A common criticism of any martial arts video, especially those demonstrating internal skills, is that they are shown primarily with partners that are not actively resisting, such as in a live match or fight. This is a rather old clip (January 2022), but one morning while filming some promotional videos, one of my students brought his brother to watch. Of course, his brother was naturally skeptical of what he saw and so I invited him on the mat to experience what was being demonstrated, and describe what he felt. This is that unedited first interaction.

"As soon as his arm touched me, my body and mind immediately became distraught and I fell down."​ -- Sumo wrestler Tenryu Saburo, describing a match with Ueshiba Morihei

​It's important to note that he is not an untrained bystander, but instead accomplished high school and college wrestler, Joe Wilson. No this isn't a live match, but it does show how we can use the aiki body to neutralize an opponent's take downs. While I'm certainly not claiming to be anywhere near Ueshiba's level of proficiency or refinement, I'd say that quote above accurately summarizes some of Joe's reactions...

"Aiki requires an enormous amount of solo training. Only amateurs think that techniques are enough. They understand nothing." - Yukiyoshi Sagawa.

​A common idiom in the internal arts is that the secrets guard themselves. Essentially, you can openly share high level internal martial arts with the masses without fear of it being learned unintentionally for two major reasons.

​First, the body mechanics of internal martial arts are foreign to the general public (especially other martial artists) and so while some may be able to regurgitate and copy specific partner drills, they won't come close to understanding the underlying principles in how to actually make it work outside of those drills.

​Secondly, the work to actually integrate the body to develop any measure of connectivity is boring and hard. These exercises, collectively known as Tanren 鍛錬 (forging), condition the body by strengthening the connective tissue (fascia, tendons, and ligaments). They also create neural pathways to consciously access lesser used muscle groups to generate movement and force without exerting conventional muscular strength.

In our system of American Yoshinkan, we have several categories of Tanren, including Aiki Taiso, Suburi, Kiko, and Naiko. Some of these come directly from our Daito Ryu origins, while some were adopted from my cross-training in other internal arts, such as Baguazhang. Collectively, they are the boring work that the casual observer has no interest in. Tanren is the "secret" that they continually chase, and consistently fall short of. So for those who are serious about developing Aiki 合気and Nairyoku 内力, here are those secrets...