Ki and the classroom teacher

Here is piece I wrote in 2003, while I was living in Japan.



The bell rings at Niiharu Middle School.

I gather my books and trek upstairs to my classroom.

Inside I hear the students...laughing, talking about various things, playing jokes on each other, and generally making a hell of a lot of noise.




I open the door, and my spirit enters the room.

With my spirit, the feeling of structure enters the room. The Sensei is here. The most compliant students race to their desks.

My spirit thus far fills half the room. There are pockets of resistance to my will.

"Good Morning" I boom, silencing 95 percent of the spirits.

The room is now mine. I impose the structure, the format, and the rules for learning. I am the game master.

I hear two unfocused spirits rise up in the sea of students. They are talking about their hair. Simply focusing my attention on them, the KI of the room shifts from me to them. All eyes in the room divert their direction. Under a wave of curious eyes they fall silent.



My teaching partner begins. She teaches a painfully boring lecture. The previously enegized spirit of the room dwindles and sputters. I begin to stare out the window, daydreaming of other things.

Catching myself, it is my turn again. With a clap and a shout I reenergize the room. This time I give the students more power. We are balanced. They shout out questions and laugh and joke with me.

Class is over. I go to the elementary school to teach a special class.



40 six year olds tackle me when I come in the door. I don't understand their childish Japanese. Their faces are covered in snot and filth. Their energy is uncontainable. They scream and shout. They steal my things and run around the room with them. I am not used to this tremendous raw energy. It is solely focused on me.

I pull out a container of special bubbles made from a glue from my pocket. The lovely little bubbles won't pop when touched. Neat. I fill the room full of bubbles. The energy of the child river now fires in all directions as they give bubbles chase. I smile to myself thinking I had just performed the ninja disappearing technique. While the children hunt for their fragile prizes, I gather my energy and figure out a plan to refocus them when they regroup.




Ki works in interesting ways. Motion, intent, and focus all dance together. Now that I recognize these energies and the way they play with the mind, I can now affect them in ways...only a Sensei...a school teacher can.


Walk In Peace

What is Ki - What is Chi

Here is the modern simplified Japanese character for Ki.



Personally I like the slightly older version. This one is still in use in China, but pronounced "Chi". Most Aiki martial artists in Japan also seem to favor this one.



This is a modern simplified Chinese version - with cool stroke order animation!





Construction of the Character

The image behind this pictogram is cooking rice with vapors coming off of it.

I made a video to explain



So lets try to get a clearer understanding of the meaning of this word. I think most people have a poor concept of it. They see it as magic, or the force.

The dictionary definition is Gas, Spirit

The original meaning was Gas

Let's look at some Japanese words using Ki in the "gas" context

Kitai - gas, vapor
Kika - evaporation
kiryu - air current
kanki - ventialtion




It also has many atmosphere feelings to the word

taiki - the atmosphere
fun'iki - mood
keiki - things, times, business conditions


Ki can also mean Breath

kikan - trachea, windpipe
kisoku - breathing
ikik ni - in one breath, at a breath


Ki - vital energy, spirit, breath of life, vitality

byoki - sickness
genki - vigor health
seiki, energy, essence
yuki - valor, courage

Ki as energy or force

denki - electricity
jiki - magneticism

Ki as natural phenomena



kisho - weather conditions
kiko - climate
tenki - weather

Ki as spirit, mind, conciousness



shoki - sanity
kyoki - insanity
kigamae - readiness of mind
kizuku - notice, become aware of
kimochi - feeling
kimae - generosity
honki - seriousness


When used as a suffix - can indicate temperment, temper, disposition, pne's nature, character.

tsuyoki no - strong, firm
tanki na - short tempered
makenki - unyielding

Ki as "mind to do something, intention, will"

kiraku na - easy going
kaiki - bullish
hakike - nausea

Ki also has meanings like - care. attention, precaution, sign, indication, symptom, trance air, flavor, a dash of



When independent it Ki feels more like

Spirit, mind conciousness, one's feelings, mood, frame of mind, temperment, temper, disposition, one's nature, intention, will, attention and precaution

In a special reading it can also mean honor and self respect.


So I hope this has helped to confuse you on the complex meaning of ki. Really by looking at the words the Japanese make out of it, I think the meaning becomes somewhat clearer, and useful for our practice as Budoka.

Brew and a throw

One of my hobbies is crafting fine beers. My wife makes it. Four of my neighbors make the sweet elixir that makes life worth living. We are a serious beer makers and drinkers of the best man can make.

My next door neighbor works at the home brew shop. He is always coming over with the latest advice. Strangely his advice is always changing, as he continues to learn his art. Brewing under the watchful eyes of a master of his craft can be challenging, simply because our systems and understanding is different.

I think I do everything wrong according to my brew miester neighbor, but you know what - I still make some damn fine beer.



