Chapter 91: First Time Training at Aikido

Thursday, April 21, 2005 (Continued)

As soon as we walked into the dojo, Sensei spotted me and quickly came over, greeting, "Good to see you, Mark."

"Thank you. Sensei Nigel, this is my girlfriend Julia. You met before, when you came around to her home to test my ki a week ago."

"I remember. Nice to meet you again, Julia. I have a gi for you, Mark, so get dressed first."

Sensei relieved me of the books I was returning, gave me a gi, and told me to ask other students in the dressing room how to put it on and how to tie the white belt that came with it.

By the time I'd done that, it was time for the class to start. Sensei opened it as normal (based on my one other experience), including the warm-ups. When the lesson itself was about to start, Sensei introduced another aikidoka, Ray Croft, saying that Ray would be taking the class while he [Sensei] gave a one-on-one lesson on the other side of the mat. The new teacher was a young guy, in his late-20s I'd guess, but he was wearing a black belt and the black over-pants that the books called "hakama". Only Sensei was also wearing a hakama, so they were apparently a sign of rank. Certainly the black belts were; the students mostly having white belts like me, or yellow ones.

It turned out that I was the "private tuition" he was referring to. Sensei summoned me over to the far corner of the mats, and the two of us started training there.

The first technique Sensei showed me was an immobilization hold called "Ikkyo". Apparently it means "First technique" in Japanese, indicating that Aikido had been invented by a male.

I had several major advantages in learning this stuff:

• Having so many consciouses and subconsciouses, I was superbly physically coordinated. Even my reaction times seemed better.

• I could observe and see much more than other people. For me to miss noticing something (e.g., the way Sensei angled his feet to make a movement more balanced), it had to be missed by all three observing minds, which was a LOT less likely than for other people. Not just by a factor of three either, e.g., if 1 mind had a 1-in-4 chance of missing something, then 3 minds had a 1-in-64 chance (that's simplistic, but it'll give you the idea).

• Perhaps most importantly, I could sense Sensei's ki with my proximity sense.

The last point needs some explanation. When Sensei showed me a technique, which he usually did by using me as his opponent so I would know what it felt like, he was necessarily always within my proximity sense range. So not only could I see (with my eyes) him holding my arm, but I could also sense (with proximity) how he was intending to move my arm. This was a HUGE advantage, because it was not something that was visible to any other sense.

If you think, "Surely all I had to do was wait to see where my arm moved to, and that was where he intended it," let me tell you that I was definitely NOT as easy as that. Where my arm ended up was a combination of several factors: the length of its bones, how its joints bent, how my body was balanced, how I was moving at the time, and others. In mathematical terms, the resultant arm position is the sum of a number of vectors, the direction Sensei was pushing being just one of them. I was able to directly and exactly sense what direction he pushed in to achieve the desired result, so I did the same when it was my turn to try the technique. Anyone else would have had to learn that through trial, error, and verbal instructions from their teacher. For a constantly and rapidly changing series of moves, those aren't good sources of information.

Not only could I sense his ki when he was using the technique on me, but I could sense it when I was trying to copy what he'd just showed me. Let's say I had him bent over forward at the waist with his arm extended horizontally out to his side and in my grasp, as is the case at one point of Ikkyo. The technique requires me to move his arm in a certain way in order to unbalance him. Being a teacher, Sensei would be visualizing the way I should move his arm, which meant his ki would be extending in that direction. All I had to do was move his arm in the direction he was visualizing. It was like doing an exam where useful portions of the correct answers are given immediately after every question.

There was still plenty for me to think about and carefully copy, as the technique had many physical components which were not controlled by Sensei's ki, and my proximity sense wasn't good with small movements such as small shifts of balance. But the combination of all my advantages meant I learned the technique EXTREMELY quickly and well, astonishing Sensei.

