I have a booklet in my bookcase, which is based on the aikido of Hiroshi Ikeda, and which is titled: Center The Power of Aikido.So now you know where aikidokas pull their strength from; from the middle or their center.
Speaking about the middle, the core or the center, we are also talking about balance and equilibrium in motion. And since we humans are always on the move, we are always busy with that center and looking to find for our balance. You might call it our fate or the ‘human condition’ that we are subject to and allways somewhat struggling with gravity every moment of the day throughout our lives. And that we can either adapt to it and move along with it as best we can or resist and fight against it.
We actually experience this in person each and every day and have been familiar with it since childhood. From the first moment we wanted to move in this world and take our first steps, we have experienced this.
Walking or moving on two legs is surely the most common form of movement or exercise that we humans are familiar with. Modern man has created a world and a living environment in which that seems to be less and less the apparent way to get around. Which gives rise to the oft-heard cry: ‘sitting is the new smoking’.
Walking is such a familiar and natural fact of life for us that we usually do not think about the many complex processes it requires from body and mind. Processes that ensure that we stay on track and in balance. Depending on direction, force and speed, the relative position of the actual center of the body and center of gravity must be constantly monitored and adjusted. Quite a job …… If we look again at the first steps of that toddler.
In that intimately familiar walking, we can also find a few very important keys to the actual theme of this series of blogs, that so-called ‘internal work’ or ‘internals’. And we can find those keys in our experience of the interaction of a number of concepts from classical mechanics and kinesiology such as: balance, inertia and movement. The joke about this is that balance leans to a state of rest from which it will be more difficult to get moving again, and movement disturbs that balance in such a way that it tends to an undesirable stability that is to say that it tends to move beyond our control.
In Chinese martial arts and especially tai chi, this is referred to as “double weightedness”. In forums about the aforementioned arts, often a lot is said and discussed about this concept. A very thorough explanation of this, in my opinion, is this contribution by Peter Ralston.
So far, this seems to be mainly about our physical center in relation to gravity and thus our physical balance. From a more holistic perspective, this also has an impact on our mental balance and on a more or less balanced relationship with others. The so-called ‘golden mean’ is a general common sense approach. From the Chinese tradition we know “the doctrine of the mean” and the Buddha also propagated “the middle way”.
When you search for terms like zen, yoga, spirituality and the like in Google or another search engine, you will probably come across many images that are supposed to show the peace and balance of that centeredness such as a host of meditating Buddhas, lots of water and artfully stacked formations of stones.
And on a lot of coaches and self-proclaimed or other gurus who say they can teach and want to tell you how to balance your body, your mind and your life. The fact that there is so much demand and interest in this at least suggests that many people experience a serious lack of peace and/or balance. As well as a lot of research, simply doing a bit of looking around will confirm that.
It has been quite some time now since I first learned to walk and these days I am continually reminded that there is a variety of professionals willing and all kinds of programs have been developed to ensure that I will also take my last steps adequately balanced and without too many missteps.
I think that gaining insight into and working on any lack of balance and equilibrium may best be approached from the physical experience of it. Bodywork that can be done in many forms such as martial arts, qigong, dance, Feldenkrais, yoga, tai chi and whatever else can be found on that market. To indicate once again that and how working with the body can form the key and mirror for the various aspects of life, here is a quote from Paul Linden from his book: It’s all the same – except for the differences.
Of course there are many visions of how we should live. Coming from the martial art and body education perspectives, and from my perspective on these perspectives, I would say that there are a number of somatic elements that are important. These can be called Centering, and they are elements that you can use to replace the distress patterns. CENTERING
• Speaking structurally, in this state the musculoskeletal system is balanced and free of strain.
• Speaking functionally, this state includes stable, mobile and balanced movement.
• Speaking in terms of intentional projection, it involves forming movements/actions with clear intentional lines.
• Speaking in psychological terms, this state involves reaching out into the world while simultaneously staying anchored in the self; this state is an integration of power and love or kindness.
• Speaking in terms of information processing, it means grounding ideas in operational thinking and evidence-based decision making.
• Speaking in ethical terms, this state involves a beneficent awareness of and concern for the effects of one’s actions on others and on the planet.
Though these descriptions sound different, they are fundamentally the same in the body. They all involve optimizing muscle tone, posture, breathing and movement. They all involve the experience of balancing awareness, intention, and muscular strength.
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