[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTgiKHQ_4E]

Aikido movements have meaning… or they should. Mary Heiny Sensei is the foremost example of teaching aikido through a broader metaphor of relationships and resolution. If you practice in this way aikido can be the place where you figure out what needs to change in your life to change the impact of stress, anxiety, and conflict.

Actions have meaning on and off the mat. Practicing movements in aikido can be a vehicle for understanding the meaning in your responses to conflict. Ask what does it feel like you are doing when you take a knife away from someone attacking you. What is the purpose of taking the knife. If you where punching or shooting in self defense it would be clear that your purpose was to eliminate or destroy a threat. Aikido has more room for interpretation… in the case of them holding a knife are you wrenching the knife away, are you locking it into place, are you creating pain to convince them to let go, or are you changing the shape of their grip to open the hand?

Each aikido technique can “deliver” different messages. Changing the feeling from aggressive to caring alters the shape of the technique, often making it more effective, eliciting less resistance from the attacker. The best example is nikyo, as seen below in a picture of Daniel Toutain Sensei.

If you practice aikido, next time you do nikyo imagine hugging the person close as if to protect them from their aggression. This will have a very different feeling and effect than trying to drop them to the ground or twisting their wrist. They will still feel the nikyo (which isn’t comfortable) but the message will be different.