Chapter Two
Training
"Progress comes to those who train and train;
Reliance on secret techniques will get you nowhere."
O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba
“The secret to training is practice. Those who want to be good, practice. Those who want to be even better, practice more.” Anonymous
Reliance on secret techniques will get you nowhere."
O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba
“The secret to training is practice. Those who want to be good, practice. Those who want to be even better, practice more.” Anonymous
The Webster’s Dictionary defines:
Training: To become proficient in a skill forming habits, thoughts and behaviors using discipline, instruction and practice.
Practice: Repeated performance or exercises to acquire or improve a skill.
Repeated practice is essential to every sport, every skill; martial arts, baking bread at home, riding a bike, learning to swim. There is no such thing as expertise without training and practice. There are no magic shortcuts, not without practice
There are three features to practice:
Commitment:
You can achieve anything, but with cost and sacrifice. Nothing is given to you. One must put in the time and effort. Like most challenges in life, aikido is not easy to learn or excel at. One needs to commit to their goal, to train and practice; repeatedly practice, to reach that goal.
Committing means to show up for class, to concentrate on improving each individual movement with serious intent. Commitment means sacrificing time for practice, time meant for other things; family, social activities, other interests.
It’s easy to give up, to find excuses. Commitment, determination to achieve, helps preclude giving up. Commitment makes you keep going even if you want to quit.
In American slang there are the phrases: “If you want it badly enough…” “You get what you put into it…” “You can’t phone it in…” The Nike shoe advertisement says, “Just Do It”.
There should be another phrase: “If you want to achieve your goal, any goal, commit and do the time. Put in the practice and don’t give up.
Practice:
"The purpose of training (practice) is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit."
O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba
To learn a skill one must practice, rehearsing a certain movement or maneuver repeatedly so it can be done consistently and correctly; that it can be done precisely without conscious thought. Practicing on a repeated basis builds up muscle memory. Muscle memory is also important in enlarging the muscles, especially in sports where extra strength is needed.
This is accomplished by developing specific nerve cells, long wiry cells called dendrites, that connect with each other from the brain to the muscle cells like an electrical system.
Training: To become proficient in a skill forming habits, thoughts and behaviors using discipline, instruction and practice.
Practice: Repeated performance or exercises to acquire or improve a skill.
Repeated practice is essential to every sport, every skill; martial arts, baking bread at home, riding a bike, learning to swim. There is no such thing as expertise without training and practice. There are no magic shortcuts, not without practice
There are three features to practice:
- Commitment.
- The repeated pursuit of practice.
- Feedback.
Commitment:
You can achieve anything, but with cost and sacrifice. Nothing is given to you. One must put in the time and effort. Like most challenges in life, aikido is not easy to learn or excel at. One needs to commit to their goal, to train and practice; repeatedly practice, to reach that goal.
Committing means to show up for class, to concentrate on improving each individual movement with serious intent. Commitment means sacrificing time for practice, time meant for other things; family, social activities, other interests.
It’s easy to give up, to find excuses. Commitment, determination to achieve, helps preclude giving up. Commitment makes you keep going even if you want to quit.
In American slang there are the phrases: “If you want it badly enough…” “You get what you put into it…” “You can’t phone it in…” The Nike shoe advertisement says, “Just Do It”.
There should be another phrase: “If you want to achieve your goal, any goal, commit and do the time. Put in the practice and don’t give up.
Practice:
"The purpose of training (practice) is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit."
O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba
To learn a skill one must practice, rehearsing a certain movement or maneuver repeatedly so it can be done consistently and correctly; that it can be done precisely without conscious thought. Practicing on a repeated basis builds up muscle memory. Muscle memory is also important in enlarging the muscles, especially in sports where extra strength is needed.
This is accomplished by developing specific nerve cells, long wiry cells called dendrites, that connect with each other from the brain to the muscle cells like an electrical system.
The brain is connected to every individual nerve fiber.
Nerve impulses that go away from the brain are motor nerves, ordering movement or specific action of the body. Nerves going to the brain are sensory nerves giving information to the brain. Myelin surrounding the nerve allows quicker transmission to and from the brain. |
This is the typical nerve cell. Myelin looks like hot dog buns that surrounds the axon of the wiry dendrite nerve cells. Myelin helps the nerve increase speed in transmission and conductivity of the impulses.
