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Ki! When the word is mentioned it fills the mind with thoughts of wondrous ability, many times considered far beyond the realm of normal human experience. Probably the one personage to pop into the head of the practicing martial artist, when Ki is mentioned, is Morihei Ueshiba, the great master and founder of Aikido.
The tales of Ueshiba's Ki abilities are fantastic, almost to the point where
they seem fantasy rather than true. Yet there are too many people, many still
alive today, who witnessed for themselves his ability, to think the stories
are not true. The Aikido O'Sensei had the ability to draw upon incredible strength,
discern situations, and move harmoniously, in ways that even today have not
been duplicated, though some of his students have come close.
It has been wondered by many, why was Ueshiba able to reach such a high level
of Ki skill, that no one else seem capable of duplicating? Let me say immediately
that this is not to detract from any of the wonderful Aikido masters currently
teaching today. There are many skilled, competent, master teachers of the Aikido
art currently carrying on Ueshiba's tradition, but most of them, themselves,
will admit to being unable to duplicate Ueshiba's ability.
The main difference between the Ki of Morihei Ueshiba and that of most people
today deals mainly with the modern martial artists' misunderstanding of Ki.
This probably started, at least as far as Aikido goes, and probably for the
rest of the martial arts world, since many instructors have looked to Aikido
for their understanding of Ki, with the split between the Aikikai and Koichi
Tohei.
It is in this split that we see the polarity which has caused a misunderstanding
of what Ki is and how to properly develop the ability to direct it. Let it also
be said that this situation is merely a microcosm of what is happening in the
martial arts world today.
If we take Morihei Ueshiba as the definitive Ki master, and there have actually
been many over the years, but the most famous would have to be the Aikido Kaiso
(founder), then what we see in him, which is missing in the two lines draw since
him, is a unity in the understanding of Ki.
Let us take first the Waza idea of Ki. This concept is simply, practice your
Aikido techniques and Ki will develop naturally without any special effort.
While there is an element of truth to this statement, it ignores the fact that
conscious intensity helps to direct Ki more specifically than mere movement.
An untrained person when they move, still directs their Ki, if we hold to the
idea that every aspect in life is the manifestation of the flow of this intrinsic
energy. This is why an attacker can be sensed by a person who has developed
Haragei, the spirit arts, which can act like an early warning devise, perceiving
the projection of Ki which precedes a conscious assault. The more intensity
in the emotions of the attacking person, the more palpable is the preceding
energy.
Thus everyone projects Ki naturally. A trained athlete, who has spent years
practicing a sport, will have a much more focused mind, and thus better control
of their own personal energy and body. Yet how many times do you see a sixty,
seventy, or eighty year old athlete still practicing their game? Yet think of
how many martial artists are still actively teaching and capable of demonstrating
their arts at age seventy, eighty, and even ninety.
The difference between sport personalities and martial artists (which does not
include the martial arts competitor, for they are mainly sport practitioners
and less true martial artists), is that the true martial artist is not a competitor
and thus does not waste their energy in empty pursuits. Also the martial artists,
thinking specifically of Aikidoka and Bujutsuka who do not engage in competition,
can develop true harmony of the spirit, since they are not thinking of beating
another person.
Thus the sports competitor is practicing disharmony and contention and can thus
never achieve the harmony and cooperation necessary to the higher levels of
Ki. And this leads us to the second aspect of the Aikido split, the practice
of Ki alone. There are those who content that the practice of Ki is what Aikido
is all about, thus combat effective techniques, in their opinion, do not have
to be valid or effective for the development of Ki.
In many of these types of Aikido schools, the majority of time is spent on Ki
exercises which have nothing whatsoever to do with Aikido. The students will
be taught how to extend Ki, hold one point, and do immobile postures, to prove
how effective their Ki is, and yet many of them know nothing about the actual
practice and use of Ki in actual movement. Most of all, many of these types
of Aikidoka, know nothing about self defense.
There is one story told about how Bruce Lee while on a Hong Kong talk show,
shared billing with some Aikido practitioners and other martial artists. The
Aikido practitioners were saying how they could take an immovable stance, and
allowed the other martial artists to try to move them by pushing them over.
Eventually the host asked Bruce Lee if he thought he could move the Aikidoka.
Lee stood up, walked over to the Aikido practitioner, punched him in the face,
knocking him down. The Ki ability of immovable posture was not put into a fighting
context by the Aikidoka, thus Lee was able to catch the man off guard with a
punch.
If we look to Morihei Ueshiba, we can see that both of these extremes, total
focus on Waza to the exclusion of Ki or total focus on Ki to the exclusion of
effective self defense, combat oriented Waza, are out of balance with what he
originally taught. Ueshiba was a master technician of Waza, while at the same
time being a fully focused spiritual practitioner of Ki.
One may ask, how did O'Sensei accomplish this? The answer is simply, he believed
in his art and in the Universal Ki. The main problem with most people is that
they want the physical attributes of Aikido, without sweating, and they want
the power of Ki without faith. You can have neither without their intrinsic
cause.
A person becomes good in martial arts techniques only by constant and repetitive
practice. There is no other way, there are no shortcuts. This is what the Japanese
call Shugyo. austere training. Shugyo has in some cases been translated simply
as, hard work. Yes, for the lazy, it would be nice if you could perform some
magical moves that suddenly gives you the power of Ki, but the true martial
artist enjoys the physical labor of their art. To train and to sweat is to live
fully. The life of the martial artist is one of physical labor, but it is also
the joy of that labor. A martial artist who does not enjoy the hard work of
traiing, is no martial artist at all.
