Creating beauty out of what is not pretty

Much of my musings over the last while have been about creating beauty in the world, in rounding sharp edges, finding the beautiful shapes that we find in nature also on the mat.

I was reminded recently though that in getting to that beauty, there is a responsibility also to grapple with what is not so pretty... I include the whole blog entry by Regina Lindau for you to consider too...

Tonight our Aikido class had to be cancelled due to some logistical problem, so I have decided to instead write about some of my inspirations for tonight’s session. Generally Thursday classes are focussed a little more on the basics and I guess what I was thinking about becomes especially apparent when we practice basic techniques but of course is important at any level of practice.

Often – especially if we have practiced for a few years already - we have focussed a lot on principles like "maintaining our centre", “not being there when attack comes through" and "avoiding meeting force with force". These are all very critical principles in Aikido, but then there is also one that sometimes gets a little behind and that to my mind is just as critical and that has to do with the contact that happens between uke (the person that attacks) and tori (the one that executes the technique).

Aikido can look very pretty and can include big dramatic movements and especially at more advanced stages the contact becomes less physical and therefore less obvious to the observer. However, I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in the beauty of the movement and our need and sometimes ability to control that we start dismissing the importance of that contact.

So especially when we practice the very basic movements we get the chance to re-focus our attention on this. But what does that mean – this notion of contact? It really means that first of all – of course there needs to be a committed attack from uke, so that this contact can be established. From this the connection between the two partners can then be established. For us as tori it means that first of all we must acknowledge the attack. We must acknowledge the person we are working with and we must keep that awareness throughout the WHOLE movement. This sounds obvious but how often do we forget about uke halfway through the technique and get driven by our own ideas about what the technique must look like.

Now there is a point where one might argue that we cannot hand over the control to uke. And that is of course very true. However, there is a very distinct difference between giving away one’s centre and the skill of acknowledging and listening to uke and working with the attack.

This is a challenge for many of us and at the same time there is also the challenge of avoiding the clash – of the principle to not meet force by force. But avoiding the clash can never mean avoiding the contact. This would be fatal. Of course, as uke is playing along we might still be able to execute the technique. But in the face of a committed attack firstly uke will feel lost and secondly our self-involved approach will offer the gap for an attack that we might not have expected.

I even want to go further than just talking about the importance of that contact for the effectiveness and beauty of our Aikido. To me the importance of the contact and the connection that results from this reflects very clearly the value of respect and integrity that so often is associated with this martial art.

It seems easy to understand that we must always respect the person that we are working with. But how quickly do we forget that in the – not so pretty - reality of an attack. Of course an attack is not something we wish for. But if we are only able to keep the contact when things are pretty, then that is a huge lack of respect, because in dismissing the attack we disrespect uke. Reality is not always pretty and the real challenge comes in the moments where we are confronted with that. In those moments it is critical to maintain one’s centre, to not be a target for the attack and to not meet force by force, but it is equally important to maintain the contact and work with it creatively. So this is where I find integrity. Not in one set way of how things are done, not in a drawn out plan of answers but in the ability to be who we are and still keep the contact and respect those that cross our path even in the – sometimes not so pretty – face of reality.

This is a big challenge and I certainly haven’t mastered it but I was reminded today by some instance off the tatami and by my thoughts about tonight’s class. So again, I have become a little more aware of how crucial this is – whether it is on or off the mat. I think this is also what it means when we say that Aikido is possibly the most humble of all martial arts.

So this means life long practice for me and I know this practice will make a difference in my life and hopefully also - every now and then - touch those that cross my path.
http://carpediem-regina.blogspot.com/2007/06/not-always-pretty.html

August 9th was National Women's Day in South Africa.

A day on which we celebrate more than half of our population. A day on which we remember just how far we have come in recognising the innate equality of men and women in society - and how much more must be done to ensure that it becomes a reality for all women.

Dated to commemorate the Women's March on August 9, 1956, when 20 000 women staged a march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act (commonly known as the pass laws) of 1950. They left bundles of petitions containing more than 100 000 of signatures at Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom's office door.

Outside they stood silently for 30 minutes, many with their children on their backs. Those who were working for white people as nannies were carrying their (white) charges with them. The women sang a protest song that was composed in honour of the occasion: Wathint’Abafazi Wathint’imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock.). In the last 50 years since, the phrase (or its latest incarnation: "you strike a woman, you strike a rock") has come to represent women's courage and strength in South Africa.

The march was lead by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn.

Women still constitute a vulnerable section of the population - they are still more often the victim of abuse rather than the perpetrators (although they are imminently capable of the latter). In spite of the strides made towards gender equality, there are many areas of activity where people are discriminated against just because they are women. And while it is no longer true that "it is a man's world", we still have a way to go to experience true equality. Where equality means celebrating, not just tolerating, the differences between men and women.

For me it is also a time to remember all the amazing women who have crossed my path over the years - my mother, sister, grandmothers, girlfriends, lovers and friends - all of whom have taught me a little bit more about who I am and what I hold dear. Every relationship filled with meaning and lessons, an ongoing journey of discovery....

It also made me think of a question that has bothered me for a long time now: Why do more women not practice Aikido in South Africa?

After all, as a martial art, aikido is emminently suited to women. It is often assumed that women, because of an average man's greater physical strength, have a harder time defending themselves. In fact, in Aikido, because they are on average shorter, have a lower centre of gravity and are more intuitive to the use of ki, they are often better at Aikido than their male counterparts. It is only because society tends to make women think that they are weak that they don't realise their potential.
Aikido doesn't rely on brute strength - on the contrary, while physical strength can be useful, it is more the application of technique and timing that underlies Aikido's effectiveness. So why then don't more women do Aikido in South Africa?

Over the years the students (and ex-students) at my club have offered many reasons: some left so as not to have to deal with the overactive sweat glands of their training partners, others because they were tired of the bruises caused by equally inexperienced training partners clamping on, eager to show how much stronger they were and forgetting that everyone is on the mat to learn.

Equally significant is the number of students who leave because they feel that aikido doesn't offer them immediate skills in defending themselves. For them, very often self-defence is equated with protection against violence and aikido's underlying philosophy of not meeting violence with violence seems to be a bit of a let-down. And they go to swell the ranks of the karate or muy thai classes.

Finally, I believe that there are those who leave because there are so few female role-models, so few senior female instructors within the structure of Aikido in South Africa - and abroad. None of the resident instructors at the clubs around the country are women, and we have a handful of women black belts and senior grades scattered around the country. And while it is important that women instructors are recognised for their skill and experience - not merely because they are female - they have to make it as instructors in the first place. And therein lies an important responsibility - if more women are to realise the value of Aikido, we need to create the conditions for them to experience that value and the beauty that is inherent in the art. Aikido, in the way that O-Sensei envisaged it, is universal. And our practice has to reflect that universality in reaching out to everyone - regardless of background, culture or indeed gender.

See you on the tatami soon.
Ghalib

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