I guess that is the same spirit I practice my arts in. I crave the connection of other artists, I learn lessons from them, challenge their ideas. At the end of the day, I just need to work my craft with all the knowledge gained, but with the passion of working my own art - as an artist.

I think I do everything wrong according to the Aiki world...but you know what; I throw people pretty nice, I teach them how to do it, AND I make a damn fine India Pale Ale.

Shizentai - How far apart are the feet?

Recently on my favorite blog, I was reading...

"In shizentai (natural, upright posture) the feet are less than hip-width apart. The farther apart you get your feet, the greater the tendency to get both of them out from under your center. From this mid-point of shizentai, you want to take small, conservative steps - as small as practical to get the job done."
target="_blank">Shizentai

I hate to seem a like a nag to my favorite blogger, I seem to be practicing a different style of the art than him. But it is through those differences I am learning the most. He could probably kick my butt and is a true scholar so take everything I have to say with a grain of salt. Thank you sensei for the inspiration, your hard work and putting up with my daily banter.




Now on to the topic at hand.

Keep your feet less than hip width apart.

Really? I don't see this, myself. I understand some people do some nice Aikido with this in mind, but I do not see keeping your feet close together as Shizentai.

Shizentai demands a stable base. The mental models I use to maximize stability are to keep the feet at shoulder width - no narrower.

Now I am not saying we have to do anything the way our teachers did, but I think we must look closely at their technique to learn from. Let us look at Tomiki Sensei executing technique.














Even when looking at his films, Tomiki Sensei always keep a shoulder width or wider Shizentai. Mifune, a martial artist I highly respect also demonstrates a wider shizentai than hips. His was shoulder length or wider.

Here is a copy of his book The Canon of Judo. Check out his stance work on page 38.
target="_blank">Mifune

Today's wrap up. Stance work is a personal choice. Shizentai, Hanmi, or a deep horse stance - it all has it's place and time. Each stance, I am sure has it's weakness and strength. In my quest to define what is Shizentai by the originators and founders intent of the word, I believe Shizentai demands the feet are wider than hip width. Just my observation. I imagine if my knees were bad I would modify my Aikido to make shorter steps with a narrower stance. But is modifying a stance to something totally different, still deserve the name of the original stance?



I can't believe I have been writing so much about stances. Man o man, I am such a nerd.

The Walking Kata - Stepping not Floating

Stepping efficiently is really the meat and potatoes of what the walking kata is about, in my humble opinion.

I have seen many versions of the Tegatana kata, or walking where the demonstrator raises up higher on his toes as the movement is being executed. While I am sure these students have a strategy they are trying to express, I simply do not understand it. Perhaps it is an expression of my lineage of teachers.

One of the critical principles that have been drilled into me about Aiki motion is - your center must be stable. Carefully watch the shihan. They do not bob up and down with every step while executing technique. Their transverse plane is a still point. The center moves along a plane, without actually having vertical motion.



When doing the kata watch closely your hara, or center. Is it constantly bobbing up and down the transverse plane with every step? Some motions in some groups taught to rise up and float high up on his toes. Especially watch the 8th set, the Uchi Mawashi Gaeshi and 9th set. I do not believe floating your center is the most efficient and effective way to apply Aiki principle. In fact I believe it to be unwise.


"Find motion in stillness and stillness in motion." This is a key phrase in my understanding of the motion we are making. I was taught to imagine standing in pool of water up to my center, a few inches below my naval. As I perform the walking motion my center was to never rise above this point. My center is still and calm, though in motion. No rocking back and forth as feet inefficiently shift weight from one to another. The center should be sliding on a sheet of glass. In fact the center should be heavy and always bearing down towards gravity, the very force that Aiki relies on for life. How can you throw someone down by moving up?

The T'ai Chi Ch'uan Classics say, "someone who has extremely good T'ai Chi Ch'uan kung fu has arms like iron wrapped with cotton and the weight is very heavy. As for the external schools, when they use li, they reveal li. When they don't use li, they are too light and floating. Their chin is external and locked together. The li of the external schools is easily led and moved, and not to be esteemed."



The 9th set of 8 counts is the set known as Soto Mawashi Gaeshi - opposite hand and foot spin. This is the most common motion I see people lifting straight up in the air with their arms and rising up on their tip toes while floating their center. A high level Sensei and I recently had a email discussion about this motion. He said after years he found one use for this motion. One use?!?!?! Does this make the motion part of our principles if it has one use?

I see the walking kata as a system of programing the brain to move in the best possible way for most circumstances. I believe it should teach the rules, not the exceptions. It should demonstrate the solid principles, not technique that is unassociated with the rules and grammar of our style. Either we need to change our understanding so the motion becomes a real tool to help us execute principle or we must change the motion to come in line with the reality of our practice.

Bad bad bad bad bad

Bad bad bad bad bad

So my wrap up is...I believe the center moving smoothly on a plane, ready to load weight is superior to the center bobbing and raising for motions we never use in the application of Aiki technique.

