Sensei Maruyama has always stressed
natural movement. Until recently I innocently thought he was just
talking about how Nage (the person throwing) is moving in calm, relaxed
states, without stylized deep stances or awkward poses. In our last
camp where Kokikai students from all over the US congregated to learn
from Sensei, he exposed us to what, at least to my ears, was a new term,
“jun/順”. He had one of the bilingual students help him articulate the
Ja
panese idea into words we all could (begin to) understand.
Our bodies have rules to them. Just like we need food, air, water, and
sleep, our bodies have mechanical rules. Knees bend primarily in one
plane and to a limited degree. Fingers bend inward, but not so well
backward. You get the idea. Joints are designed to works certain ways
and cause great pain and damage when forced against those.
Many
martial arts take advantage of this. Joint locks and breaks are a
staple among many "real" looking martial arts. Particularly those used
in military and police contexts where the snapping joints by young
practitioners in their physical prime who need not worry about civil
liability.
However, Aikido, and in particular Aikido Kokikai®,
relies on manipulating Uke (our attacker) in ways that go with the
natural, or “jun/順” movements of their body. On the surface this would
seem, well not all that "martial arty". And it would if it stopped
there, but using natural movements is a multi-faceted strategy. We
could attack individual joints and break them, but one must generally be
at least as big as the attacker and fairly fit. Aikido needs to work
for every one so it relies on movements that the attackers mind won't
resist and brace against. Subtle movements that lead the attacker to a
position to which all but one natural movement remains - falling. We
use Aikido Kokikai® to remove all potential natural movements of our attackers
but the one we want. Uke is left not with a choice but an eventuality
of falling.
One might be quick to point out that we still have
small joint locks like Nikyo and Sankyo which certainly have the
appearance (and the feel, oh the feel...) of painful counter joint
movement. Again, look a little deeper. Our goal in Nikyo or Sankyo is
never to confine uke in a puddle of pain, ok we *can*, but, it is really
to entrap a single joint and make it such that any further advancement
toward us is impossible without the assistance of massive amounts of
drugs.
Off the mat:
This simple concept, “jun/順”, is really
a powerful and fundamental to a way of life. Consider this concept the
next time you are in a "discussion" at the office. Rather than
verbally clobber your coworker into submission or at least tolerance, or
worse yet, get their way. Can you craft the argument to make the only
natural, reasonable conclusion to do what you need done?
