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Understanding Atteru and KI.
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I was very privileged to have had Endo Sensei allow me to make two videos of him while I was in Japan studying Aikido. That allowed me to continue to study how to do his Aikido while being 5,000 miles away in Atlanta. With the videos alone one could not learn much but I had stayed in Japan studying with Endo Sensei for seven years. When I watch him on the TV my body can still feel how he would throw me for those many years. This combination has changed my Aikido over the past few years even while I have been separated from him. Unfortunately I can be sure that by now I am learning an antiquated form of Endo Sensei’s Aikido because he is always actively improving his technique in the classes he teaches.
None the less, my posture while teaching class has gradually changed and when I noticed the change I was reminded of a discussion Sensei and I had many years ago in a café around the corner from Honbu dojo. At that time I had written an essay for my Ni Dan test and Endo sensei was questioning me about it. The content of my essay is unimportant but for the sake of this article I will go over it briefly. I was focusing on the mental attitude of Aikido practitioners. Writing on the difference between a fighting and defending state of mind. Perhaps I had been correct on some points but it took years for me to absorb the points Endo Sensei had bestowed on me at that time. Sensei had agreed with me that the seemingly attacking mind of other budo practitioners, which is block then strike, would hinder the flowing moves of an Aikidoist. Yet Sensei was pressing that something called Atteru was the most important part of Aikido.
This was a Japanese word I was unfamiliar with and therefore questioned Sensei about it for at least an hour (Remember he had said it was the most important part of Aikido). I have come to see that Atteru is present in Sensei’s mind and posture in all his techniques. The first English word Sensei used to describe Atteru was pressure. He demonstrated this by grabbing my arm. His arm was extended and naturally filled with Ki coming from his center and I was moved back by this power. Sensei said that I had not started with Atteru and to try again. Well if anyone has been in one of Endo Sensei’s classes they have experienced this on the mat. When you grab Sensei in Katatetori his KI is so focused on you that if your KI is not flowing strong he will move you back a couple of steps before starting his technique. In this we can see Endo Sensei silently teaching us all the importance of Atteru.
Sensei went on to explain more about how to use Atteru. He said that it is not created by muscle and therefore not ridged like a rock. The KI flows from our center to create the Atteru pressure and our body can rotate or move in many different ways around that center while it, your center, remains strong in creating Atteru. This concept was confusing to understand with only a verbal explanation but again I was lucky that Sensei brought it up to me in the middle of the next class. The technique was Katatetori / Kokyunage. Already my mind was not on Atteru but Sensei said to me while I grabbed him “Atteru is here and here and here”. From a Japanese teacher that is a lot of explanation. After that he continued to teach me the concept but with the more traditional silent style of the Japanese. (I might mention that the silent method relies more on the student truly focusing on what is being taught and is therefore much more effective). Sensei would just pause for a moment while throwing me and lean toward me showing that he still had the power of creating more Atteru even though our body positions had changed.
Let me outline the areas in the technique where Sensei said “Atteru is here and here and here”. The first, of course, was when I grabbed his extended arm. Now with my energy moving toward him and his moving toward me, remember flowing and not immobile like a rock, a third, new direction is created where they meet. To visualize this, picture what happens when you push on both sides of your tube of toothpaste. The paste must squirt out in a third, new direction. As a result both of our hands moved generally downward while our shoulders moved together. That happened because despite the change of direction of the flow of KI in Sensei’s arm, his center continued to move forward and create Atteru. The flow of KI was extending down and out through Sensei’s fingertips and his arm was pressed against the front of his body due to the Atteru. It was at this point Sensei paused to say “and here” while giving me a little shove with his center.
With the KI still flowing out Sensei’s fingers he moved his center forward again to a point where my KI and his had completely merged flowing down our arms. As a result of continuing to create Atteru with his center Sensei came to the point where he took control of the entire movement and he could raise his arm utilizing both our KI in the same direction. With his arm extended above us sensei said his final “and here” and with a firm Atteru pressing directly from his hip to where it touched my hip he lowered his arm. Needless to say that is the part where I fall (roll) to the mat.
Atteru is done with one’s mind as well as with the body. This can also be called Zanshin. On those few techniques where Sensei first moves back, you can still see (and feel) his mental focus on you. For example, Sensei was doing a version of Yokomen-uchi Iriminage where he starts by moving back yet I felt like some part of him was keeping a pressure on me throughout. The technique starts as if Sensei is going to enter straight in to meet the arm swinging Yokomen-uchi. Then just when the connection is made Sensei moves his center back and raises his arm to guide the opponent’s strike over his head with a little help from the other hand. At the moment when the contact is made Uke feels more than the slight physical Atteru from that connection. What is felt is the stronger force of Zanshin, the mental Atteru. The combination of these two pressures causes Uke to nearly throw himself once the attack slides over Sensei’s head and the pressure, Atteru, is released momentarily.
Because Sensei said that this was the most important part of Aikido, I ran that class through my mind over and over again. Keeping the concept of creating Atteru in your mind as Uke will allow you to pick up so much more of each technique. As Uke, feel the Atteru throughout each technique and you will naturally improve your Ukemi skill. Most people try to react to Nage’s movements but that will not improve your learning of either Ukemi or Aikido techniques. Uke should feel that through Atteru they become one with Nage for a moment and that the next natural step is the separation of falling (rolling). It is a bit like the path of a comet. The comet moves through space towards a heavy body like a star. It is caught up in the gravitational field of the star. The direction of its KI is changed and it separates going off in a new direction. The comet did not react to the sun. It was acted upon. The energy of its movement was affected by the energy of the star’s gravity and the new direction was the result of the meeting. Uke needs to feel that a fall is a result of the meeting (Atteru) of two energies, not a reaction to Nage’s technique.
I hope my overly detailed account of those events from many years ago can help another Aikido practitioner get more out of practicing Aikido.
Robert House
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