I’m fortunate to have been with my NHS dentist surgery for nearly thirty years. This means I’ve seen a lot of young dentists, who arrive with their degree in dentistry, complete their two years of supervised practice and then go on to more lucrative private practice. And without exception they have all given me advice on how to look after my teeth. And without exception all of that advice has been different.
To be fair none of the advice has been contradictory, but one wanted me to use a softer bristle brush, another advised me to use floss and interdentals. A third thought I ought to make sure I was brushing correctly up and down and not side to side. Trying to follow all their advice has probably extended the time of my morning teeth-cleaning, but it has also extended the lifetime of my teeth, so I shouldn’t complain.
And of course, like many things, it got me to thinking about Aikido. There are probably as many theories about how to perform Aikido techniques as there are Aikido practitioners, and as teachers, we tend to teach the technique that works for our physique, mobility and mental attitude.
I for example could not perform Steven Seagal’s irimi nage. He is six feet four and therefore most people are smaller than he is, so he can simply divert an attack and strike straight down along uke’s jawline. I’m only five feet eight and most people are taller than I am, so I have to unbalance uke to a degree that I can lay my arm along his jawline and unbalance his head.
So my students learn my style of irimi nage, and too be fair, I should ask the taller students to study Seagal’s style and see if they can replicate the technique themselves, although of course, not on one another. They’ll have to try it out on my smaller students. As one or two of them are built like the proverbial brick outside toilet it’s unlikely that they’ll be attacked outside by someone who is six inches shorter than they are, but it shouldn’t stop them experimenting with the technique in the dojo.
There are, for example, many well-known types of Aikido, each with something to offer, but each with its own distinctive style:
· Aikikai, the style that can trace its lineage directly back through the Ueshiba family direct to the Founder himself;
· Yoshikan, the Aikido of Gozo Shioda, which has its roots in Ueshiba’s pre-war style of Aikido;
· Iwama, which is a structured preserving of Ueshiba’s later, post-war style of Aikido;
And then two more break away styles:
· Tomiki, with its emphasis on competition and randori, and;
· Ki Aikido, developed by Koichi Tohei through his interest in the ki aspect of Aikido.
And then there’s how we interpret our Aikido practice—whether as custodians of the Founder’s vision, a means to stay fit and flexible, a path for spiritual development, or simply self-defence “on the streets.” Shioda, for example, was of the opinion that "The time you put yourself through all this physical torment is while you are still young," whereas Koichi Tohei thought "Power of mind is infinite while brawn is limited."
So over the years, I’ve followed all the advice of my dentists, and I’m pleased to say that at the age of seventy-one, I still have most of my own teeth, even if they are a bit stained these days, just a few fillings and only a couple of extractions.
And I think it’s the same with Aikido. You go to different classes and seminars and you hear different sensei and you take on some of their advice, and it enhances your practice, and you develop your own style, which you then continue to refine and pass on when you start teaching.
But one thing no dentist ever told me was that there was a secret technique to keeping my teeth – just keep doing all the usual stuff: brush twice every day, floss, not too much sugary or acidic food, and see the dentist every six months.
And although I now one or two people who insist they’ve been given hiden or secret techniques by their sensei, to be honest I have yet to see or experience them. I’m told that unless I’m trained to receive them, they might kill me! I tend to err on the side of Ueshiba himself, who said, “Aikido has no secrets. Keep training, and you will discover the truth for yourself and Christian Tissier sensei when he says, "It’s not that teachers are hiding something from you—it’s that you haven’t yet learned to see what’s in front of you." Or Ellis Amdur: “The so-called ‘secret techniques’ in martial arts are usually nothing more than principles that take decades to truly internalize."
If a dentist claimed to have secret techniques that would whiten, straighten and strengthen your teeth, I imagine he would have customers queuing round the block. And he’d probably make a lot of money to start with, but unfortunately for him, his marketing strategy would soon be exposed as a sham; it’s a little harder to do that in the martial arts. Sensei with ‘secret techniques’ prefer their students not to go to other classes or seminars.
Just as there are different styles of Aikido, there are also different attitudes toward what is openly taught versus what must be 'discovered' over time. I myself suspect that there are not be actual secret techniques in Aikido, but there are levels of understanding that only come with time and experience. What seems mysterious at first may become obvious after years of training. In this sense, the real "secret" of Aikido is consistent, mindful practice.
So if you want to keep your teeth for a long time, then do what your dentist tells you, and if you want to penetrate to the heart of Aikido and learn its secret, keep going to classes, keep looking and listening. It may not be as dramatic as receiving a mystical, direct transmission, but in the end, it's the steady, mindful practice that truly unlocks Aikido’s depth and you’ll find you’ll still be practising Aikido into your old age … with your own teeth!
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