After a few repetitions of Ikkyo, Sensei moved us on to Nikyo ("Second technique"). I was even quicker learning this because it had some commonality with Ikkyo, and I was starting to understand what Aikido involved. I was learning what to look for, how to move, etc.

We spent about ten minutes on Nikyo, and a similar amount of time on the third and fourth techniques too (if you know how to count in Japanese, their names will be obvious). We'd trained for about forty five minutes by now, not counting the warm-up time. Sensei said, "We do not have time for another technique. Are you able to stay for few minutes after I dismiss the class?"

"Yes. I want to as I have a question I want to ask you."

"You are not the only one with questions! If you would rejoin the class, I will give my closing homily now."

Sensei returned to the main class and brought their practice to an end. His closing homily was philosophical, about the peaceful nature of Aikido, including not injuring your opponent. I'd certainly seen that in our training. Some of the holds were extremely painful, just for the instant it took to get the attacker to respond in the desired way, but the pain stopped equally quickly and without injury.

After the homily and the class being dismissed, Sensei called Ray Croft over and introduced us. Ray bowed to me and I back to him, that Japanese etiquette was used in the dojo instead of handshakes. It was much quicker when welcoming or taking leave of a whole class of students.

Sensei said to me, "Mark, I would like you to perform the four techniques with Ray. Is that acceptable to you?"

"Sure. I can't stay very long though as my family is holding dinner for Julia and me."

We moved toward the center of the mats, and Ray did the 'attack' that Ikkyo is a defense for: he grabbed one of my wrists. I did the technique, and then said, "That wasn't very good. I was thrown off by Ray being quite a lot taller than you, Sensei. Can I try it again please, a little slower?"

I let Ray up (Ikkyo pins the opponent to the ground), and we did it again. This time I was aware of the height problem and did my best to adjust the technique for it.

Sensei said, "We are not trying to train you now, so we will not try to refine your movements. Go on to the others."

Ray and I did the other three techniques I'd learned, with me making what height adjustments seemed best. Each technique takes less than thirty seconds, so this didn't take long.

At the end, Sensei said to Ray, "Thank you, Ray." Sensei bowed to Ray, who bowed back, then left.

Turning back to me, Sensei said, "Shall we sit with your girlfriend while we discuss your question and my thoughts?"

That was fine with me, especially as I felt somewhat guilty for ignoring Julia for the last hour. We walked over to her and sat on seats to either side of her. I put my arm around her, telling her, "Sensei and I have a couple of things to discuss. We won't be much longer, promise."

"No problem. I've enjoyed myself."

Sensei said, "We should start with your question, Mark."

I didn't know why we "should", or maybe Sensei just talked like that. In any event I said, "You were right about my broken arm being healed already. The cast was removed last Friday, and there was no sign of the break in the X-ray. I understand that your prediction was based on aikidoka healing faster than other people. What puzzled me, and puzzled the doctor and nurse at the hospital, was how well my arm was healed. There wasn't even the little extra build up on bone I understand there normally is around a recently healed break. I wondered whether that might be part of Aikido healing?"

"Let me have a good look at your arms."

An easy and thorough way of doing that was to take off my gi's top, leaving me in just a T-shirt. I did so, then held out my two arms side by side toward him.

Sensei said, "I can tell which of the two was broken, but only because one of them is whiter. The muscle tones appear identical. May I?" he asked, as he extended his hand to feel my forearm.

Considering we'd been hauling each other around by our arms for the last hour, "Sure."

He compared the feel of the muscles on both forearms, and got me to identify precisely where the break had been so he could feel that particularly thoroughly, then said, "I believe kiatsu," he faced Julia, clarifying, "that is the proper name for what Mark referred to as 'Aikido healing'. I believe kiatsu can hasten the healing of broken bones. Also sprains, cramps, torn muscles and similar injuries. There are people who claim it can help with everything from hay fever through to cancer, but I believe they are being overly hopeful, as people often are over matters of healing. More generally, aikidoka appear to be healthier than the norm, but whether that is due to the physical exercise, the removal of stress through the calmness that Aikido teaches, or from ki, I cannot say. I have never heard of kiatsu accelerating bone growth as quickly as seems to have happened with Mark though, so I have no explanation."

