Move Differently, Be Differently !
Elevating awareness through changing the way you move.
Introduction
Through a whole series of articles, I will explore how engaging on changing the way you move can benefit your life — from health to athletic abilities, career success, academic pursuits, etc.
It is one the important keys to raise your level of consciousness and enhance your overall sense of well-being.
Indeed, there is a best way — an optimal way — to move.
Even within the most basic action, like when you reach for your cup of tea for example : extending arm, bending elbow, unfurling fingers…
This most basic movement can be done very differently.
The way you move tells the story of your life.
As well as shapes the story of your life.
The way we move is one of the bedrocks of who we are as human beings.
Working on it may therefore make a difference.
I don’t think lists of quick tips such as « 10 things to do now if you want to… » can truly fulfill anyone’s aspirations.
Changes takes time. Need dedication. And we can easily be misleaded.
But my deeply-held conviction is there is a voyage to make.
Your own.
Martial art is just a pretext
The prism of the japanese martial art is only an entry point.
You do not need to practise any martial art to enjoy these articles.
Way of the Aiki (1/6)
Aikidō is a Budō¹, a japanese modern martial art.
Some martial art are not intended for fighting or for competition but for inducing a harmonious relationship in any situation.
These could all be called « Aikidō ».
The few masters I encountered that deeply inspire me have a tremendous level and quality of movement and interaction.
They share at least two characteristics :
- Most of these experts don’t do Aikidō !
- The way they move is completely different from ordinary people.
Of course, nobody thinks a priori that a way to move can be a determining factor.
And the reader is then probably pondering the meaning of « changing the way one moves »…
What follows may therefore seem to involve magical powers, manipulation of energy field or something like that.
It is important to understand that it has absolutely nothing to do with magic or energy field.
These masters don’t have magic power —besides, they can not do what they do on objects !
What they do is the result of a life-time honing and fine-tuning their ability to interact with other human beings.
Particularly by doing one thing (unless it is a consequence ?) : changing the way they move.
What follows are testimonies of among the highest level of achievement.
Akira Hino sensei does not do Aikidō. But what he does is. More than any general black belt Aikidō practioners. Since decades, he developped his own system he called Hino Budō.
Hino sensei takes me as a partner to demonstrate the work of the intention.
As we are sit in seiza, he simply instructs me to menace him with an imaginary sword and, at the moment of my choosing, to make the motion of slashing him.
When the thought of the attack forms in my mind, I suddenly see that Hino sensei’s hands have reached and touched mine : he has halted my momentum at the precise timing when the motion was about to be executed!
It is disorienting.
We do it once more. This time, at the instant my decision to attack crystallises, Hino sensei’s hands have already seized my hands to move them exactly at the instant of my motion, exactly in the right direction, with the exact quantity of strength I was giving in my attack.
I am immediately thrown.
It is unfathomable : the sensation I feel is that I have propelled myself by my own will, and with all my will…
It is exactly what we do in Aikidō except in Aikidō, everything is choegraphed like a dance. No one can therefore develop such ability (which is the essence of Aikidō) by practicing standard Aikidō !…
Tetsuzan Kuroda sensei does not do Aikidō either. He is the head master of several ancien martial arts.
Kuroda sensei approaches me as it is my turn to experience an exercise.
I grasp his forearm.
He then does something completely different from the expected exercise : he just remains still.
He does not move.
At all.
He doesn’t move but suddenly I start to sink to my feet despite myself.
I slump more and more and end up crouching, one knee on the ground. And it is impossible to rise again.
Kuroda sensei did absolutely nothing, not a single movement. Just his smile. And then, I am freed.
I just cannot believe what I have just experienced !
I spring up, seize him again, determined to resist with all my will and all my strength.
Nothing helps…
Despite all my determination, I see myself descending inexorably and ending up once again with my knee on the ground…
Kuroda sensei smiles again and moves on to the next student, leaving me alone with my astonishment.
Leo Tamaki is related to Aikidō but he developped his own version, quite different, he called Kishinkai Aikidō.
To make me feel the right sensation, Leo demonstrates it on me with an Aikidō technique called ushiro ryōte dori.
I am instructed to release my grip if I feel the slightest action from him.
Then he moves.
But I feel no force, no tension, only a light breeze…
I know he is moving now, but my hands remain fixed on his wrists and I am very gently thrown on the ground without being able to offer any resistance or release my grip…
On another technique called nikyō — a famous dreadfully painful wrist lock technique — he… does not apply any pain !
And contrary to all logic, he doesn’t lock my wrist but instead make a broad, enveloping but imperceptible action, in the direction where my body structure is the strongest.
And breaks it instantly with absolutely no strength applied.
He brings me to the ground in a very soft movement.
Throughout the whole movement, I felt no pain, no constraint, no tension, no strength, no power, no will to win…
All these examples involve at least two important principles : Awase and musubi².
These are the words of harmonisation.
At high level, they are very powerful.
However, these two states are actually experienced by everyone every day, unconsciously.
Because those principles come into play in any context where human beings are in interaction.
So, the process begins first by becoming aware of these states — and maybe this will lead to working towards the mastery of those states…
This implies, among other things, to change the way one moves.
The magic tricks of the masters I related are impressive and cool. But let’s not get it wrong, mastering tricks is not the objective.
Using them in fights is not the objective either — especially when they are good rather to prevent the fight…
Consider this : embracing the process of achieving such high levels of mastery can become an effective mean to bring forth the conditions and the framework that may transform oneself holistically : mind, body, health, longevity, quality of relationships, vision of the world…
Overall perspective on life, in the best way !
The surface has just been scratched…
Upcoming articles will delve deeper.
This was my first article on Medium. Thank you very much for having read to the end ! I am grateful for the opportunity to share my little thoughts here. I hope these few lines have been worth your while and have aroused your curiosity.
¹ Budō 武道 is an education system that seeks to elicit and cultivate the best of our physical and mental capabilities through the standardized and westernized practice of Japanese martial arts. The first Budō to be invented was Jūdō towards the end of the 19th century.
² Awase 合わせ and musubi 結び are two importants words that can be heard in Aikidō. How these words are translated in practical actions during the daily practice – by the teacher, by the students – could one of the big unsolved questions of this martial art.
