********************************************************************* KI Exercises ============= ******************************************************************** From: "Kenneth S. King" <102152.3261@COMPUSERVE.COM> ------------------------------------------------- There is a whole set of Ki development exercises generally performed by Ki society dojo, but also anyone interested in developing Ki along with developing thier Aikido. They were developed by Koichi Tohei Sensei and are part of my daily practice. Also known as Ki No Taiso Ho, Keiko-ho, or the three minute exercise. I'll try and give a basic overview: Keep this in mind, all the movements start from the one point, and your Ki must move before your body. The movements are to a two count, the first movement moves the body, the second is to settle the mind. 1. swinging arms side to side - both arms move to the left first, with the lead arm swinging behind to the back, the other as if you were about to draw a sword, and one point turns slightly. This is "one". On the second count the one point does not move, but the arms make the same movement comming to rest as in the first count. Do not over-rotate, but let your body come to its natural stopping point. Repeat this on the right side. Do this whole movement to an 8 count twice. Example count: (left)one...two,(right)three...four(left)five...six(right)seven...eight, and repeat, then change to the next movement. This count will be the same throughout the exercise. 2. Bending to the side - to the left first, the left arm stays at your side, as your right arm swings over your head to the left bending your body to the left. (two count) then to the right. (Once again to two counts of eight) 3. Bending forward and backwards - legs apart, bring both arms above your head and swing them down between your legs in a sweeping motion (two count) then above your head and beyond, bending backwards slightly to a natural stopping point. (Once again to two counts of eight). 4. Shoulderblade exercise - bring both arms up as if you were going to horizontally touch your knuckles together. Rotate your arms to the left side of your body, keeping them together as if performing an elbow strike, but keep them elevated.(and don't think of striking ;-))(two count), then to the right.(Once again to two counts of eight). 5. Bending neck to the side - bring feet together, place hands just touching, on your hips, not resting, and keeping your head straight, bend it to the left side as far to your shoulder as your body will allow without raising your shoulder and return it to its normal position(two count) then to the right.(Once again to two counts of eight). 6. Bending neck forward and backwards - keep same posture and this time bend neck forwards then to natural position(two count) then backwards(two count)(Once again to two counts of eight). 7. Turning head side to side - Keep same posture, and turn your head to the left, then back to normal position(two count), then to the right(two count)(Once again to two counts of eight). 8. Bending knees - keep same posture, and bend knees, then return to normal standing position(two count) then raise up on your toes then back to normal standing posture (two count)(Once again to two counts of eight). keep in mind, the count is on the end of the first action ie: knees bend "one" return to normal posture, knees bend "two" return to normal posture 9. Stretching knees - from the posture before, move your left leg out so your toe is pointing up, bending your right leg, and turning so that you are facing the way your left leg is pointing. Put both hands on your left knee and bend cown with your right leg stretching your left knee in the process(two count) then to the right.(Once again to two counts of eight). 10. Arm dropping - Bring both legs together and raise your left arm. Then drop it rotating it back up to the raised position in a circular motion(two count) then the right. (two count)(Once again to two counts of eight). 11. Arm swinging - bring both arms up and drop them together, rotationg in a circular motion as above but keep them together(two count) then reverse the swing so they swing backwards and up(two count)(Once again to two counts of eight). 