Introduction
I am going to discuss some uses that I have found for Ki and why we should develop it not only for class, but for use in every day life. In class we often investigate the concept of Ki. In fact, even as the name AiKiDo suggests, the art has a basis in Ki extension and developing Ki. We use it in all our techniques, whether it be in a kokyu-nage or just turning from the hips in a wrist lock. While extension of Ki in class is vital to successful Aikido, it should not be limited to class. I can see more clearly the need to carry your Aikido training into the rest of your life since I have been a student for a few years,. If we use our ki only during techniques, how are we going to use it in the rest of our lives if we are never attacked on the street? This paper will outline some of the ways I have discovered for practical uses for ki. I realize that the possibilities are endless and that ki is much more significant than indicated in this paper, these are just a few ways I have found that Ki itself has helped me in every day life.
Ki is basically a life force. Some believe that each of us has our own personal ki while others believe that all ki is universal and that we all share it. Even in Koichi Tohei Sensei's book Ki In Daily Life, he says "In Ki society, we make a distinction between the Ki we use everyday and the universal ki." Suffice it to say, Ki is energy and we all have access to it if we just develop it. Here are some of the ways I develop and use it.
Deliberate Conscious uses for Ki
This section discusses what I like to call the deliberate or conscious uses for Ki extension and development. These benefits and effects are achieved through direct concentration on the desired result. Through deliberate extension, you can open up a world of uses for your personal energy and tap into the universal energy that O' Sensei had mastery over.
Relaxation
In most every occupation, it is very easy to become stressed especially if your job centers around deadlines. Being in the computer software industry, my job is one deadline after another. At some points I come home extremely tired, grumpy, and sometimes sick at my stomach. Even without the stress of the job, just driving to and from work can be very stressful. I have found that through ibuki breathing exercises and ki extension, I can help myself relax. When I find that I am becoming tense, I simply sit back, close my eyes, concentrate on my one point, breathe deep, and try to extend my ki. Although I am still in the novice stages of Ki development, I find that this helps greatly to reduce my level of stress. There are other stressful experiences in life that Ki extension can help relieve. I teach Aikido, Karate and computer programming. Standing up in front of a classroom full of students has the potential to be very stressful. Before each class, I do my breathing and Ki relaxation techniques. After this, I find that I do a much better job of teaching my students.
Concentration
My work is very dependent on my ability to concentrate. As I sit at my desk, not only do I have to complete my job, but I am constantly interrupted with little "fires" to put out. This is very disruptive to my train of thought and sometimes my concentration goes out the window. The more I work to develop my Ki, the more I find that I can recover my concentration faster and continue my work. Once again, closing my eyes and trying to find my one point, enables me to calm down, relax, clear my mind, and begin filling my head with the necessary thoughts to get back on track.
Even when I am not at work, I can use this Ki concentration technique to help in other situations. While driving, playing sports, talking to people on the phone, or teaching my computer classes, I can use my Ki training to maintain my concentration.
Public speaking has always been really challenging for me. I took classes, joined toast-masters, and really practiced my speaking skills. Even though I had tutored in college and taught karate for several years, concentrating in front of a large crowd was always really tough. I found that when I began to develop my ki extension technique, I was able to concentrate better. This helped my ability to focus in front of a crowd, which gave me more confidence and ultimately enhanced my speaking skills.
Awareness
Awareness is one area that many people don't consider. Not only can you use your ki to achieve results in your own body, but you can use it to be aware of what other people’s bodies are doing. I have found that since I have begun to develop my ki, I can sense what is going on with other people. Let me explain. During the course of a normal day at my job, I interact with my co-workers occasionally when the paths of our jobs cross. Usually I am very comfortable with everyone at work. As I have become accustomed to all my co-workers, I think I have a sense for the level of Ki energy each one gives off. I think that everyone, whether they have trained or not, extends ki in some ways. I also think that most of those people do not know that they are doing this or that they can control it very well. These types of people give off ki energy unknowingly, when their emotions become intense.
One day a gentleman that I work with who is usually easy-going came into the office. I knew immediately that something was wrong with him. I felt a very strong level of energy coming from his body. There was very little in his face or posture that would give away the fact that he was very angry at something or someone. It almost felt as if my senses were being pounded. I, of course was not the object of his anger but I could still feel what I think was his Ki energy radiating from his body. He certainly was not aware of it but I was. As it turned out, he had had an accident on the way to work and was given a citation. Though he did not tell anyone, I could just “sense” he was angry.
