Unifying Mind and Body

合氣道光氣会 Aikido Kokikai Japan News 

2020-10-1 

Shudō Maruyama, Founder and President 

Unifying Mind and Body (心と身体を統一する kokoro to karada wo tōitsu suru) 

When a human being operates with their mind and body unified, that person can use all of their own power.  Consider the tip of an iceberg. The part sticking up above the water is only a small part, with many more times that volume submerged. Children’s abilities are similar. By unifying their minds and bodies, they can bring out their full power. Just as you can take a better photo when your camera is in focus, when a child studies with their mind and body unified, it is clearly reflected in their understanding. On the other hand, it’s no good with blurry vision—even if their heads are facing the teacher, their minds are playing or thinking about something else. 

In Kokikai Aikido, we cultivate the unification of mind and body using various methods. 

There is the principle that the mind controls the body. People’s legs don’t walk on their own. The mind walks by using the legs. And the mind savors food by using the tongue. 

We can’t see the formless, weightless mind, but by checking the body we can understand the mind’s state.  

In Kokikai Aikido, we can confirm the mind’s state using the unbendable arm test. Extend one arm, and imagine your mind reaching through your arm, far beyond. Or with your mind, think strongly that you can do it. The result is that your arm becomes very strong and cannot easily be bent. Conversely, if your mind wavers or pulls back, or when you think you can’t do it, your arm becomes weak and bends.    

In order to become strong, we cultivate a positive mind by practicing things like sending the mind forward and believing, “We can!” 

Sitting Seiza (正座法 seizahō) 

We sit with correct posture. This is nominally for five to 10 minutes, but kids quickly start to fidget. They’ll open their eyes and do something to the kid next to them. Simply sitting is not the same as training in calmness. Among Kokikai principles is the idea of calming down by focusing the mind on one point. In Zen and the martial arts, it used to be taught to focus the mind three sun (about 10 cm) below the navel. The mind is very delicate and easily moves. To be able to calm the mind, think of the point that is your upper body’s center of gravity, which for a child is a point about five cm below the navel.  You too can then perceive this correct state. When you stabilize your mind by focusing it on one point, you become extremely strong. During practice, we check, or test this from a variety of perspectives. 

Proof is important in the martial arts. In the US, Sensei has strong men weighing 100 kg (220 lbs) push his body. Even though he is being pushed, Sensei doesn’t move, and he can push back in the same direction as the pushers and throw them.  A correct state of mind and body makes human beings strong. In contrast, a bad state makes the mind move, lose focus, and rise up, a state we can describe with expressions such as losing your temper, flying into a rage, and getting angry.  Kids understand that when their feelings rise up, so do their minds. But it’s difficult to sustain a stable, calm state of mind. So we practice. Standing, with both hands up, sitting seiza, walking, and during technique, the mind and body are always returning to the correct state, practicing unification, making progress little by little, and getting the correct state to enter our subconscious awareness.  

(translated by Barbara Litt, with assistance from Dave Nachman and Steve Syrek)