Myelin is created by repeatedly using the same nerve assigned to the same muscle performing a task. Repeating the same action consistently causes more myelin to be created to the dendrite, better insulating the nerve fiber, causing the impulse to travel more directly and accurately. Practice, repetition of movement, creates more myelin to the nerve fiber. The faster, more accurate the nerve impulse travels the easier the muscles are able to reproduce the physical maneuver, developing what is called muscle memory |
It is important the correct nerve fibers to the right muscles are developed for the correct task. If you learn to do something wrong, it takes the muscles longer to unlearn the process and be retrained Those small details in movement can be crucial in muscle memory.
With practice you gradually challenge yourself; you stretch a little further, you endure a little more discomfort, you make more difficult adjustments then repeat the activity till you get it right, By expanding the effort you learn and improve.
Practice makes perfect. But quality of practice is more important than quantity, If you swing a golf club 100 times and don't improve hitting the ball, you are not making progress. You must concentrate on each individual swing, making each swing perfect in order to progress. This is called mindful practice. Mindful practice causes more accurate muscle memory, more myelin development.
Mindful practice requires you to focus, concentrate on each and every movement so it is done correctly each and every time. It is natural for your mind to wander; unwanted thoughts enter your mind. You simply refocus each and every time on what you are doing,
Don't let outside thoughts cloud your concentration; pain frustration, dislike for your opponent, romantic problems, money issues. You may become bored, rather be someplace else. This causes mistakes, interfering with muscle memory. The nerves get confused.
It take discipline to focus, and that is part of training. Put those wandering thoughts aside. Concentrate on what you are doing in the immediate moment, how precisely you are doing it and respond to any feedback. Feedback is crucial to improve.
Feedback:
YOU TUBE is a wonderful convenience available on the internet. It can show you how to do nearly everything, though not always correctly. It is a tool to learn from, but not a substitute for real practice with proper feedback.
In aikido physical contact is needed between attacker (uke) and the defender (nage) to learn the dynamic flow of energy between the two opponents. Aikido harmonizes the flow of energy, It is better to train with two people.
With practice you gradually challenge yourself; you stretch a little further, you endure a little more discomfort, you make more difficult adjustments then repeat the activity till you get it right, By expanding the effort you learn and improve.
Practice makes perfect. But quality of practice is more important than quantity, If you swing a golf club 100 times and don't improve hitting the ball, you are not making progress. You must concentrate on each individual swing, making each swing perfect in order to progress. This is called mindful practice. Mindful practice causes more accurate muscle memory, more myelin development.
Mindful practice requires you to focus, concentrate on each and every movement so it is done correctly each and every time. It is natural for your mind to wander; unwanted thoughts enter your mind. You simply refocus each and every time on what you are doing,
Don't let outside thoughts cloud your concentration; pain frustration, dislike for your opponent, romantic problems, money issues. You may become bored, rather be someplace else. This causes mistakes, interfering with muscle memory. The nerves get confused.
It take discipline to focus, and that is part of training. Put those wandering thoughts aside. Concentrate on what you are doing in the immediate moment, how precisely you are doing it and respond to any feedback. Feedback is crucial to improve.
Feedback:
YOU TUBE is a wonderful convenience available on the internet. It can show you how to do nearly everything, though not always correctly. It is a tool to learn from, but not a substitute for real practice with proper feedback.
In aikido physical contact is needed between attacker (uke) and the defender (nage) to learn the dynamic flow of energy between the two opponents. Aikido harmonizes the flow of energy, It is better to train with two people.
Feedback is essential to improve, whether it be verbal instruction, demonstration or physical prompting. Sometimes this can be done between nage and uke, but it is best provided by a knowledgeable observer; a coach, professional trainer or sensei.
The sensei should be able to observe and make corrections in posture, footwork, timing and technique. The sensei can direct the student to increase their level of training, maintain interest on the immediate moment and long-termed goals; to motivate and continue practice. The sensei can ensure the student does not injure themselves or make a current injury worse. Injury, pain, and fear are the primary reasons students give up.
A good sensei requires:
- Expertise in their field.
- Possess an energizing style, engaging, able to motivate and maintain the student's interest and attention.
- Be able to appreciate the student's efforts, recognizing their limitations with respect.
In aikido there is no standardization how a sensei is selected. Just having a dan black belt does not make a good sensei. There are those with many dan black belts who are not good sensei instructors. But all should should stay withint the philosophy of
O Sensei Ueshiba.
Failure is the key to success. Each mistake teaches us something.
O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba
POINTS TO REMEMBER:
- Make up your mind to commit. That means show up for training and dedicating yourself to improve. Excuses don't cut it.
- Focus on mindful practice, do each move precisely. Build up muscle memory. The more your practice, the more your improve.
- Listen to your couch, your sensei. Feedback is essential to correct mistakes.