I was talking with an old Aikido friend when he stopped me in the middle of the conversation and said, "I want to Ikkyo you." Now, it's been at least a decade since I regularly practiced on the mat, so I forgot what Ikkyo was, a pretty gnarly joint wrist lock. Drew and I have both practiced this move on each other (decades ago). I was confused, but then he explained what this meant.
Aikido is about moving energy around. In the simplest terms, an aikidoist is someone who takes the energy being directed at him/her (generally in the form of an attack) and fluidly moves it to a place of safety. The aikidoist stays safe and also keeps his/her attacker safe. It's a strange form of intimacy - accepting in any force, not fighting it directly and re-directing it to a safe expression.
Many of the movements have varying degrees of "bone crackingness" meaning that a conscientious aikidota will only put the least amount of force needed to appropriately redirect the energy and maintain safety. Not only are you physically close to your attacker/uke/practitioner, but when you're real about practicing, there is a non-physical, intimate, energetic interaction. It's the Ki.
Uke must trust that when they take on the role of the attacker, they will be safe in their energetic expression. The aikidoist must keep integrity when being attacked. I remember my favorite practice: Shio-nage. My attackers would come at me, I'd swoop down, redirect their energy, grab there body and place it on my chest, like a mother cradling a baby, as I swooped and spun them around, releasing them with their own energy as a throw.
Discussing these nuances, I realized I had internalized Aikido long ago. While I have not stepped on the mat in I don't know how long, I practice aikido every day. The world is my dojo.
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