12. Swinging arms while bending knees - as above, but this time bend your knees as your arms swing down. It is easy to be stable and unified when standing still, but we tend to get disturbed when we have to move. These exercises, to the best of my understanding which isn't much, allow you to practice being stable while moving, and help you calm the waves in the mind which movements stir up . It also helps you practice sending Ki before moving the body, which is vital in leading your partner. With lots of practice, honest practice, the movements can be done to a one count and if you have developed yourself, you should be able to be tested for stability at any point during the movements. I doubt anyone could follow these movements correctly , from a written description, but I was bored tonight.:-) boy my fingers are killing me :-) Good training Raul Chiari wrote: >one of the ki breathing trainging >is when your in "zazen" position. when do you know when you using you ki >in this breathing exercise? how long should you do this exercise? > > From: Stefan Stenudd -------------------------------------- Questions of this nature demand much more words answering. Very simply put, you get a good clue from focusing on the pauses between breathing in and out. Breathing in: when you don't inhale any more air, keep the feeling of breathing in. Breathing out: when you've stopped exhaling air, keep the feeling of breathing out. This breathing without air could be described as ki, if you like. From: "Kenneth S. King" <102152.3261@COMPUSERVE.COM> ------------------------------ Raul, We breath in seiza position. Ki must always move before breath, so when breathing out ki must move from the one point and extend outward first, then breath follows this path and stays on it (without sounding to linear or too deep) this extension never stops, when its time to breath in, a whole new feeling starts comming from beyond down into the one point, the in breath follows this feeling, almost like filling up a large recepticle that never fills, and reversing on the next out breath. Even after there is no breath left, the feeling must keep extending until a new feeling is required. Never cut your Ki...:-) The amount of time differs, I know of one Sensei who manages three hours a day, (ring any bells ?) and others that struggle for 30 minutes. From: Chuck Gordon ------------------------------ > Hi, > > Could you guys please tell me about what do you do > on mokuso (the meditation like sitting in zazen before and after > class) ? > > Thanks.. > We sit in seiza, hands cupped on the lap (valley and mountain) and breath. The breathing's the important part, and probably the hardest. Just breath, in thru the nose, hold, out thru the mouth, pause, repeat. We teach students not to try not to think, but to let thoughts get "slippery" and when thought intrudes upon breathing, just let them slide away... There are a few other similar meditations, active and passive, that we teach at higher levels, but what's detailed above is the basic idea. From: bogo vatovec ---------------- i, Since all answers were just right, consider mine as not very worth addition. Yes, do just nothing. But unfortunatelly that is not always easy. Since the idea of it is to relax and prepare for practice, put your problems away, you may need - at the beginning - to use any kind of meditation techique, such as breathing awareness, mantra, etc. After some practice, you will be doing just the right thing automatically - your body and mind will know what to do to relax properly. At the end of the class, you can use similar techniques to somehow bring everything back and to get ready for "normal life" again. And a question for all - do you practise two "techiques" called something like Shudjuho and kokudajkuho - don't ask me how you correctly spell this Japanese stuff - I don't have a clue. The idea is that with shudjuho you try to bring your perception from outside space to the point (hara), and the other one is just opposite - you start in the point and then extend the perception out of your body to the space around. Our Sensei - Kenjiro Yoshigasaki puts a great emphasis on these practises and I must admitt I found both very useful and effective to "bring your mind back home." I automatically do kokudajkuho during pre-practise mokuso and shudjuho after the practise. From: Fred Rachford ---------------------------- I've been doing Tai Chi for 13 years and Aikido for 9.5 years. In Tai Chi I learned inverse breathing and have been using it in all my martial arts (karate also) and aerobic sports. I've inferred that in Aikido I should be doing regular breathing. --- * Does anyone else use inverse breathing? * * Does it make any difference? * * Any thoughts on the relative merits? * * If I've been doing it wrong all these years, is it worth the effort to change? Does it change my Aikido * --- I'm under the impression that inverse breathing helps me put a pulse of "Fa Jing" on the throw. And I seem to be able to take a deeper breath using inverse breathing; but may be this is just from more practice. --- (Both regular (Buddhist) and inverse (Taoist) breathing are from the diaphragm. In regular breathing the lower abdomen extends and drops on the intake and goes in on the exhale. In inverse breathing the lower abdomen is contracted on the inhale allowing the diaphragm to fill from the spine out and extend over the withdrawn abdomen. On the exhale the lower abdomen is relaxed and dropped.) -(Caveat: I'm sitting here at my Mac breathing and trying to put it in words. I always have problems verbalizing a kinesthetic activity (right brain-> left brain.)) :-I