Aikido Anatomy: Discovering the Three Layers of the Unique Martial Art (Part 2: Beyond Fighting)
Exploring How Aikido Balances Martial Skills, Personal Growth, and Harmony
(...continued from the Part 1: Martial Roots…)
In Part 1, we explored the first layer of Aikido: martial logic. Now, in this final part, we’ll dive into the next two layers: the ideal of Budo and the concept of Aiki. Together, these layers reveal an intriguing paradox that sets Aikido apart as a truly unique martial art. Ready to uncover it? Let’s go:
"Fighting to improve life" - the budo layer
It's interesting to see how Eva is practicing with Danny. He’s a former boxer and even though he strikes only lightly, his punch shines with confidence. So Eva instinctively tries to hide from such an attack: she pulls her head between her shoulders and tilts her torso to the side, instead of taking a step directly behind Danny. It takes several attempts before she finds the courage to move to a place where she can control her partner.
Also, when she strikes at Danny, she is shy in her movements. Danny smiles and invites her to be more forceful. It also takes a moment for her to replace her unnecessary timidity with decisiveness - but once she almost hits Danny, he nods his head in acknowledgment. Eva laughs at this and moves more freely and openly after each of her blows and subsequent falls as if her fears were dissolving...
It would be interesting to watch how this newfound courage will change her daily life in the coming weeks. On the other hand, it's her life, we should care about ours. Can we change with practice, too?
The founder of Aikido used to say that "Aikido is budo" - the way to develop ourselves through martial technique practice. In his book "Etiquette and Transmission", Tamura sensei, one of his favorite students, wrote: "One must overcome the greatest enemies of Budo: anger, fear, doubt, hesitation, scorn, and vanity, and develop a firm soul and great courage. We must be penetrated by the necessity of victory over oneself."
This is the second layer of Aikido - self-improvement. It's paradoxical - through fighting, through trying to overcome others, we gradually find that we overcome ourselves. It is often not an external enemy that we must defeat, it is usually our prejudices, limitations, and fears that prevent us from living a better life.
Indeed, practicing in this spirit gradually brings into our lives stability, determination, perseverance, courage, and resolve to overcome obstacles, the ability to assert ourselves and the ability to adapt to circumstances... and also patience, equanimity, generosity, calmness, or self-confidence.
This is what true budo should bring to our lives; with these qualities alone, we could be completely satisfied. But there is much more to Aikido.
"Harmony with self and others" - Aiki layer
Aikido builds on the previous two layers and uses many principles and practices from them in the construction of its techniques and the structure of the training process. At the same time - and this may sound very strange - in its third layer, Aikido has exactly the opposite goals from martial systems or martial arts (budo).
The goal of Aikido is not to defeat the opponent but to transform conflict into constructive cooperation. The goal of Aikido is not to divide people into winners and losers, the goal is to unite opposites and find a win-win solution.
Alex is a beginner and has a clear idea that Aikido should be gentle, spiritual, and ethereal. Right now he is practicing with the more advanced Joe, who is interested in the martial side of the techniques - it just has to work and that's it. To see them practicing together is almost comical because their bodies are wrestling with each other just like their imaginations. Joe tries to show that Alex's subtle movements aren't enough to throw him, so in most cases, he refuses to fall, sometimes he just stands and shakes his head.
On the other hand, when Alex has to receive Joe's technique, he falls too soon, as if he doesn't value both his balance and his right to occupy the physical space.
At first, it looks hopeless, but after a while, their exercise becomes a bit smoother. It's as if with each technique they negotiate better conditions for themselves - Joe becomes more receptive to subtler impulses and moves much more freely, and Alex, on the other hand, is more aware of his balance and his movement is clearer and more powerful.
Of course, for both of them, this means an improvement in their fighting abilities. More importantly, though, they have enriched each other, being able to respect and appreciate someone so different... and work with them. In this case, they both win, regardless of who is throwing and who is falling.
"Aiki" in Aikido can mean "harmony of energies", "energy in harmony" or also "single/undivided energy". This is the third layer of Aikido: the clear effort to turn a conflict into something constructive, the intention to calm potential violence in oneself and in one's environment, and the search for a balance of opposites. This is the quality that distinguishes Aikido from its predecessors and other martial arts.