"What about bone growth, not in the healing sense but actual growth, like growing taller?"

"No. I have never heard of that. If anyone else had asked me that I would have been confident in my refusal, but I presume you have a reason for asking?"

"Yes. I am growing taller. I also have a much better physique than I deserve because I don't exercise much. I thought that it might be due to ki or kiatsu. I was hoping you'd have heard of this happening to aikidoka?"

"What do you mean by 'better physique'?"

"I'm much fitter and more muscular than I deserve to be. I'm mostly a bookworm, but my body looks like an athlete's."

"I have not heard of anything along those lines. I presume that bone growth would be the same process as bone repair, as would muscle growth and muscle repair, so what you are suggesting would seem plausible in direction, but not degree. Your ki is very strong, and you have demonstrated remarkable expertise in some Aikido techniques, but physical transformations of the nature you are asking about are far beyond what I can credit as possible."

"Oh. Okay, that's my question taken care of. What did you want to talk about?"

Sensei answered, "Your Aikido training. As fast as you learn, it makes no sense for you to be in a class as that would slow you down considerably. I suggest you and I do one-on-one training most of the time, plus an extra session every few weeks when you would come to a more advanced class to practice what you have learnt with other people. Does that appeal to you?"

"That sounds wonderful. I'd love to do that."

"Good. So as not to interfere with the classes I teach, I would like to change your training time. I already have your cellphone number, so may I text you with a list of possible times, and you can let me know which is most convenient for you?"

"That's fine with me, but we can do it easier. I don't have any other regular appointments other than school, so you can pick whatever day and time suits you."

"I will do both then: send you a list of possible times with my preference emphasized, and you may choose as you wish."

Julia asked Sensei, "Is there any reason why a class lasts only one hour? Wouldn't it be more efficient to have two or three hour sessions?"

I was a bit embarrassed at that question, feeling that we were taking too much of Sensei's time, but he didn't hesitate to say, "Longer would be better. This dojo is not used Monday evenings, so shall we meet here at 6pm on Mondays, to train for as long as we both wish to continue?"

"I like it, but isn't that imposing too much on you? For just one student?"

"Not at all. Quite the reverse as your abilities fascinate me and I am looking forward to training you. It will be very interesting to see how far and fast you can progress."

Money is always an issue in the Anderson household, especially the lack of it and the consequent need to be careful. I was still thinking about how to raise this issue, when Julia raised another serious concern, "Mark has an unusual metabolism and needs to eat more often than most people. If you have long sessions he'll get hungry. Can he bring a snack and eat it when he needs to?"

#1: <Good question! It's great to have Julia looking after us.>

Sensei's answer was, "There will just be the two of us here so you may stop for a break whenever you want to, Mark. Aikido can be tiring as there is a considerable amount of bending and twisting involved, which your body will not be used to yet. An important aspect of Aikido is its philosophy, so I can talk with you about that while you are resting or eating."

I expected Julia to tell Sensei that I wouldn't need rests, but she didn't. Which left me to fearfully ask, "What do you charge for private tuition like this?"

Sensei waved it away, "I am fascinated by your potential. The enjoyment I will derive from teaching you will be payment enough."

I was not comfortable with the idea of paying nothing. On the other hand, paying any sort of reasonable fee was also a source of discomfort for me. The usual fee was $40 per month, which was effectively $10 per hour. If we did three hours per Monday, that'd be $30 per week, which was getting a bit beyond what I could afford to pay out week after week. It was even worse than that, because the $10 per hour was multiplied by there being 20-odd people in a class, so his time was effectively worth more than $200 per hour. Private tuition should be considerably more than $10 per hour, but I couldn't sustain a payment of even $60 per week. The "Instant Multimillionaire Through Roulette" scheme would be wonderful, but I couldn't volunteer now to pay Sensei what his time was worth in case the scheme didn't work for some reason. I offered/asked, "I don't think it's fair that I pay nothing, but I can't afford to pay what I think it's worth either. I might have some money coming my way in a month or two, so can I accept your free offer until then, and reopen the payment discussion if that happens?"

