ASSOCIATION KATSUGEN KAI AMSTERDAM

Respiratory practice ~ Aikido // Katsugen Undo

Katsugen Kai
Calligraphy by Itsuo Tsuda Sensei

Respiratory practice
of Master Tsuda

Kokyu Nage

  ""The word Kokyu may be translated into English by respiration, since Ko is equivalent to breathing out, and Kyu to breathing in. It's the union of these two phenomena which engenders respiration. But for Tsuda Sensei, the word "Kokyu" has an unsuspected scope extending far beyond the biochemical or gymnastic conception of respiration. He often said that, through respiration, "Aikido is an art of becoming children again... without being childish”.

 

    

    How should one understand this statement from a technical point of view? It's simple. When someone stronger than yourself seizes you round the waist from behind so that you cannot sit down, what should you do? Throw the person forward so that you're free to sit down? As he is heavier than you are, you cannot do that. What then? Tsuda Sensei answers : " become a child ". I see a wonderful shell lying on the beach and I bend forward to pick it up. I forget about whoever is still holding me tight from behind. The ki flows out from myself towards the shell, whereas before, it was blocked at the thought of the opponent who is holding me so strongly. He then becomes light and tumbles over my shoulders...

The idea of throwing someone forward induces resistance. In the action of the child, there is the joy of picking up the shell, and that's what makes one forget the presence of the opponent.

To forget the opponent, although still aware that he is there : that isn't a very easy thing to do. The more one tries to forget, the more one thinks about it. It's the joyful flow of ki which makes one forget everything...

The practise of Aikido implies, therefore, that you adopt the principle of non-resistance, in the sense that one neither pushes nor pulls the opponent ; one avoids acting in a way likely to arouse an antagonistic force. Another implication is the principle of the non-opponent. For as soon as we think about the opponent, our ki is absorbed by him, our respiration/attention is blocked. But in order not to be absorbed by the opponent, one must have a certain power of respiration.

Master Ueshiba often said :

" Aikido is an art whereby people unite and become separate again ( musunde hanatsu ) ".
I have found this alternance between union and separation, in the act of inhaling and exhaling.

First comes the defender's inhalation ( I use the word defender for the time being, though there are no such terms as defender or attacker in Aikido ), which initiates the action. I raise my hand as I inhale, and the attacker immediately follows my movement, raising his own hand. There is a synchronization of the intake of breath of both partners, at the same time as a coordination of movements. This reciprocal interaction is, I believe, one of the distinctive features of Aikido. One doesn't find it in Judo or in Kendo, where each person breathes independently from the other and watches for an opportunity to attack the other.

At first, this interaction isn't at all obvious. One only performs a certain number of movements one has learned. After some time, I realized that there is a coordination of movements in Aikido. That means, if I raise my bokken, the attacker raises his at the same moment. In Kendo, one doesn't have to keep to this conventional form of training. If one person raises the shinai, the other may counter by swiping horizontally the abdomen.

Why do both partners make identical or symetrical movements in Aikido? After all, one can't really ask one's opponent : " would you be so kind as to raise your hand at the same time as I raise mine, please? " For such a thing to be possible, there must be a compelling force which makes the partner act as one wishes. I have found this force in the intake of breath, prior even to the action itself. Once the fusion has taken place and the act is in progress, breathing out follows naturally, which allows the flow of ki. One then sees the throwing forward of the partner, etcetera, as a visible form of the technique.

Respiration is, in my experience, the very foundation of Aikido.

extract from Bushido Magazine
1984

Katsugen Undo

WHAT IS THE REGENERATING MOVEMENT

The regenerating movement is done through the momentary suspension of our voluntary system.
It requires no special knowledge or technique. On the contrary, we must leave that aside. To seek a pre-determined goal only hinders the natural evolution of our nature.

The principle that we have formulated is thus :

"WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE, WITHOUT TECHNIQUE, WITHOUT AIM"

For the person who sees the regenerating movement for the first time, the sight is rather surprising. As we are accustomed to movements that are more or less controlled, governed by the intellect or studied, any movement that falls outside the domain of conscious control suggests to us illness, madness, or hypnotism; the regenerating movement seems to lend itself to such interpretations.

In reality, it is quite different. During the practice of movement, our consciousness, instead of being anxious like that of someone ill, remains calm and serene. Instead of being confused, like that of a madman, it remains lucid. Instead of being circumscribed and limited like that of someone under hypnosis, it remains free.

One does not perform the regenerating movement. It is set in motion spontaneously, in response to the needs of the organism.

As those needs vary from one individual to another and for the same individual, from one moment to another, there can be no uniform, pre-programmed movement. Because of this, there is nothing easier than to slip away from what is natural, by adding a few "seductive ingredients".

Theoretically, there exist two forms of regenerating movement: the first already present in every individual consists of natural reactions of our organism such as: yawning, sneezing, movements and agitation during sleep, etc. The second was developed by Master Haruchika Noguchi, a half century ago. This is the form we practice.

To be initiated to the practice of the movement, it is preferable to have reached a certain degree of mental maturity and that all other proposed solutions, be felt to be inadequate. It must not be imposed on others, not even on your family, and not just any time. It is essential that the desire germinate in the inner self for a return to something natural. One mustn't pick fruit before it is ripe.

The regenerating movement is not an exterior acquisition. It points the way to a deeper discovery of oneself. This way is not a straight road to paradise, but a twisting path.

It is up to each of us with his own responsibility, to discover our own oneness of being.

As the body becomes more sensitive, one can experience some perturbing sensations, which can repel those who lack a good initial understanding.

The movement, after reaching a certain level of intensity, gradually becomes calmer. It becomes more subtle. Our respiration becomes more profound. Finally the movement fuses together with the movement of daily life, becoming so natural that there is no need to do anything special for it no more. The terrain has been normalized.

This normalization is not only physical, but psychic as well. A new perspective is created as our aptitude develops for that fusion of sensitivity which affects human relationships and our reactions to life around us. If this fusion enlarges our open-mindedness, we reach the state of non-body and non-mind.
We can then discover that man is fundamentally free..

Itsuo Tsuda

Simple as Breath
Meeting Régis Soavi's Aikido and the “Respiratory Practice” of Master Tsuda.


Hello, Illness
An interview with Régis Soavi about Katsugen Undo (or Regenerating Movement)

These articles were issued in the Italian magazine Arti d'Oriente in February 1999 and May 2000.
They are transcription of two interview of Régis Soavi made in Milano by Monica Rossi, a journalist in the magazine.

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