What is Kokikai?
"Kokikai Aikido is a martial art, concerned with effective self-defense technique and realization of our full potential power in all the activities of daily life. Even as we develop powerful Kokikai technique we strive to increase the strength of both body and mind, discover Kokikai Ki Power through mind-body coordination, and stimulate good health. In this way we create a secure foundation for a strong and successful life. We discover our whole human ability, our full potential power, through self-mastery." - From Kokikai Aikido International
What is Aikido? by Shuji Maruyama, 1975
Before I explain the character or nature of Aikido, it should first be explained how Aikido differs from Judo or Karate. I have observed that most Americans are somewhat confused about Japanese arts of self-defense and think that they are all the same, but each has its own distinguishing features.
After the use of armor died out in Japan, the martial arts flourished under the guidance of their respective founders who, through lifetimes of asceticism, developed the various systems of self-defense that we are familiar with in modern times. Just as Western Society has not been able to unify its systems of self-defense -- for example, boxing remains separate from wrestling -- the founders of martial arts were unable to unify the different means of self-defense that they developed into one style. This is why in Japan more than one martial art is practiced and why there is a choice.
I started practicing martial arts when I was twelve years old, and have been practicing for twenty-five years, because in my hometown the dojo of K. Tohei was near my house. I joined his dojo when I was of high-school age. I practiced judo in high school and karate in college. But even as I studied other martial arts, I maintained a fascination for Aikido, for it offered more than physical exercise: there was a mental aspect to it. When I graduated from college, I apprenticed in Aikido and my fascination continued undiminished. Finally, and only recently, after many years of hard study, I realized what I had been looking for all along but could not see easily.
A human being, I discovered, has greater potential power than he or she normally uses or knows he has which can only be realized when the power of the mind and the power of the body are unified and coordinated correctly. This power, once sensed, can be applied to self-defense and, equally importantly, to daily life.
To understand the nature of the techniques in their purely physical aspects, you must see them -- words are not enough. Our club always welcomes observers to see the techniques demonstrated, and the reader is invited. What I can explain here, however, is the significance of the potential power each of us has but needs to learn how to use. Simply put, full potential power is the result of correctly coordinating the mind and body. You sometimes hear of people who achieve this full potential when faced with an emergency situation; for example, the mother who lifts the end of a car off her fallen child. People who achieve coordination of mind and body under the circumstance of an emergency do so unconsciously, but a similar result can be achieved with conscious practice. I have been teaching in the United States for 10 years, and my experience has been that people who practice Aikido do not want to become professional martial arts instructors. Rather, they seek to develop self-confidence, will power, real relaxation, concentration and life-force, which can be applied to self-defense and daily life equally. Additionally, physical strength develops naturally, without excess stress, and in an interesting way, as compared with jogging, for instance.
Through the practice of Aikido we can develop what I describe as root or foundation power. For reasons I will make clear, we have no competition. We are not concerned with conquering others, but rather ourselves. It is for this reason that everyone can practice: older people, men, women, and children. There is no handicap in being physically weaker than another in the practice of Aikido. We require more than physical strength because we must learn to lead the enemy's power through skills of timing and mental calmness, which are developed by coordinating the mind and body on purpose. Good timing learned through the practice of Aikido does not diminish with age. My instructor, M. Uyeshiba, founder of Aikido, was 70 years old and I was 20, but he was stronger by far. To me this was strange, and it was one reason I was captivated by Aikido. Another is that when we throw and beat an enemy, we harmonize with an enemy's power rather than come into conflict with it. This enables us to defeat an opponent without causing injury, if we choose. After practice we feel good because during practice we use Aikido techniques to harmonize with and control the attacker rather than to hurt him. A student of Aikido will never start a fight, but if an enemy advances, it is his own power, which leads to his downfall. We also throw an attacker by acting upon his pressure points and upon his joints in the natural direction that his body can take.
Our basic principle says that the mind controls the body. For this reason, our thinking must be positive, and great value is placed on concentration. The mind has no form, color, or sound of its own. For me to explain how you can change your mind so that it is unified with your body would require an abstract analysis if I were to attempt it here. For this reason I suggest that you come to our dojo where an explanation is available which is an experience rather than mere words. At our club you will convince yourself that the power of the mind exists. When this power is unified with the power of the body, strength and skills for self-defense or daily life are heightened. The abstractness of this characteristic of Aikido falls away and the path is open to a realization of one's full potential.
How then do we coordinate mind and body? Our method uses special tests in the development of that skill. If I were to give you one of these tests, we would both know through feeling whether you mind and body were unified correctly. When you succeed you realize your strongest power.
Please join the dojo so that you may learn to use your whole potential through the research and practice of Aikido.