"That is perfectly fine by me. See you Monday next week at 6pm?"

"Yes, please. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks very much."

It was time to go, as the room was starting to fill with the people for the next class. I went back to the changing room, got changed, folded up the gi, and approached Sensei again.

When I had his attention, I asked him, "Where do you want me to leave the gi?"

He looked confused for a moment, then said, "It is yours, Mark. A gift. Take it home and wear it to class from now on."

"Oh. Thanks for that. See you Monday then."

I headed back to Julia, carrying my new clothes that - I will point out - no one had needed to measure my inside leg for.

Julia stood at my approach, asking, "Happy?"

"Very. That was a great training session, and having several more hours every week of one-on-one training is going to be fantastic for me."

Julia gave me back my watch and ring (jewelry gets removed while training), and we headed out. She said, "It was very impressive to compare you to the other students. Nigel would show you something I know you'd never done before, and you'd gracefully copy his movements, flowing through it. The other students would bumble around, stop and start, correct each other, and almost trip over their own feet. The difference was amazing."

I had watched them on my previous visit, two weeks ago, and Julia was right. Aikido, when done properly, has a very graceful, flowing style. That's how I naturally move these days, a similarity that Donna had spotted when she saw the videotape. Aikido and I naturally suit each other, although I'm not sure dying twice to get this way could really be called "natural".

I relayed the first half of those thoughts to Julia, adding another thought at the end, "I was a little surprised that you suggested classes longer than an hour. Won't that eat into the time I have available for your other schemes?"

"Sure, but you've several times mentioned that Aikido is EXTREMELY important to you. If I understand you correctly, you even believe that the superb health of your body is Aikido related?"

I nodded.

"So Aikido is FAR more important to you than a few hours of playing around with some girl. I like my little schemes - they're fun and I'm enjoying myself with them - but they're all about what's best for you. Aikido is clearly more important than sex.

^-- "To get to your classes at 6, you're going to need some sort of dinner before you normally have it. I'm going to tell Carol that from now on she's responsible for your dinner every Monday. I'm even going to make her do the shopping for it. She'll have to cook it for you and make your snack too, even if you're at my house. I'll tell her over dinner shortly."

That idea was somewhat of a shock, but it was a good one. I knew Carol would like it. Fortunately I'm not fussy about the quality of my food, just the quantity and frequency, so I wasn't too worried about slight mishaps along the way.

^

Something interesting happened throughout the Aikido lesson that I've saved the mention of until the end: I gained a lot more information about how much ki people had when centered.

I'd proximity sensed hundreds of people by now, mostly other kids at school, but also teachers, people at the DMV, etc. For all of them, small, casual movements projected differing amounts of ki, but no matter how intensely people focus on major movements, they all have the same maximum amount of ki. I knew from the testing session at the Williams' that Sensei's ki increased from the base level that every human seems to have to three times that amount when he was centered. In the course of this evening's training session most of the students had come within my proximity range at some time as the mats had been fairly full and there's a lot of movement and swapping of partners. Nearly all of them had no discernible increase in ki over the base level. Perhaps because they weren't centered. I'd gotten close enough to a couple of the better students, as indicated by their having colored belts, to sense that they sometimes projected slightly more ki than the usual maximum, but it was a barely noticeable increase. The most interesting was Ray Croft. I'd been hoping to get near him all session, but never had a chance, so I was very pleased when Sensei called him over to train with me. I quickly found out that his ki was about 50% more than the base level.