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Professor Kenji Tomiki, 9th
Dan Judo, 8th Dan Aikido (1900 - 1979)
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(click on video clip to see the full 
version)
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THE CONCEPT OF LOVE IN AIKIDO
In seeking the Truth, both master and
disciple must be modest in their Heart and also must love the Truth.
The Way starts from the original
precepts set down by the founder and reaches the final goal through
the achievement of the successors.
To treat those achievements of the
founder as the base and go beyond it:
this is Creation.
To improve upon the achievements of the
master and take them to a higher level by disciple's successive works
though master's works sometimes being succeeded or denied:
this is Advancement.
Mutual Respect and Love exist here. To
respect master and love disciple is no doubt to respect Love and
Truth.
KENJI TOMIKI
(Translated by Mr Itsuo Haba)
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A brief history of Professor
Tomiki and those originally associated with him.
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Jigoro Kano
(1860-1938)
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Morihei Ueshiba
(1883-1969)
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| Ichiro Hatta
(1906-1983)
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Hideo Oba
(1910-1986)
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| Hideo Yamamoto
(1911-1991)
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Fusae Tomiki
(1913-2001)
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| Den Nagamitsu
(1913-1975)
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Masayoshi Wazaki
(1916- )
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| Yoshimi Osawa
(1926- )
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Masaharu Uchiyama
(1923-2006)
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| Shouji Tsunoda
(1927- )
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Senta Yamada
(1924- )
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| Hirokazu
Kobayashi
(1929-1998)
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Tsunako Miyake
(1926- )
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1900 Born Kakunodate, Akita
prefecture
1914 Entered Yokote Junior High School
1919 Received 1st Dan in Judo
1922 Entered preparatory course at Waseda University
and joined the judo
club
1926 Met Morihei Ueshiba
1927 Attained 5th dan in Judo
Married Shigeko Naba
(who died from an illness in 1942)
1929 Entered a judo match held in the presence of the emperor
1931 Started to teach at Kakunodate junior high school
Met Hideo Oba
1936 Left Japan for Daido Gakuin in Manchuria
1938 Assistant professor at Kenkoku University in Manchuria
1940 Received 8th dan in Aikido from Morihei Ueshiba
1941 Professor at Kenkoku University in Manchuria
1943 Marriage to Fusae Yanagi
1945 Interned in Siberia
1948 Returned to Japan
1949 Part-time teacher at Waseda University
Full-time secretary of
Kodokan
1951 Full-time teacher at Waseda University
Shihan of the Waseda
Judo Club
1953 Visited the United States as a member of a judo mission
1954 Became a professor at Waseda University
1958 Set up an Aikido club at Waseda University
1969 Received 8th dan in judo
1970 Retired from Waseda University
The First All Japan
Student Aikido Tournament
1974 Established the Japan Aikido Association
and became the first
chairman of the JAA
1975 Became the vice chairman of Nihon Budo Gakkai
1979 Passed away due to colon cancer
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MU
SHIN, MU
GAMAE
MUSHIN Empty
Mind, Not thinking, Without
Conscience, Without emotion
Mindless, Endless, No-mind-ness
MUGAMAE
Without posture, Without stance
No posture, No attitude-ness
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A
philosophical concept that lies in the heart of Tomiki's Budo,
"Mushin Mugamae." "Mushin" is a state in which the
mind lets go from itself, no longer seeing things as "this and
that, good and bad, right and wrong, gain and loss, life and death-all
which must be seen as a oneness." "Mushin" is a mind
undisturbed by effects of any kind from which proceeds a "flowing
mind and body" and making possible the performance of skilful
technique without "conscious efforts made to generate and sustain
it." Mushin is the
Zen concept of “no mindedness,” a state in which there is no
preconceived thought that interrupts the flow of physical action.
Mu means “nothing, empty, or no.”
Shin means “mind or heart” in both the physical and in the
spiritual sense. Thus in terms of Zen, there is no separation between
thought and emotion. To
feel it is to think it; to think it is to feel it.
The
corollary of "Mushin" is "Mugamae", the body
adopting the posture or stance appropriate to any situation without
the conscious direction of the mind.
With
no preconceived thought or emotion, action will be one with thought
and emotion. Thus to
think it and to feel it is to do it.
A circle is always balanced.
There is no distinguishing top or bottom, left or right.
