isaac Newton
Tomiki aikido. Add some competition to the practice. I think thats the way to evolution the art. Not the only one.
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Kuroiwa Sensei once told me that, if one is a good teacher, one can teach something to his or her students in ten years, something it took you twenty to figure out. Then they would have ten years to be better than you.
I have proceeded on that basis with my own students .
In no art does anyone ever complete their journey of learning, there is an internal struggle to perfect what we believe we have perfected, and in turn, often challenge the dogma we have been taught. It is those same dogmas that lead Bruce Lee to abandon many techniques he was once taught and to adopt new techniques to augment the techniques he kept within his original training, he never abandoned his original training, he modified it. It is also that same belief that lead Helio Gracie to leave parts of the traditional ju-jitsu that he was taught and create something new, O’ Sensei as well. I believe what Perna Sensei is alluding to in this article is not to turn aikido into a competition (it never will be) but to “pressure test” what we are doing with it, and fix the holes.
I am a lifelong martial artist of several disciplines, and along that way, I also became a professional dancer, Martha Graham, one of the most famous choreographers often said a similar thing as your sensei, it takes 10 years to make a dancer. However, she never implied that the journey ended there, just like the meaning of “shodan,” or “beginner blackbelt” implies that your training has just begun. I learned that lesson. My original dance training was first as a student, and that classroom training was complete during that 10 years, then there was the auditioning, this would be the equivalent of “pressure” testing my learning. There are 3 jobs open, and 40 men showed up. I do not fight or engage them directly, I learn to adapt and that keyword is “adapt” to make myself more desirable to hire than them. Many of these people may be better skilled than me, but that is where I rise above my training and look to the elements that I can control and work for myself, and present myself better than my contemporaries to do this I have to leave the dogma of my training. if I stayed at my 10-year level self without change, then I am practicing to stay the same, to lose the job, I am failing to develop the primary point of my training, to rise above my limitations. If all you want to do is pass to students just the core basics of an art, then fine, but let them know that that is all they are getting, it is their job to make it their own after the core training years. If a teacher along the way taught me their limitations within their instructions, and I made them my own, is it my job to treat that limitation as a tradition and keep it, or is it my job to fix it and move forward?
Very nice. Mixed Martial Arts take the best of the different arts to create great
show fighting.
The Traditiona Martial Arts are geared more towards physical and mental development and health. We train 2 to 3 hours a week , while MMA train 3 hours a day. We practice into our late 80s of age!
Different people have different opinions about practice and all is good as long as the goal is noble and the training is safe.
Many of us are attracted to simplification and beauty .
Aikido is such a great addictive and harmonious art with tremendous health benefits .
Good points. We should not only learn from masters of the past, but consider innovations of modern training and psychology used by Olympic athletes, for example. We shouldn’t be afraid to question and continue to learn.
Respectfully, it appears Perna Sensei approaches Aikido as a fighting art as opposed to an art of reconciliation (non-violence). I have about 20 years of exposure to Aiki and many more years in Karate. The biggest error, in my opinion, regarding the approach to Karate is approaching it as a fighting art as opposed to a Satori art. In other words, I view Karate as an art that is useful for the individual to find themselves and become greater than they could without Karate. I believe it is an error for Sensei to teach martial arts from a fighting perspective. I believe students should be led to believe in themselves and not look for the next best technique to overcome someone else. In my experience the applicability of the art in my approach takes longer but the results are vastly more fulfilling. I think the same can be true for Aiki.
Eloquently put and I sense is embracing the essence of Aiki. If we defeat the enemy within, perhaps we will never have to face the enemy without. Aiki bringing a peace that others will not disturb.
Jim and Richard, your belief that Aikido is method of self purification and conflict resolution is certainly true, but don’t miss the truth and value in what Jason Perna is saying. I spent years in Japan immersed in both intense monastic training and aikido, which helped me avoid ever using my gun during 26 years of police work.
But, Jason is 100% correct that worshiping the man Morihei Ueshiba and diminishing our own potential for greatness is not helpful. There are so many directions we can take to extend the value and utility of the what O’Sensei started, it is sheer laziness not to go BEYOND what he did. Anyone committed to more than a few years aikido training can SURPASS O’SENSEI, in their own unique way. I know this to be true. If this be arrogant, I plead guilty.
I appreciate Jason’s honest and courageous essay.
I agree with Jason Perna, Sensei. I have a great appreciation for Aikido and O’ Sensei.
