Advanced Aikido. Phong Thong Dang

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      In the beginning, the aikido students tend to be bottom up in orientation. Later, the students begin to transition from bottom up to top down. Eventually, the students apply the beliefs in peace and harmony, through the specific aikido concepts, in the actual training and applications of aikido techniques.

      TRAINING GOALS

      Training in martial arts, like anything in life, is best undertaken when directed toward a specific goal by setting specific objectives, and according to specific schedules. However, one must always take into account motivation and learning plateaus.

      Training goals are individual, need to be stated in positive sensory-based terms specific enough to recognize and acknowledge the progress initiated and maintained by the individual student. To obtain advanced status and rank in aikido (goal) the student must show up consistently and persistently to train with the proper intensity and intent to learn what is being taught.

      It is important to find your own motivation for practice. What motivates one individual may have no effect on another. Some people move toward a goal, while others move away from fear, shame, or danger. Some people want external public acclaim, while others want an internal satisfaction. Some want money, prestige, or fame, while others want solitude and peace of mind. Some people want to be different, while others want to belong and be the same. Some people train because they feel they have to; others train because they simply want to. There is no right or wrong motivation for studying aikido. Each student must come to understand his or her own motivation and use it to continue training and progressing in aikido.

      The training plateau is the understanding and acceptance that there will be times within the training schedule that one is not learning any new skills. There will be times that one does not always have the necessary motivation to maintain a schedule, to do the task to meet the goal. The training plateau can be one of the most exciting and important times in aikido training. The initial learning curve in which one learns a great deal tends to have its own momentum based on the excitement of learning and progressing. The learning eventually, and inevitably, will hit a few plateaus where nothing new appears to be learned and the old techniques may appear and feel boring. Mastery (LEONARD 1992, P. 39) suggests that through the repetitive and realistic rehearsals of training and practice of the known techniques, the skill will go from conscious competence to unconscious competence. The learning curve will then have a new base line from which to learn new skills and concepts. With this goal of unconscious competence in mind, the training plateau is no longer a plateau but a necessary, and welcomed, stage of training and practice.

      PHYSICAL MOTOR TRAINING

      There are many aspects to physical training. They include nutrition, exercise, and skill.

      Nutritional analysis and advice is beyond the scope of this text, but it is important to realize that the fuel the body relies on has direct effects on bodily performance. Eating the wrong foods, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and the use of drugs will eventually take their toll on the body and the mind. Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido will begin to be more nutritionally oriented and healthy.

      Strength training is of lesser importance in aikido because the proper execution of an aikido technique does not require physical muscular strength. O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba specifically stated that training should not be a contest of strength. Nonetheless, everyone can benefit from a toned and conditioned musculature. The only way to strengthen or tone muscles is through weight or resistance training. Visualize the movement to help coordinate and unify the body and mind. Staying completely relaxed and calm, focusing on posture and alignment, and breathing and extending ki from one's center make resistance training a practice in the application of aikido concepts. It is important to put any skill into context, so please remember to lift weights, not people, and to throw people not weights.

      Flexibility training incorporates stretching exercises. These exercises increase the range of motion and help prevent injuries in training. Flexibility can help the body respond faster and more efficiently by relaxing antagonistic muscles and improving the full range of motion. Visualize the movement to help coordinate and unify the body and mind. As in strength training, staying relaxed and focused on your center, while breathing and keeping good posture, can help you apply aikido concepts to flexibility training.

      One develops cardiovascular fitness through any exercise program that consistently raises and maintains a high heart rate. These exercises include running, cycling, swimming, dancing, or fast-paced randori (multiple opponent attack). Aerobic, or cardiovascular, exercise is the only way the body burns fat. Cardiovascular fitness can greatly increase the ability to train harder and longer by increasing stamina and endurance. Visualize the movement to help coordinate and unify your body and mind. Staying relaxed, breathing, focusing on your center, and extending your ki will help you apply aikido concepts to a cardiovascular activity.

      Skill training takes into account the technical proficiency needed for powerful execution of techniques. The best way to gain proficiency in a specific skill is through repetitive and realistic training. Specific skill training is best thought of as either gross motor skills or fine motor skills. The gross motor skills are those that the entire body participates in using the larger muscle groups of the body and are often the easiest to practice and gain proficiency in. Under stress, the gross motor skills maintain a higher degree of proficiency and effectiveness. Fine motor skills require the use of the smaller muscle groups and are far more detailed in their action and task. Visualize the movement to help coordinate and unify your body and mind. Staying relaxed, breathing, focusing on your center, and extending your ki can help you apply aikido concepts to skill training and acquisition. Slowing down and paying attention to the persistent and consistent repetitive and realistic training with and against honest intensity and intent will help one build aikido skills. It is hard to tell beginning students to slow down and pay attention to body movement. There appears to be a natural tendency to want to speed up. They need to develop the correct form, alignment, and coordination. It is wisest to pay attention initially to each individual movement and not let momentum, speed, and ego dictate training and condition in sloppy technique execution. Correction to overcome a bad habit is often much harder than learning a technique correctly to begin with.

      Block training also tends to help long-term skill retention. Block training refers to the number of repetitions that one does of a task within any execution set. One set may be ten repetitions. Another set may be five repetitions followed by a break followed by another five repetitions. In the beginning, one will practice a single technique repeatedly, as if finding a training groove and staying in it. Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido will practice finding a training groove by doing only as many repetitions as necessary to find that specific feeling. Many know that it is not training more that achieves skill improvement, but training wisely. It is easiest to stay within a training groove or block. It is harder to keep finding that groove. Research suggests that the best long-term retention of a skill comes from repeatedly finding that training groove.

      As stated earlier, under stress, the body responds best to the adrenaline pump, rush, and dump, when the advanced student keeps training simple and direct in strength, flexibility, cardiovascular, and skill acquisition.

      TRAINING PSYCHOLOGY

      The field of sports psychology focuses on providing techniques to facilitate optimal performance. As a field of psychology, its focus is on mental and emotional development and discipline. Initially, sports psychology helps identify those internal mental and emotional blocks to better performance. It then begins to model, install, and imitate a more positive and constructive model of performance. Sports psychologists base these models on elite athletes in the field. Last, the field of sports psychology teaches how to let go and enter the "flow," the "zone," or in aikido, what we call takemusu-aiki.

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