It has no point or goal but to be a circle.
The planet Saturn represents the eternal rotation of the solar
system. Should the planet
cease to rotate, it will be destroyed, and harmony will cease in the
universe. The planets
affect the tides, the never-ending flow of water.
Should the oceans cease to flow, stagnation will occur.
Stagnation in the physical world and in our personal lives will
bring about defeat in martial arts and in life.
The planet Saturn is bound by its rings, which represent
constraint and control. The
planet Saturn in harmony with the universe and its own self-contained
cosmos, therefore, represents the mindless circle.
Training in martial arts is meaningless unless it leads to the
continual perfection of the practitioner, despite the outside forces
of negativity and darkness that constantly work in opposition to
spirituality and the light of hope.
Thus the way of Mushin Mugamae is “the way of the mindless
(endlessness) circle.” There
is not always a specific goal in a martial arts technique or in life.
In most martial arts systems, the techniques have an “end in
mind.” Too often the
goal is to hurt or maim an opponent.
These techniques can also be easily countered, leaving the
practitioner with no options. The
circle stops. But a
technique designed to be a means of achieving harmony with an
opponent’s flow has many options.
Since the technique has not been predetermined, it will be
difficult to defend against. Because
the end is not in the martial artist’s mind, it does not exist until
created in response to the flow of combat.
Also in reaction to an opponent’s attack, a strike can become
a block; a block can become a strike, with or without power.
A strike can even turn into a pat on a potential opponent’s
back should the moment of conflict be eliminated prior to a physical
confrontation. The
correct technique will occur when the martial artist is in the flow of
the mindless circle. A
momentary defeat is only a chance to create another artistic endeavour
based upon achieving the harmony contained in the mindless circle.
Even in defeat if a martial artist is in the flow of the
endless circle, the defeat can become a means to spiritual and
physical regeneration. The
defeat becomes a victory, and the circle is completed.
Even
in life’s every day endeavours, many individuals always look for
ends or achievements and often lose sight of the means necessary to
attain those goals. A
missed opportunity in life is merely a chance for those individuals to
aspire to another—perhaps more exciting—achievement that would
never have been realized had their original goals been attained.
Thus no antagonist and no political or social force can prevail
in an attempt to thwart their attainment.
But the problem is that many times those same individuals have
looked only forward to that far off goal, and they failed to create
the short-term means that would help them achieve that end.
Unless they develop the skills necessary to achieve that goal,
the goal will never come. If
the perfection of a particular martial arts technique is a goal, it is
first necessary to develop the timing, balance, speed, and power
needed for proper execution.
A
Zen proverb states something to this effect:
“Those who wish to attain certain goals must first become
certain men or women; once they have attained that state-- become
those certain men or women-- the attainment of that certain goal will
no longer concern them.”
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THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A RANDORI SYSTEM FOR AIKIDO
In the early part
of this century Morihei Ueshiba (Founder if Aikido) practised
AIKI JUJUTSU and from this he derived his original form "AIKI
BUJUTSU". By 1942,
"AIKIDO", as it was then to be named, was officially
recognised and was know as the way of harmony.
Originally the
AIKI JUJUTSU form had no simple learning process and there were many
hundreds of techniques many of which were deadly and violent.
Morihei Ueshiba's AIKIDO reduced the number to some 2664
variations on 30 basic movements and using safer techniques.
Students could then repeatedly practice without the fear of
permanent injury, but still keeping in mind the origins of the
techniques. Kenji Tomiki,
a student of Morihei Ueshiba and like his master he too was an expert
in Judo. He took this a
stage further and devised a simpler and more systematic method of
teaching Aikido efficiently from the knowledge and correct application
of far fewer techniques. One
of his aims was to introduce the element of competition or free-play
(Randori), something not previously acknowledged by Aikidoka.
By the mid 1960's he had achieved this and several colleges
took part in a competition. The
analogy being similar to that of Judo, which was developed by Kano for
younger players with a competitive and sporting element in mind.
The “BUDO
MAN” diagram shows the origins and refinements of AIKIDO and how
it relates to other disciplines.
It shows how the techniques are grouped and how they overlap
with Judo. Furthermore it
highlights the key elements for safe and effective application of
Randori.
SOFTNESS
/ MOVEMENT, BALANCE & POSTURE
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