Harmony

Here is an idea to explore. This morning I took a few minutes to play with a very basic kaeshi waza, receive ikkyo and turn it around and give it back. It was harder to get than I would have thought. Part of the problem was the language barrier. I couldn't really explain to my uke what I wanted to do and his level of resistance made it difficult to find the technique to practice it.

Then I tried something a little different. Instead of turning my body where I thought it was supposed to go I simply turned my body where it needed to go to keep my own hand lined up on my center. The result was that I started to get the reversal as well.

Then a little later as I was receiving shihonage, I tried the same principle. Instead of trying to move myself where I thought I should to take ukemi, I just moved my body to keep my center lined up with hand. In other words, I followed my hand with my center. The result was a very natural and relaxed ukemi.

It seems to me that this is what we generally do as tori. We line up our centers. I don't force my hand to my center; I gently move my center so it lines up with my hand and then I have a natural and easy power. So it makes total sense that I should be practicing the same approach as uke. After all, there are not two aikidos, one for offense and one for defense. As I move into a more fluid practice, there isn't even much distinction between tori and uke, there's just a constant flow pursuing alignment and the power that emenates from it.