On another occasion, I was in class practicing with a fairly new student. This was one of those students that come to class a few times to try to prove something, then eventually leave, mostly because they are in class for the wrong reason. After the technique was demonstrated, I began to work with this person and I could "feel" that they did not wish to be cooperative. In fact, he threw an attack that we were not practicing. I sensed that the target was something other that what it was supposed to be and performed an appropriate defense. After class that night, I thought about what happened. My uke decided to strike a different target. Without thinking, I felt what he was going to do and modified my response. I don't think I saw anything that would give it away. I felt his Ki being directed to the wrong place. This doesn't happen often, but with practice, I should be able to develop this awareness and be able to sense inappropriate intentions in other people and avoid bad situations.
Finally, one night after class, I was sitting with a friend outside a restaurant eating on one of the picnic tables. Suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable and couldn't decide why. I stood up because I felt like I should be ready. When I turned around, there was a person approaching our table. When I stood up and looked at him, he stopped, paused for a minute then proceeded around our table giving us a wide berth. From the way he was dressed, the way he walked, and the look on his face, I didn't feel like he was someone who could be trusted. When I stood up and looked at him, I knew he couldn't be trusted. Had I not "sensed" him, he might have approached the table which would have been bad since I was sitting and didn't have much mobility. When I stood up, he looked at me as if I knew he was up to no good.
Another application of Ki extension enhancing awareness ties in closely with the healing aspect of Ki. This application is in the awareness of your own body when something is damaged or not functioning one hundred percent. It is not uncommon to have small aches and pains after class. Sometimes on rare occasions, injuries will happen in class as a result of an accident or an inexperienced student executing a technique. In the few situations where I have gone home with an actual injury, I can use my Ki extension to concentrate on the injury and actually direct healing toward that part of the body. Since I am fairly new at exploring ki extension, I am not sure how effective I am. However, I usually do feel warmth and increased blood flow in that particular part of my body. I generally find that after several days of such exercises, my body seems to heal much faster. Through the extension of Ki, you can direct the bodies flow of energy, so that you can concentrate healing in certain areas that might need a little extra attention.
Influencing Other People's Behavior
The previous section dealt with awareness. This section is going to discuss the other side of the coin. Instead of just detecting what is around us, you can actually use Ki to influence other people's behavior. In the case of the individual that was approaching the table where my friend and I were eating, when I stood up and silently confronted this individual, he may have been able to sense that I was extending ki toward him. It was unfriendly Ki, but ki nonetheless. I think that by extending ki toward him, it put up a wall between us that he might have sensed. Maybe his conscious didn't pick up on it, but perhaps his subconscious did. In that way, I might have persuaded him not to approach the table. He was bigger than me, so I don't see why he might fear me for my appearance. He could just tell that this was not the place to start a confrontation.
Combined with the relaxation benefits, you can actually use Ki to diffuse an explosive situation. Usually, when people want to argue, fuss and fight, they blow up at anything and everything. What they usually want is for someone to blow up back at them, so they have a good excuse to yell and shout. By extending Ki and concentrating on the one point, it is very easy to remain calm in situations like this and help dissolve the anger in the situation. By keeping cool, you can avoid a fight and actually help to calm someone down, so that they can discuss things rationally.
Another way to use ki to influence other people is in class. During a general randori session, people come in and attack any way they want to. I find that I can sometimes extend ki toward them and draw them into a particular type of attack. In this way, I know exactly where they are going to strike or grab and I can be prepared.
Healing
This is one of the most interesting applications for Ki extension and I believe one of the most useful. Since the body is driven by the concept of energy. We have the universal Ki and then we have personal Ki. One of the reasons we get sick is because we don't have the energy to fight off sickness. Part of the reason because our personal energy is not allowed to flow. Ki extension has the ability to help heal in almost any situation. Even in the professional medical fields, it has been proven that babies born with problems overcome them faster and become healthy quicker if they are picked up and given attention. At that point, all of the doctor's or nurse's attention (energy, ki) is focused on that child. Since children are very impressionable, I think they practically “eat it up”. Their sick bodies are hungry for the fuel to fight the problem and that Ki energy is a great boost.
One situation where Kiatsu helps is by extending Ki into our partner. We can open up the channels of energy flow, and help them to re-establish that flow so that they can heal themselves. In addition, we can also give them a "boost" with our own energy. It's kind of like putting gas in the carburetor to try to get an engine started. Once that channel is opened up, then the flow can continue as normal.
Sometimes the body becomes injured and needs healing; not because it’s energy is blocked, but because it might need extra energy to help deal with the crisis situation. Once my brother and I were wrestling around and he landed on his kneecap. From his yelling, I thought he had broken his leg. Come to find out, he just sprained it. He couldn't walk on it. I asked him to lie down and I put my hands on his knee. He was nervous at first, but when I opened up and started concentrating on extending ki into his knee, he relaxed. He told me that my hands got really hot and the pain all but left his knee. When I was done, he could stand on the hurt leg and actually walk. It was still very sore but I think the extra energy boost was enough to get his knee on it's way to recovery more quickly.
