Words Matter: An Important Note On Kuzushi And Aiki

Author: Bret Gordon

Many people are probably familiar with the video of the street performer walking up a stairway of glass bottles. If not, you can view the video here. Her ability to balance on such a small surface is impressive, but that's not why I'm referencing it now. Serious practitioners normally assert the cliché that Budo is life, but that can only be true if we find educational martial value in everyday activities. 

I belong to several aiki discussion groups on social media, through which I've been able to establish connections (no pun intended) with numerous, top level instructors in the aiki community. One such group is led by Bill Dockery, the author of the "Aiki Secrets" book series which I have had the honor to review and highly recommend (to purchase a copy, click here), who is the inspiration for this article. An engineer by trade, Mr. Dockery always surprises me with his ability to articulate the fundamental principles of an otherwise misunderstood and somewhat esoteric practice such as aiki.

Mr. Dockery shared the video of this performer with the following analysis: 

"The two most mis-used words in Aikido: Balance and Stability. This woman was balanced the entire time (she never fell), but had extremely little stability (a good shove from a toddler would have toppled her). Pop Quiz: A flat foot on the ground improves which: stability or balance? Have you though it through? Read on...
You are no more balanced with your entire foot on the ground than you are with just the ball of your foot, or even a toe. In all of these cases, you are not falling, so you are balanced! But they do vary in their stability. Thus, Uke's balance is not broken until you throw Uke, i.e., until Uke falls. What most call a 'balance break' is actually de-stabilization, the reduction in stability. It sounds pedantic, until you ask yourself,
'How do I make Uke unstable?, How do I 'willow' them?'
'What is the measure of stability?'
'If I know, will I know better how to create it in my opponent?'
'When, or at least what happens in that 'break' between stability and falling?'"

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