The Yin of Aikido
©2000 Shari Dyer

Winter comes and the earth rests, releasing herself deeply into her own inner world, gathering her resources in the stillness of the season. So it is with the aikidoka as she sits quietly, feeling the sensations of her body, and grounding into the earth in search of her own depths.

The utter silence of center contains the core of a sense of being. This comes from grounding, which is mother to the fierce yet protective doing of the warrior spirit in each of us. When we attend and cultivate our own inner stillness, our sense of rhythm and center is nurtured. To understand extension is to understand grounding; to receive from the earth a greater connection..

Aikido emphasizes the power of hara, that oblique concept that means much more than the Japanese literal translation of "belly" or the English translation of "center". Karlfried Graf Von Dürckheim wrote a whole book on the concept called "Hara The Vital Centre of Man" (Unwin Paperbacks 1980). In it he states: "The urge to transcend gravity is quite natural to man as a spiritual being, but the desire to break loose from the vitalizing bond with the solid earth is in conflict with the law of his terrestrial existence. The descent into the centre of the earth must always precede the ultimate ascent of the spirit. "

The power and ability to harmonize with others evolves as we find the power to accept, receive and let go of our fears. Fear is carried in the yang regions of our bodies - in the back, shoulders and in our outer thighs. These are the protective regions that will tense to protect the stomach, heart and groin, which are the body’s nurturing, yin areas. When we learn to relax these protective areas, to lower our specific gravity, drop the shoulders and to "roll with the punch", we are learning to trust in our ability to receive and accept with composure and balance

The qualities of going inward, attending to our own inner stillness, relaxing tension, and bringing to light the shadows of our fear, are associated with the yin aspect of our natures. These are nurturing qualities, and help us to become familiar with the rightness of our own sense of being. The qualities of extension, expression, strength, protection, defense and aggression are associated with the yang elements of our nature, and allow us to give substance to our need for doing.

The nurturing, receptive yin qualities breathe throughout the art of aikido, in harmony with and balancing the powerful masculine yang energy. Each aikidoka must learn to accept, develop center and its balance of yin with yang. This is developed in each student internally and are intrinsic in the training between uke and nage.

In Aikido, the feminine yin energy is developed within the context and protection of the masculine yang. Beginning Aikido attacks, given by a senior student, are not meant to harm, but to teach and stretch nage’s ability to stay calm and grounded under pressure, This allows the student as nage to develop a strong foundation (yin) in order to support the power of extension (yang) involved in the throws.

Later, as the foundation, center and coordination of the student is developed, the roles are reversed. The student as nage controls the action, having learned to flow from yin to yang, from receiving to redirecting. The skills of receiving ukemi, which are also yin, have also been developed to a much higher degree by this time, allowing uke to receive and safely handle very powerful throws.

The yin of receiving yokomen uchi ( side of head strike) has within it the seeds of power that explode with the birth of irimi nage. Nage accepts the ferocity of uke's knife attack in kote gaeshi, spirals and returns the energy, transforming the yang power of the attack into the yin reception of ukemi. The yin/yang dance of life is recreated with every technique.

The harmony of the mind, body and spirit is created out of the harmony of the yin/yang energies within ourselves. This harmony is either disrupted or nurtured by the nature of the relationships we have with each other and with our environment. There is constant flow and constant change.

And so it goes; with each breath, with each life, and in the natural world.

Each aikidoka must search for him or herself that balance of yin/yang, inner/outer, nurturing/challenging, soft/hard, letting go/leading, grounding/extending, being and doing. It is this balance that creates the power and forms of Aikido. Aikido expresses the impersonal. Yet within that impersonality, aikido is extremely personal. It is about flow, change, transformation and rebirth.

Aikido is life seeking harmony with itself.

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