However, I have practiced with many different Aikidoka during my 45 years of practice nd training. I am a recipient of polio (an old dog) who fortuantley met the right Aikido teacher. My teaching has always been in rememberance of him… Merritt Stevens, Sensei.
But, along the way I was also welcomed into Ju jutsu dojo’s and Aiki JuJutsu dojo’s. The people in these dojo’s we’re always more welcoming than Aikido dojo’s. Less assuming and more interestd in sharing. As Aikidoka we need to know we all have our center of the universe and there is always something worth learning – Even if it takes awile to get it. Best wishes, Mike Pabst, Sensei
Roderick Kobayashi Sensei, founder of Seidokan Aikido, had observed that after O’Sensei died ‘traditional’ aikido continued to teach and do the art the same ways as they used to, even though O’Sensei had spent his life developing and refining aikido. In keeping with this tradition of ongoing evolution, Kobayashi Sensei encouraged studying the philosophy and arts of aikido, while analyzing and refining techniques to accommodate a modern way of life. He believed that if techniques were practiced in accordance with principles, that we could achieve unity in aikido. And that through ‘earnest, realistic and sincere’ training, would learn the true meaning of aikido.
We as martial artist strive for life long practice and just as we evolve every few years so must our art. While every martial art has a set of basics it is still individual to the practitioner, my Kanku-sho is much different now at 35 then it was at 15.
You can see this in all the great masters. O-Sensei himself evolved the art at least twice, from aiki-jujitsu to aiki-budo and then from aiki-budo to aiki-do. These evolutions took place at different points in his life and so will ours. Our students will be exposed to our martial art based on where we are in our own journey and this is what keeps our art alive and not static.
I am reminded of something that Bruce Lee said: every martial art began as a hypothesis and ended up as a dogma.
Hear, hear! Bruce Lee may have approved, too.
OSensei was a believer and proponent of the art developing beyond him. And it has, developed! There are many schools of Aikido with a great variety of approaches. Some look back to Daito Ryu while others embrace contemporary developments. You can honor his (Osensei’s) legacy so long you don’t betray it’s nature and core principles.
I don’t feel that we have received a lesser aikido as the generations progressed on the contrary. The Saito family codification of the art as one example and the new percpectives of teachers as Pranin Sensei as another prove that you can add value both by embracing tradition and using tradition as a spring board.
I’ve only been practicing for a little over ten years, but I welcome the idea of learning innovative techniques and testing with sincerity. Personally, it ensures that I’m always pushing myself to see things from another angle.
I recently finished a book called Think Again by Adam Grant, which deep dives into the power of iteration, of seeing the world in different ways and embracing new perspectives. I think, in the end, this way of thinking makes artists of all ilks poised to adapt more truthfully to a changing world. I think this applies well to any martial art.
I would not dispute Jim and Richard’s feeling that aikido is not about fighting, but about bring peace. For me, years of intensive monastic training was essential to my aikido study in Japan. I am not about fighting, but true budo is about honing the skills of protection as well as purification and conflict resolution. All of it has helped me avoid using my gun during 26 years of police work and my current security work.
I find in Jason Perna’s essay a very positive message. Refreshingly honest, courageous and absolutely true. O-Sensei is an extremely inspiring figure, but mythologizing or idolizing him, while diminishing our own accomplishments is misguided. We can – and should extend the reach and applicability of aikido far beyond anything Morihei Ueshiba ever imagined in twentieth century Japan. And his writings clearly indicate a hope that we would surpass him.
All who train in aikido seriously for more than a few years should be creating their own unique aiki, then test and apply it productively outside the dojo to make this world a better place. If we don’t, we are just lazy. Just engaged in a pleasant recreation, copying what was done in the past. Just going in circles (literally!).
I am still a newbie (4 years on the mat). I came to aikido at 48 and after years of a sedentary lifestyle. I came to the dojo with limitations and postural problemas after a serious accident as a young man….Aikido and O sensei gave me a new life ….my sensei helps me explore my aikido inside the limitations of my body and pushing it towards change…So my take on this from a totally personal perspective is contact with Aiki produces change and it begs to become your Aiki. We like O’sensei will change if we truly embrace Aiki it is inevitable.
From early days I understood that O-Sensei was an innovator, and it makes total sense to me to continue innovating, trying to outgrow our teachers, while still giving them respect and credit. This is the main reason I feel lucky to have found the teachers I did.
What a great view on how Aikido can grow.