00;00;00;00 - 00;00;14;23
Unknown
I'm often asked what separates the different Don grades from each other. The honest answer is that technique alone doesn't explain it, and most people who ask the question are already sensing that something else is going on.
00;00;14;23 - 00;00;18;29
Unknown
For I have a student who.
00;00;19;01 - 00;00;24;23
Unknown
Has had the hours for some time now for Shodan
00;00;24;23 - 00;00;27;05
Unknown
because he's trained many years, but.
00;00;27;05 - 00;00;29;24
Unknown
His training was a bit inconsistent.
00;00;29;24 - 00;00;33;26
Unknown
And so he hadn't developed a presence on the mat.
00;00;33;26 - 00;00;40;00
Unknown
Then on a recent visit to the dojo where he trains, I was giving a seminar and
00;00;40;00 - 00;00;46;09
Unknown
I noticed a difference in his presence. I thought, wow. Something happened.
00;00;46;10 - 00;01;07;28
Unknown
And I'm not even talking really about confidence people like to talk about, oh, you should be confident in your Aikido. I don't know. I think actually confidence can be a bit dangerous, I think. I don't like the term imposter syndrome, but I think a little bit of humility is very productive. You know, like, I don't know if I did that one too well.
00;01;08;01 - 00;01;33;11
Unknown
So that's not what I'm talking about. I don't think I did that one too. Well. You can improve. It helps you to continually try to improve. But I'm talking about a presence, a person, a speaker who walks into the room. And yeah, they seem confident, but also they seem to fill the room and it's a little bit different.
00;01;33;11 - 00;01;58;20
Unknown
Different from confidence. Leave a note in the comment section if you know what I'm talking about and if you've got other examples. But anyway. Suddenly he seemed to have this different presence, a bigger presence, a more full presence. I thought, oh, okay, we're ready to test him now. Again, this is for the dan grades. And then I found out later that he's getting married.
00;01;58;22 - 00;02;25;23
Unknown
I thought, oh my gosh, that's why I noticed this, this different presence about him. And yes, he did seem a bit more confident, but he just seemed bigger. He seemed to fill the room a little bit more without being arrogant. So these are the things that I look for when I'm deciding to to test someone for this dan or that dan.
00;02;25;26 - 00;02;33;16
Unknown
I'm not looking for somebody who who knows more techniques or complicated techniques.
00;02;33;16 - 00;02;36;01
Unknown
It's more about the depth.
00;02;36;04 - 00;02;41;28
Unknown
The principles that each technique offers you to study,
00;02;41;28 - 00;02;48;08
Unknown
right? So each technique does offer various principles and lessons to to study.
00;02;48;08 - 00;02;50;11
Unknown
So a dan grade
00;02;50;11 - 00;02;55;22
Unknown
I think reflects a shift in how you organize yourself,
00;02;55;22 - 00;02;57;12
Unknown
not just what you know.
00;02;57;12 - 00;03;22;18
Unknown
It's how you organize yourself, how you present yourself. So the jump from third dan to fourth dan isn't about harder techniques. It's not about more complicated techniques. It's not about more techniques. It's about doing simpler techniques fundamentally differently and beginning to embody those principles inherent in those techniques.
00;03;22;18 - 00;03;27;15
Unknown
Most practitioners at third dan are still refining technique.
00;03;27;17 - 00;03;32;24
Unknown
At fourth dan, you start to disappear into the technique.
00;03;32;24 - 00;03;44;08
Unknown
Going into fourth dan, the margin for error starts to shrink, and the practitioner at that point has learned to be more comfortable with that,
00;03;44;08 - 00;04;01;02
Unknown
So if you're off by by this much or that much makes a huge difference at that point, people are attacking you more sincerely. Faster, sharper. Cleaner. And so you've you've got to be on it.
00;04;01;03 - 00;04;13;27
Unknown
You've got to be on your game. You've got to have clean lines, clean entries. Your movement has to be smoother so that you can move more efficiently and quickly, not suddenly, quickly.
00;04;13;28 - 00;04;28;02
Unknown
Connection at that point replaces control as the primary organizing principle. So how to organize yourself? At first we want to control our our partner.
