Aikibojitsu

Uke and Nage

Aiki has a certain connotation with respect to martial arts. It suggests that one uses an opponent's strength and momentum against him through matching, or blending, with the opponent's power. Aiki technique involves taking control of an opponent physically by taking control of his energy, after which nage (the one who throws) may easily strike, throw, or otherwise neutralize uke (the one who is thrown).

There is wide agreement among those who practice traditional Aikido that Aiki means to be in harmony with one's opponent; that if this is done, it will be possible to control him. In view of this belief, the following passage is interesting to contemplate:

This passage appears at first to contradict the idea of harmony with one's opponent, a central tenet of traditional Aikido. Munenori's declaration that being "out of tune" with the opponent is good, is difficult to reconcile with the notion of Aikido's "blend with the attacker."

It is when the relationship between nage and uke is regarded in terms of periodic principle that the apparent contradiction is cleared. The confusion originates in an incomplete definition of the meaning of "blending." In Aikido's "blend with an attacker,", what is being referred to is a blend with uke's speed (and to a lesser degree, direction). In terms of periodic waveform, that means to blend with an uke's periodic frequency. A blend of speed is correctly understood as a primary factor in reduction of conflict between nage and uke. But the blend of speed (frequency) does not in any way require that nage match uke in terms of phase angle Phase angle :refers to the rhythmic timing relationship between two periodic waveforms of the same frequency. Th phase angle between two waveforms is 0 degrees when they are exactly in sync; phase angle is 180 degrees with the positive waveform of one wave occurs exactly in sync with the negative waveform f the other.A phase angle of 360 degrees is identical to one of 0 degrees. The phase angle of 90 degrees is particularly important in energy work because it is within the 90 degree phase angle that negative infinity gives way fully to positive infinity.

Munenori's admonition to practitioners to not be "in-tune" is a reference to nage's phase relationship with uke. Given a match of speed (the Aikido "blend"), it is entirely possible and highly desirable for nage to lso be "out of phase" with uke, in the sense of achieving and maintaining a leading phase angle with respect to uke.

For reasons having to do with the nature of pure energy, the optimal leading phase by nage is 90 degrees. This leading phase is accessed by nage, not through intended effort with respect to uke i the particular, but rather arises naturally through nage's commitment to pure non-resistance. This foundational relationship, describable by the base waveforms of the periodic principle, is called the Phase Lead of Aiki. Phase Lead of Aiki :refers to the key 90 degree phase relationship between nage and uke in the optimized non-resistant interaction. Even before action begins, Aikibojitsu regards the martial interaction as a periodic phenomenon, in which the interaction's "speed" is equivalent to the determinative periodic waveform's frequency. Regarding the martial interaction in this way gives nage critical information necessary to control uke's attack.

In the study of non-resistance, it is important that nage find a way past uke's imperfections. Uke is often somewhat uncoordinated, making it difficult at first to see the deeper principles in action. It is a great deal to ask of uke, that his strikes be accurate, precise, and honest. Uke may well find the requirements placed on him in non-resistant martial practice to be especially difficult and might well be reluctant to willingly go beyond socially acceptable training levels and enter into a level of energy criticality.

Aikibojitsu staff work 'simplifies' the very complex open-hand work of technical Aikido, replacing the unpredictability of a thinking human being with the simple singularity of a stick of wood. This piece of wood is pure and bound to truth. It is an entity of the manifested unknown, and therefore acts fully in accordance with the dictates of decontractive intent.

The staff can always be counted on to respond with absolute commitment and honesty, and therein lies one of the key elements necessary to the deepening of nage's study. The staff's absolute truthfulness reveals immediately, accurately, and unflinchingly the correctness (or lack thereof) of nage's intent in the preformal stream.

Through the tecniques of Aikibojtsu, the practitioner comes to familiarity with the surfaces of determinative structure. In possession of that familiarity, nage may then shift to work with those same structures, but now with uke, a human being full of chaotic imperfection. In open-hand technique, correct use of preformal structure in technical application is thus greatly eased. The technical moves and timings of Aikibojitsu have becomes embedded in the traces of the brain and the muscles, making it a much simpler task to isolate and utilize upstream structures in paired work with the more complicated human being.