Kiai and Aiki

As a quick refresher from my last post on this topic, I'll describe kiai.  It is  a powerful yet relaxed exhalation of air from the diaphragm, coordinated with movement, along with a simple utterance.  It is thought of by many as a "battle cry."  But, it represents a lot more.  Not surprisingly, there is a Japanese martial art entirely devoted to it, kiaijutsu.

Kiai can be translated from the Japanese as "concentrated or united spirit" or more simply as "spirit."  Thus, it is not the sound that is as critical as the realization that the kiai is the presence or even projection of one's own internal energy into an interaction with the environment.  If a karateka utilizes kiai correctly, it should be palpable to anyone nearby.  Without even hearing a sound, observers should experience a "disturbance in the Force" if you will.

While I am pretty confident in my use of kiai, recently I have been focusing more on "aiki."  The concept of "aiki" is the complimentary component to kiai that is rarely discussed and, in the past, had even been viewed as a "secret" component of the martial arts... unless you practiced  Aikido.  Put most simply, where kiai is a coordination of  internal energy into a concentrated and powerful emission, utilizing aiki is to coordinate with external energy.  

In a recent demonstration of Aikido that I attended, the use of aiki was described as responding  fluidly to the external energy of an attacker and returning their energy to them.  Instead of making a strong block against an attack, aiki would have you guide the attack past you and then "complete the circle" and counter-attack.  But, while this application of aiki is extremely powerful, I don't think it ends there.

Use of kiai can and probably should be draining over time.  You are taking the energy within and expending it.  While the above application of aiki should keep your energy level stable during an attack, I think that aiki can also be utilized to increase your energy level.  Lately, while I practice, I have been increasingly, consciously, imaging that I am connecting with the external energy that is in the universe itself.  Not only have I found that I can maintain myself through a very demanding one-hour-plus workout, I just recently experienced something compelling through my study of aiki.

We were going through our usual Thursday's intense workout which lately the shihan has been striving to make more physically demanding.  As a part of that work out, all of the openhanded katas are reviewed.  Towards the end of the evening, the more advanced katas call for scissor kicks.  Not only did I still have the ability to easily get through my katas last Thursday, I felt strong.  And, when it came time for a scissor kick, I flew!  Even I was astounded.  I think one of my scissor kicks took me over twelve feet forward when normally I might only go six to eight at that point in the workout.  And, it was effortless.  

I know many students of the martial arts struggle with kiai and their practice is thus diminished.  But, perhaps, providing instruction on aiki is what is needed.  As I have experienced, aiki can give you access to tremendous potential energy.  I believe that having the sense of the potential energy of aiki will make the application of its compliment, kiai, much easier and more natural.

Big girls don't kiai... why?

I was in a martial arts class back in the '80s when someone first talked about watching babies to relearn how to breath.  Since then I've also studied babies to learn how to get a really good stretch.    It appears that for many people the process of growing from an infant to an adult involves the corruption of basic functions: sleeping, breathing, and stretching.  It also leads to the "modulation" of the expression of basic emotion.  Certainly there is often a true necessity to this in our adult life.  Since I began working on an inpatient unit I've experienced several patients who actually cry just like an infant and it is one of the more disturbing experiences I've ever had.  Aside from this extreme example, I believe crying is generally an under-utilized behavior.

When I am training in a dojo here in Buffalo, I find it intriguing how many students will not perform an audible kiai -- a short yell or cry before or during a technique.  This is one of the few settings where making odd yells should not get you negative attention.

As an aside, in truth, the sound is not critical.  A powerful yet relaxed exhalation of air, coordinated with movement, is what is actually necessary for the technique to be most effective.  The audible just helps me as a teacher to get an easier sense of the student's breathing, posture, and focus in a technique.

But, it is surprisingly common for a student who is not using an audible kiai to still not really kiai even after you insist that they do so.  Why?  I tell them it will help startle their attackers.  I tell them it will psyche them up for the brief struggle to come.  Sometimes I may even remember to tell them how the kiai helps engage key muscles that will help protect their internal organs.  Still, they often mew like a kitten or make no noise at all.  Even with permission, yelling or crying, despite the context, is resisted by adults.  I suspect for many of those students it is simply a matter of being embarrassed to draw attention.  But for some I have found that it can be much more. 

You might think that people simply fear that crying would be viewed as a sign of vulnerability and/or weakness.  Despite this, I have had multiple clients who wanted help to be able to cry as adults.  These adults often shared the same story of being told by parents or childhood peers to stop "acting like a baby," in other words, appearing weak.   And some share that their parents would strike them until they stopped crying!  But as adults, they come to realize that they lack a critical function.  They notice that there are situations where others cry and they do not.  More importantly, they have the insight that this is not healthy.  Fortunately, after following through with the exercises I provide, they do cry and report that it was a great experience.  Some say they actually feel lighter and happier since they cried!

Next time I encounter a student who won't kiai, I think I'll tell them that performing an audible kiai does not make them weak it makes them strong.  More important, it could truly make them happier.