The founder of Aikido said about it: "If people do not understand the principle of Takemusu Aiki (valorous, unlimited creativity), they will only think about winning, never wanting to lose, matching brawn against brawn, bullying the weak and powerless - in short, they take an aggressive attitude. To rid the world of aggression and contention is the purpose of Aikido."
But this is not a philosophy that seeks some unattainable cosmic harmony; it is not a closing of the eyes to the realities of this world or an escape into dreamland. Like the previous two layers, this layer is very pragmatic and practical.
Just a few examples of how Aikido allows us to put this ideal of harmony and unity into our daily practice.
There are no competitions or performance categories in Aikido: beginners and advanced practitioners, younger and older, men, and women, people with different body types and temperaments, they all practice together and it leads to mutual support rather than competition and wrestling.
Techniques are designed to effectively lead the energy of the attack and channel it into the space. During the practice, we respect the partner's body, its natural structure, and movement limitations, so the techniques should help develop the body instead of harming it.
The rhythm of the techniques, the rules of etiquette, and the atmosphere on the mat are conducive to calming emerging conflicts rather than escalating them. The pairs practicing the techniques are partners, not opponents or rivals, and they take turns in attack and technique - so that each "wins" and "loses" for a while, making winning and losing unimportant and leaving only the mutual development.
All this teaches us that cooperation and caring for others are more interesting than winning, hurting, and destruction. Through this way of practicing, we exchange inspiration with many people on the mat and so we become richer, more open, and integrated human beings.
It's all happening at once
The hard thing to grasp (even for many aikidokas) is the fact that these layers are intertwined and should all be present at once in every moment of the practice.
That is, we should be present when practicing techniques and strive to protect our safety and control our partner (martial logic), we should practice developing our human qualities (the budo layer), and we should also calm the conflict, communicate, and care for others even when they don't mean well to us (the Aiki layer).
Martial logic teaches us how and where to move, and develops our body as well as our awareness, spontaneity, and intuition. The budo layer improves many human qualities on a psychological level. The Aiki layer develops relationships, cooperation, and mutual support. All three of these layers build Aikido training and permeate every technique practiced - while making their principles and benefits directly applicable to everyday life.
By now you probably understand that if someone practices Aikido techniques without some of these layers, they are doing a different discipline. If someone is practicing Aikido techniques to learn how to break someone's arm (i.e., win or hurt them), they are practicing Aikijutsu or Jujutsu. And when someone imitates a form of Aikido while ignoring the martial logic (ie. standing in place in front of a partner, waving arms in random directions, bending backward at the waist), they are doing more of a dance. Aikijutsu or dance are also beautiful arts, but completely different.
I understand that this may seem paradoxical. One might ask: "How can we practice martial arts without the intention of winning? How are we supposed to support and care for other people by throwing them on the ground or twisting their wrists?" These are good questions.
In boxing, it's simple - when the punch lands, it's clear to everyone who is scoring. In dance, it's also simple - working together and practicing a predefined choreography creates harmony and elegance.
But Aikido, like life, is richer and more complex. Indeed, the ideal of Aikido is to unite opposites. For this reason, it exposes us to opposites. In this case, we have to work with a physical conflict, which is rooted in martial logic while also seeking harmony, kindness, and mutual support.
Aikido is for people who can work with both of these opposites at once and seek a balance between them, for people who understand that simple and one-sided solutions are not always the best ones. Aikido is for people who can accept the unpleasant nature of conflict while seeking constructive solutions. To accept the "imperfection" and duality of this world while working to improve and unify it. After almost 30 years of practicing Aikido, I dare to say that this depth is the magnet that attracts so many interesting and wonderful people to Aikido.
The previously mentioned Tamura sensei also said about the goals of Aikido: "Aikido is a way that allows one to discover oneself and to construct oneself as a human being in order to live a full and happy life."
In my experience, it does work that way. Through Aikido, we can find and develop our unique potential and cultivate our relationships with other people and the world. To live better lives.
The class ends, teacher and students bow to each other one final time. After two hours of practice, they are surprisingly fresh, their eyes shining with awakened vibrancy and perhaps even gratitude for their time together.
After practice, we linger on the mat, chatting about the session or personal matters. Joe even asks if we’re heading out for a beer. We slowly disappear into the showers. But the feeling of the practice remains with us: the Aiki journey continues - in our everyday lives and the next classes.
(The article was first published in the Czech magazine “Martial Arts”, in May/June 2024)