My first experience with healing Ki was in my karate class. I had injured my hip and could hardly walk. As I sat on the floor, I wished I could join in but the pain was too much. After the class, my instructor came over to me and asked me if I would like a little "energy boost" as he called it. I said sure, I'll try anything. I laid down, not quite knowing what to expect. Several of the instructors gathered around me, placed their hands on my arms, legs, and torso and began to breath. At the time, I thought this was a bit silly. This was before I knew anything about Ki extension. As I began to relax, waiting for this to be over with, I began to shake and felt like I was coming off the floor. Finally, I had to ask them to stop. It freaked me out pretty bad. I thought about it over the week and when I came back, I asked if I could try it again. This time, I completely relaxed and was able to get some benefit out of the energy. They were all projecting their Ki into me and my body in turn was using it to help heal the injury. Since then, I have used it to help other people heal small injuries as well.
Daily Aikido Practice
There is the one very important aspect of Ki development that we have not mentioned yet. That is the application of Ki in weekly Aikido practice. Some might not consider this an appropriate mention in a paper such as this. We were supposed to be concentrating on "Practical" uses of Ki extension and development. Since Aikido is a regular part of my life, I want to develop my Ki so that my practice of Aikido will be enhanced that much more. I know that it is possible to develop techniques that work “OK” without the concentration on Ki development but that extra boost that you get from developing your Ki extension is what makes the practice of Aikido seem so special and, when done correctly, astonishing. After all, extending Ki is the fourth of the four basic principles.
Non-Deliberate or Sub-Conscious benefits of using Ki
Up until now, by reading this paper, I would have you believe that the only way to use your Ki is through extension. This is indeed not the only method in which your ki may be employed. Even though I have just begun to scratch the surface on my Ki development, I can see how practicing extension of Ki can develop it to the point where it "takes over" and almost has a mind of it's own. When this happens, it becomes automatic and you don't have to think about it anymore. I am far from that level of development, but with continued practice, it will become a reality. Below are some examples of how this works.
Stress Relief
Sometimes I feel that I am in my infancy of ki development. Even so, on occasion I have felt the presence of Ki kick in and begin to lighten my mood. When I was younger, I would become angry easier and it would take me some time to get over it. As I continue my practice of Aikido and Ki development, I think sometimes my emotions are more in balance due to my settling of Ki. This automatic calming effect is a wonderful feeling. It's like practicing your breathing then letting that practice take over and not think about it any more. Over time, you begin to breathe better naturally. All of this combines to give you a more relaxed feeling, thereby reducing your overall level of stress.
Confidence
This is an area that you always consciously think of, but through Ki development you can attain a higher level of confidence. When all your energy is in balance, you tend to have a clearer head, more focus and a better attitude. This not only gives you more confidence but, causes other people to see you as confident. When others see you as confident, they begin to trust you and that too can improve your confidence. Don't, however, begin to confuse confidence with arrogance. Confidence comes from having harmony and peace in your life. Arrogance comes from distrust, low self-esteem and pettiness. People who are arrogant do not have harmony in their lives. Ki development can bring harmony into your life, so that you will be truly confident in yourself.
Fudo-Shin
I really like this particular vocabulary word and I believe that it fits in well with the theme of this paper. After looking at some of the topics, you can see how all of these can lead to this particular concept. In my opinion, this is one of the most important concepts in any martial arts training whether it be Aikido, Karate or Soldiers on the battlefield. This concept is important even if you are attempting to overcome your opponent with words. In all of these cases, you absolutely must have a calm spirit in the face of any adversity. Only then will your technique be effective and pure. Some try to achieve this solely through physical training. The path to strong Ki can lie that way, but if you know about it up front, why not go ahead and begin to develop it early on. Only through peace and harmony can you truly achieve a calm spirit. Once this happens, you can do virtually anything. Train your Mind, Body and Spirit together and this will be easier to achieve.
Summation
Even though you can break down the different benefits of Ki development into categories, you cannot forget that they all work together to accomplish your goals. Just like the four basic principles of Aikido, they all go together. If you have one, you will have all of them. If you lose one, you will lose them all. What is so incredibly amazing is that I have had this energy all my life. It has followed me and even helped me and I did not know it. It's like breathing and not realizing it. Now that I know I can breath, I can work to better control that breathing, so that I can receive maximum benefits. Likewise with Ki. Now that I know I have the Ki, I can work to develop it so I can receive maximum benefit from it's use. I have broken them out because it is interesting to examine the various benefits of Ki development and in so doing, you get an understanding of how they all work together. Some of the sections deal with some of the same topics but from a slightly different angle. Lastly, Ki development, even in my infancy of the study, has helped me grow into areas I didn't think I could grow into. I am very excited to continue to grow in my practice of Aikido and my study of Ki development. There is no telling to what else in your life you can apply this type of skill.
