Going Along With The Attack

by Paul Linden, Aikido of Columbus

Columbus, Ohio www.being-in-movement.com

Thirty-nine years ago, I was practicing in the Aikido club at the University of California at Berkeley. I was a new fourth kyu, and I remember looking at my partner and saying: "I know that I'm supposed to go along with you when you attack, but I don't know what to go along with." Since then, one element I have focused on in my AikidoÊ practice is sensing what uke is actually doing as she or he attacks.

The simple names of the various attacks don't reflect the range of subtle differences in the actual ways that uke can move. We call one attack katatetori, but an actual, specific wrist grab may push forward or twist backward, or bear down or lift up, and so on and on. Katatetori is not just one attack. The label covers a wide range of similar attacks. One way of practicing is to see how a single defense technique might work against many different wrist grabs. Another way of practicing is to see how many defense techniques are required to actually go along with all the subtly unique attacks that are possible.

As I worked on the second type of practice, I found that it was very helpful to invent awareness exercises that were not defense techniques and which I could practice separately from the Aikido defense techniques. When I could put my full attention on uke's movement, without worrying about getting uke down and pinned, I found I could afford to spend the time necessary to really perceive and understand how uke's movement is structured.

I developed many different awareness drills, and I found that the supplemental training improved my execution of the Aikido defense techniques. To make this abstract concept of awareness drills more concrete, here is an example of the kind of exercise that I worked with. It is an exercise that focuses on reading an attacker's intentions to move.

Extend one arm toward your partner, and have her/him grasp your wrist. Make sure it is a very light grip and neutral, but in full contact. By "neutral" I mean, not pushing, pulling, twisting, or moving your arm in any way. Simply holding gently, staying wherever your wrist happens to be.

By the same token, your arm must be neutral too. It must not be tense, and it must not push or pull against your partner's grip but just fit into her/his "attack." Any muscle tension in your body will be so "loud" that it will cover up the quiet whisperings of perception.

Now, have your partner want to move your wrist in some direction. This cannot be some abstract thinking about wanting to go somewhere. It must be a real desire. Can you detect your partner's wish to move your wrist? Your partner's mental wish will automatically be expressed in an almost-imperceptible physical micromovement in the direction they wish to move your hand. Can you feel that micromovement?

Your partner should maintain a constant, unchanging wish to give you time to feel it. If you think you've detected the wish, then gently move your arm in the direction you believe your partner intends. If you are right, you will feel your arm move easily, going along with his intention. If you are wrong, you will bump into pressure as you try to push against the physical barrier of his arm. You can also ask your partner for verbal feedback about how accurately you have detected his or her intentions. Try this exercise a number of times with uke choosing a different direction each time. Does your ability to sense the micromovements improve?

Practicing noticing and feeling the very subtle physical expression of intentions is a way of improving your ability to perceive what uke is doing, and that is the first step in going along with the attack. If you practiced this kind of exercise on a regular basis, you would eventually find that the awareness of where your attacker wished to go would simply arise in you without any deliberate focus on gathering that information. That would be experienced as an intuitive knowing, and it would be the basis of effective freestyle improvisation of Aikido defense techniques.

I developed many awareness exercises for myself, and when I tried the experiment of including some of them in Aikido classes I taught, I found that they significantly improved the performance of my Aikido students. If including this kind of awareness training in Aikido intrigues you, you might be interested in an e-book titled Feeling Aikido, which I recently published and which can be downloaded from my website www.being-in-movement.com

Going along with uke's attack and using it for your defense is the core of Aikido, and the more detailed your perception of uke's posture and movement as she or he attacks, the more effective your defense technique will be. Awareness drills are worth spending some time on because they enhance your capacity to perceive and control the attack and the attacker.