“Centripetal and Centrifugal Aikido,” by Nev Sagiba

“The unskilled tend to bend over to achieve a ‘throw.’ This behavioural habit will render you at risk in the battlefield”

Navigating energy requires no attack. To remain stuck in the quagmires of aggression in the seeking of resolution is a primitive reptilian brain disposition that somehow failed to become extinct along with the dinosaurs. This approach is doomed to eventual failure each time. There is nothing more disgusting that Aikido techniques badly mimicked with a mind of a primitive lizard at work. It’s not Aikido.

Kuzushi, the refinement of it, requires no strength. No expenditures. No forcing. No gratuitous aggression.

Aikido relies of the natural forces inherent in the universe instead of headstrong wilfulness. Aikido seeks a resolution of conflict, not the repeated escalation of it which is the spiritual malaise that has haunted humankind for far too long.

Aikido deploys centered mind and natural predispositions such as the proper leveraging of centripetal and centrifugal force.

Centripetal force – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centripetal_force
Centripetal force (from Latin centrum “centre” and petere “to seek” is a force that makes a body follow a curved path: it is always directed orthogonal to the velocity of the body, toward the instantaneous centre of curvature of the path.

In simple terms, centripetal force is defined as a force which keeps a body moving with a uniform speed along a circular path and is directed along the radius towards the centre. The mathematical description was derived in 1659 by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens. Isaac Newton’s description was: “A centripetal force is that by which bodies are drawn or impelled, or in any way tend, towards a point as to a centre.”

Aikido seeks the centre of the centre of the centre. To this end training. The rest is details which come and go.

But this finding of centre accrues other gains. Gains useful in meeting all the challenges that life can throw at you. It gives you the ability to respond instead of react.

All jujitsu, indeed all budo requires the unlocking of the joints, including the knees. This drops your centre of balance or hara sufficiently to access the juxtaposition most favourable for biomechanical efficiency in interaction. Japanese have an advantage here as they have inherently shorter legs. This does not mean however, that people with long legs are excluded from the proper practice of Aiki jujitsu arts. On the contrary. It adds to possibilities.

The unskilled tend to bend over to achieve a “throw.” This behavioural habit will render you at risk in the battlefield because the opponent, if he has a modicum of skill, will pull you to ground where he requires no skill whatsoever to hold you for the few seconds it takes for his compatriots to finish you off.

Naturally, after observing this in battle, the idea of hoping for success on the ground was discounted as useful. Magnificent ki training tool that ground wrestling be.

Instead the triangle posture used in suwari waza and hanmi handachi were adopted for mud, slippery ground, if the need for a very fast drop and stand-up is required, and of course a magnificent training tool.

Ahem, excuses abound. But excuses don’t cook the rice. Feel free to practice suwari waza and hanmi handachi, or not. For the record, it has saved lives repeatedly in those so trained.

Further it facilitates the continued deployment of hand held weaponry and a fast get-up once the purpose is fulfilled. Laying down to fight a real fight is problematic if the other fellow has friends on site. And they always do. Nine times out of ten at least.

Centrifugal force – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_force

Centrifugal force (from Latin centrum, meaning “centre”, and fugere, meaning “to flee”) represents the effects of inertia that arise in connection with rotation and which are experienced as an outward force away from the centre of rotation. In Newtonian mechanics, the term centrifugal force is used to refer to one of two distinct concepts: an inertial force (also called a “fictitious” force) observed in a non-inertial reference frame, and a reaction force corresponding to a centripetal force.

These, variously stated by Morihei Ueshiba, should provide a clue. They were not intended as poetic, rather practical.

“Capture the central energy,” .. “Take charge of the centre.” .. ” Welcome the attack,”.. “Meet the opponent,”.. “Embrace the enemy,”.. “Ki no musubu,”.. “Irimi-tenkan is the key.”

And there are more. Simply read authentic sources such as found in Aikido Journal.

In a forest of words look for the flowers.

Then, since this is the DO of Ai and Ki nothing else remains than to: Do it!

Nev Sagiba
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