{"id":52,"date":"2011-01-12T23:49:46","date_gmt":"2011-01-12T23:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/?p=52"},"modified":"2018-05-30T23:37:21","modified_gmt":"2018-05-30T23:37:21","slug":"learning-in-aikido-how-do-i-know-i-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/learning-in-aikido-how-do-i-know-i-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning in Aikido: How do I know I know?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I wrote the following in answer to Maestro <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/graciejiujitsu\/aikido_instructor.html\">Marcus<\/a>, one day out of the blue (as he is apt to do), asking me how I knew I had learned things in aikido. I would very much like to hear from readers if any of my reflection resonates with their own experience of learning aikido or if they have other perspectives on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Learning Aikido is a complex process. Partly this is because it is about educating the whole person and it involves<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/archives\/1\"> teaching and learning in physical, spiritual and mental realms<\/a>. This learning typically occurs within a group-training context where the student is part of a community of practice focused upon self-development and ultimately upon a care for nature, humankind and society.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-content\/students.jpg\" alt=\"group training\" \/><\/p>\n<p>How do I know I have learnt to respect and demonstrate gratitude for:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2022 Myself?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> I arrive at the dojo and calmly prepare myself, bow onto the mat, train in a positive manner, bow off and help clean the dojo. I maintain my focus and concentration on my practice. I experience pride and satisfaction through my practice, efforts and contributions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u2022 My teacher?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> I listen to his instructions. I care about what he is trying to teach me. I reflect on what he says and does. I make time to discuss things with him. I try to assist him in appropriate ways. I feel gratitude towards him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u2022 My fellow students?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I greet them in a cheerful way and maintain a positive attitude towards them. I train with them in a way that matches them and their level of development. I feel gratitude towards them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u2022 The space we practice in?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> I clean the dojo, sweep and wipe its floors. I feel grateful that we have such a great place to come to and train in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u2022 O-Sensei and the ancestry of Aikido?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> I bow to the shrine area of the dojo and feel deep gratitude for those who created our wonderful practice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>How do I know I have learnt to execute Aikido techniques correctly?<\/p>\n<p>I watch my teacher demonstrate a technique with his partner. I observe and attempt to remember the details of the physical movements and the energy transactions. I listen to his comments and advice. I picture the movements and relate them to other aikido movements I have learnt in the past. I practice what has been demonstrated and spoken about. I investigate the techniques with my partners, collaborating with them to reach a better understanding of each aspect of the techniques. I reflect on all of the above and continue to repeat the cycle including private and group times of reflection. Eventually I build up my knowledge, skills and ability to apply the techniques.<\/p>\n<p>I know I have learnt the techniques when I can lead\/control\/pin\/throw my partners consistently, and effectively with a degree of ease; my teacher is satisfied with my performance; I can remember the techniques, perform them at will, or with a little research or prompting; and I can successfully show and explain to other students how to do them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>By Daryl Pellizzer 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-content\/together.jpg\" alt=\"learning techniques\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>How do I know I have learnt a technique correctly?<\/p>\n<p>I observe my instructor demonstrate the technique with his uke (attacking partner) I pay close attention to the placement of the feet and the movement of the hands. This forms the basic pattern of the technique in my mind. I then pay close attention to crux of the technique, the energy transfer and where the centre is position. While I make the above observations I relate what I have observed with other aikido techniques I have learnt in the past to assist my understanding; I visualise the technique I have just observed in my mind, this helps my body prepare just before I practice with my partner.<\/p>\n<p>I know I have learnt the technique when I can repeatedly execute the technique effortlessly on demand and do so with control. I know I understand the technique when I can teach a technique to my fellow students quickly in simple to understand terms, and they are able to reproduce the basic form of a technique in a short amount of time.<\/p>\n<p>I further my learning by exploring the technique with my fellow students when training at the dojo I continue my learning with individual training outside the dojo.<\/p>\n<p><strong>By Gabriel Ung<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-content\/sensei.jpg\" alt=\"training with Sensei\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Do you recognize when someone doesn&#8217;t know but thinks they do know? and how do you come that realization about others and yourself?<\/p>\n<p>As a student I try to be open to even a raw beginner&#8217;s offers at least to start with; sometimes I gain a new perspective from this. But if the aiki isn&#8217;t there, if I my attitude is clear yet I think my partner is blocking our training, I try different approaches.<\/p>\n<p>Ideally I aiki those blocks, i.e. I keep my intentions positive, I Iook to myself, my partner and what we are trying to do together. I might call on our teacher to clarify. How will I harmonize?<\/p>\n<p>If my partner is blocking, I will train with them as best I can. I will not be eager to train with them again. I will certainly not try to share my knowledge with them through words. I will try to execute the prescribed techniques as well as I can and then bow in respect to them as sincerely as possible.<\/p>\n<p>As teacher I think I use a similar yet more sophisticated and perhaps less tolerant approach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>By Daryl Pellizzer 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I wrote the following in answer to Maestro Marcus, one day out of the blue (as he is apt to do), asking me how I knew I had learned things in aikido. I would very much like to hear from readers if any of my reflection resonates with their own experience of learning aikido or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pure-aikido"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98,"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions\/98"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pureaikido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}