The Walking Kata - Friction

I have practiced the walking kata, tandoku undo or tegatana no kata, in many Tomiki dojos. Invariably you hear the swish..or really vip vip vip as the feet slide across the floor. On some of the turning motions hip switches you might hear a deep grind, or farty noise, especially on vinyl mats.

I remember at a seminar in 1995 I asked how to correctly slide the foot across the floor during the walking kata.  Sensei then gave a lecture about how the foot moves just slightly above the floor during the steps of the walking kata. Although he taught this, the group went immediately into practicing the kata and all I could hear was the dragging of feet over the mat. I am not saying  Sensei was not doing what he was teaching, I am saying no one else apparently listened!

These slides and grinds of the feet into the mat are friction. Friction in mechanical motion is inefficient and indicative of wasted energy.

I am not promoting any way to do the walking kata, it is for the student of the art to decide. I would like to suggest doing the walking kata under test circumstances to see where the friction points are.



Put on your tennis shoes. Go outside. Find a nice rough concrete driveway. Perform the walk in tennis shoes on the concrete. This exercise will quickly draw out any flaws in the efficiency of your stepping form. Feeling brave, think I am crazy? Now take your shoes off and practice the walk barefoot on concrete. The little red marks spouting fluid will more clearly demonstrate the evils of friction in the walking kata.

If you are unwilling to go outside I have one last exercise. Try doing the walk silently. No *vip vips* as the feet drag across the mat. Be like ninja!

Moral of the story, quit dragging your feet!

Walking Kata Points

This was taken from a Tai Chi website. I think it applies to the Tomiki Lineage Unsoku and Tegatana practice of the Walking Kata. Besides this applying to the walk, it of course applies to technique and application of principle. Remember no martial art has a monopoly on truth. Efficient motion is the goal!

Tai Chi Principles


1.Straightening the head.
Stand straight, relax your neck and suspend the head naturally erect from the crown point without strain or tension. The image to model is "hanging by a string from the top of one's head" such that the head and neck align by the force of gravity alone.

2. Correct position of chest and back.
The chest is kept slightly depressed inward which helps enables one's breath to sink to the lower belly. The upper back is slightly bowed outward while the pelvis is tucked under.

3. Remain relaxed with no tension.
Relax and loosen all the joints, particularly the shoulders and elbows, and sink them so that they are flexible, connected and are able to integrate into proper structure. Relaxed does not mean limp. Proper structure is held with a minimum of muscular exertion with gravity providing the downward stacking, providing power from the root into the ground. Tai Chi transfers energy in the form of a vibration much like a whip which has no tension. When the musculature and joints are relaxed, aligned, and connected the wave or pulse of the movement is conducted through them with no retained tension.

4. All movement comes from the center.
The waist is the "ruler." All movement comes from the waist, whether it is a hand movement or a step. Make the waist cause each movement . The waist as the "ruler" must be relaxed, initiating, controlling, guiding and distributing the direction and amount of energy transmitted.

5. Harmonize the upper and lower parts of the body.
The vibration of any Tai Chi movement roots at the feet, releases from the legs, is controlled by the waist, moving eventually through the back and arms and finally is expressed by the fingers. To achieve this coordinated path first requires that the feet are at all times firmly attached to the ground like big roots of a tree. The knees must remain slightly flexed. Finally, the upper and lower body must move harmoniously so that all parts of the body are strung together without the slightest break.

6. The entire body moves as a single unit.
The entire body should move as one complete unit, not just a hand, leg or arm. Once one part of your body moves, every other part of your body should also be in motion; when you are still, everything should be in stillness. "Be still as a mountain...move like a great river."

7. All movements are performed in a smooth manner, with no unevenness, and continuous, allowing no interruptions.
All Tai Chi movements are performed smoothly and evenly. This means that the movements in training never speed up and then slow down. There is never a detectable start and finish from one form to the next. A common image used is that of reeling silk thread from a cocoon. Reeling too fast or suddenly will break the silk while reeling too slow or in the wrong direction may tangle it.

8. Maintain the clear distinction between substantial and insubstantial.
Agility is the result of non-double weighting. This means that one's weight is never maintained equally over both legs. One leg is always heavy and one leg is light. By only maintaining one point of substantial contact with the ground you gain the ability to move quickly, much like a ball which moves easily across the ground because it only has one point of contact with it.

9. Breath deeply from your lower belly and in harmony with the movements.
The breath is deep and full, filling oneself from Tan tien (2-3 inches below your navel.) Each movement is linked precisely with the breath, so that as one expands the body, there is an exhale, and when one contracts the body, there is a inhale. Since the breath is linked to very slow movements, your breathing will also be very slow.

10. The mind leads the body.
In Tai Chi, one focuses the attention on the mind, instead of on force. Therefore, use your mind to direct your movements, and let the body follow. Keep the mind fully conscious, aware, and with intent along each and every tiny point along the path of the movement and each point of the body. The mind and breath are king and queen and the bones and muscles are the court