Aikido practice coordinates physical and cognitive resources toward a common goal. Research shows that exercise improves executive function which is crucial to complex reasoning, memory, and skill mastery. Aikido practice provides the additional resource of meaning, the source of motivation required to sustain action.
“Dexter” is piloting his robotic dodgeball suit, which he created after being forced to play in gym class where he was targeted by the class bullies. His suit was successful in pummeling the mean kids but his focus on revenge left him vulnerable to a shot from Dee Dee, his little sister. The shot causes the great robot to fall and Dexter’s win to slip away.
Over three hundred years after Descartes proposed that the mind and body are separate and distinct we are starting to see the mind, body, and spirit as integrated parts that perform best as a whole. The Dexter image is a good analogy for how we still function; the brain figures out what the body is going to do and the brain puts the body to work.
Below is an explanation of “Executive Function” which decreases with less physical activity.
Executive function constitutes supervisory control of cog- nitive functions to achieve a goal and is mediated via prefrontal cortex circuitry. Planning and carrying out action sequences that make up goal directed behavior requires allocation of attention and memory, response selection and inhibition, goal setting, self- control, self-monitoring, and skillful and flexible use of strategies (Eslinger, 1996; Lezak, Howieson, & Loring, 2004)
The “steps” of aikido coordinate the mind and body toward solving a common problem. The complexity of exercise increases the benefits to executive function increase as well. The more the mind and body join forces the better the performance even with unrelated tasks. There is a benefit for all individuals and there is a specific opportunity for those who struggle with self-concept, social withdrawal, inactivity, and conditions where the body plays a negative role such as in anxiety or trauma recovery. Aikido is unique because the aerobic exercise is also non-oppositional problem solving, building strategies and behaviors that reflect beliefs in peace and resolution. For more information on the relationship of exercise with executive function here are a few articles to start. One area that has received less study is how our performance improves when supported by personal beliefs.