Ki training, in all honesty, is more a matter of faith, as all spiritual disciplines
are, rather than a process of learning. Yet it is a matter of exercising that
faith, so that we have the confidence to draw upon the spiritual strength of
Ki whenever we need it. Some of the Ki exercises have an element of validity,
if they are then related to actual Aikido techniques.
In example, when a person learns the Orenaite, unbendable arm, it is an impressive
feat, especially when a small person lets a big person try to bend their arm,
or if three people try to bend the arm of one person. Yet in and of itself,
it has no meaning. But when you relate the Orenaite to proper Zempo Kaiten Ukemi,
forward rolling breakfalls, or to the Aikido techniques of Kokyu Nage and Irimi
Nage, suddenly the reason for projecting the Ki into the arm takes on a greater
sense of reality and practicality, which actually helps the Aikido student better
focus their Ki, since they understand there is a practical reason why.
But the bottom line is, Morihei Ueshiba's Ki grew out of his faith in the spiritual
world and this allows us, as martial artists to understand that in order for
us to reach the higher levels of Ki development, it must be a matter of spiritual
faith. Luckily this is not a matter of religion, but a matter of belief. Nearly
all, if not all, of the living religions of the world, have the belief in something
beyond this empirical world. Even some of the religions that have been branded
nihilistic or godless, have the belief in a superior something that is far and
above the physical existence, though in some cases they resist the urge to name
or personalize this ultimate for fear of being blasphemous in the attempt. Rather
they try to harmonize with the ultimate, rather than simply try to explain it.
Thus that which supplied Morihei Ueshiba with the power and ability to perform
in the incredible manner in which he was capable is none other than faith in
the spiritual existence of, what he referred to as the Universal Ki and which
people of the Western world would be more apt to name God. In dealing with Westerners,
Ueshiba was used to talking to them in ways they could understand, willing to
talk about Jesus on the same level as his charges.
Ueshiba himself, was a Shinto priest of the Omoto Kyo sect, yet with a universal
outlook, as befitted a truly spiritual person. It is believed that this ability
to look beyond culture and religion paralleled the ideas of his fellow martial
artist and friend, James Masayoshi Mitose.
When Mitose taught the martial arts in the United States, though he was raised
a Buddhist priest, he related the spiritual training to the teachings of Christ.
So much so that he eventually became a Christian minister. Yet even as a Christian,
he would explain his martial arts concepts using both Buddhist and Christian
terms which he felt were complimentary, not antagonistic.
It is known that Mitose was a friend of Ueshiba and well respected by the master,
who instructed that Mitose receive both a certificate of Judan, tenth degree
black belt, and one which recognized him as a remonstrant of Aikido. Mitose
had been with the entourage which followed Choki Motobu, believed to be his
maternal uncle, around. Among those in the group was Yasuhiro Konishi, who visited
Ueshiba many times. It is this connection which could have produced in the Kempo
master a universal understanding of Ki and it's ability to be applied through
any faith.
Like all true matters of faith, the foundation to Ki is love. Morihei Ueshiba
achieved a higher level of love, the deeper he immersed himself in the study
of Ki. This is a point that many of the Ki only people seem to miss. There have
been those who have practiced Ki only style training, which while capable of
doing certain Ki tricks, lack the essential love of Ueshiba and also lack his
amazing martial arts ability.
The same could also be said of those who are Waza practitioners, that while
they have good fighting skills, they lack the ability to deal with the high
level combat situations which marked the life and skill of Morihei Ueshiba.
Many of those who profess technical skill are quite proficient, but put them
in the ten or twelve on one situations which the Aikido founder faced and they
would be incapable of duplicating his prowess.
This is one of the weaknesses of the current group of Jujutsuka who are touting
how great their skills are, while they do fine in a one on one situation on
special mats or in rings, their skills do not hold true when on the street or
against more than one opponent.
It is through martial arts training that real Ki development comes, due to the
life and death nature of the subject. A person trying to develop Ki through
special non-martial arts exercises is like a person trying to swim without water.
It is through the serious thought of combat, of the potential to be injured
if unsuccessful, or to kill if unrestrained, that causes the most powerful focus
of the Ki.
Any true form of martial arts training is Ki training. It is not necessary to
have a separate branch of Ki study if the emphasis in the actual martial art
itself is genuine. Each punch should be a focus of Ki, each throw a harmony
with the Ki of another, each Kata an act of flowing Ki, each weapon an opportunity
for the extension of Ki, each act a form of meditation opening the mind to greater
Ki development.
Ki is the essence of life. There are those who will stumble through life never
achieving anything and always wondering why. These are people who never touch
the essence nor know it's source. Just as Ueshiba recognized his own personal
Ki and then understood it's relationship to the Universal Ki, so too must we,
if we want to truly achieve the highest levels of development. Even at an advanced
age and with a level of mastery most would envy, Morihei Ueshiba knew that he
had to practice, a statement he made to his students many times over.
If you would achieve the highest levels of martial arts while truly achieving
the best that you can as a human being, then it must be understood that it begins
with hard work in the practice of the Waza of the martial arts. It progresses
to daily training for the discipline of the body and mind. It requires the achievement
of Mushin which opens the mind to the flow of the spirit, and it takes faith
that the spirit is there and compassionate. Then it takes the growth of love
between you and your training partners that will eventually extend to all of
humanity, in the ultimate living expression of the manifestation of the Universal
Ki.
Ki! The wondrous ability of the martial arts, which when properly developed
leads to a truly extraordinary love of peace and harmony, which is the true
ultimate goal of the real martial artist. Develop your Ki.