00;04;28;02 - 00;04;37;25
Unknown
But then later we want to connect, connect connect and keep that connection going. The technique stops being something that you do,
00;04;37;25 - 00;04;46;27
Unknown
and it starts being something that happens. Through you, not by you. You become more of a conduit for the technique.
00;04;46;27 - 00;05;01;19
Unknown
So at the white belt level, even the shodan level, we're doing techniques on people. And then nidan, sandan we're doing techniques and yodan techniques are happening through us.
00;05;01;19 - 00;05;02;27
Unknown
Maybe godan.
00;05;02;27 - 00;05;06;19
Unknown
So that's a big breakthrough. Big milestone I believe.
00;05;06;19 - 00;05;17;08
Unknown
By the way, if you want to go more deeply into this topic or learn about other topics like this, just click on the link below for my free weekly training video.
00;05;17;08 - 00;05;40;24
Unknown
Moving on. Let's take a look at things that you can do right now. No matter what grade you are. So first of all, slow everything down. You don't have to tell your partner to go slow, but try to slow your mind down. And of course, you have to adjust to the speed of your partner. But once the connection is made, see if you can slow things down a little bit.
00;05;40;26 - 00;05;46;20
Unknown
Usually speed is where the error is. Hide right? And
00;05;46;23 - 00;05;57;23
Unknown
That's where you can develop bad habits most easily. And my sempai, many times in Japan, one of the first things I learned was “Gomakashchya ikenai”.
00;05;57;23 - 00;06;02;12
Unknown
You shouldn't cut corners. You shouldn't cheat.
00;06;02;15 - 00;06;31;20
Unknown
It's hard to translate perfectly. But I like the translation. Cut corners, so don't cut corners. And when you go fast, you often cut corners. And so then you've got bad habits because you didn't complete this movement or that movement because you were going fast. So. So think about that. Complete every movement. In fact, instead of saying slow things down, you can try to slow things down.
00;06;31;20 - 00;06;33;14
Unknown
But I find that that's difficult.
00;06;33;14 - 00;06;40;25
Unknown
Remind yourself to complete every movement. If there's an empty handed cut, then
00;06;40;26 - 00;07;01;11
Unknown
watch your teacher see how far down the hand cuts and make your hand cut down that far. Don't just go part of the way. Don't cut corners. Copy your teacher. Exactly. And if you're thinking, well, I don't like the way my teacher does this or that, or I don't think there is that good.
00;07;01;12 - 00;07;23;08
Unknown
Well, you. Sorry you got to move. Got to move to a different city. So I don't know any other solution for that. Sorry. The next one. Train what you already have instead of chasing what you want to acquire. So sure, you want to acquire this or that. You see, you know, your role model. I love that person's aikido.
00;07;23;09 - 00;07;34;14
Unknown
I love that person's Aikido. I want to be like them. Great. Don't forget that. Please continue to chase that. But don't try to fake it.
00;07;34;14 - 00;07;46;18
Unknown
You got to train through all the different levels. You again, you can't cut corners. There's no fast path and you need your repetitions. Here's a simple one what you can do right now.
00;07;46;20 - 00;07;57;02
Unknown
Go to class minimum three days per week, minimum three days per week and be the first on the mat and be the last off the mat.
00;07;57;02 - 00;08;06;07
Unknown
And when I say be the first on the mat, I don't mean be the first on the mat so that you can hang out and chat with people. I mean, be the first on the mat.
00;08;06;07 - 00;08;34;16
Unknown
Warm up silently, don't socialize. People are going to think you're anti-social. Well, in 20 years they're going to feel a difference in your Aikido and go like wow. Why is this person's Aikido so incredible? You know, this person also was training the same number of years as that person. How come her aikido is so much better or so much heavier but agile, you know, that's how it happens, is be the one to take the most ukemi.
00;08;34;19 - 00;08;57;06
Unknown
how can you take the most ukemi? Be the first one on the mat? Be the last one off the mat, first one on the mat and don't socialize. Just warm up. Then get a partner. Ask somebody to train with you before sensei bows in. And then after class, ask somebody to throw you. Could you throw me a little bit, please, and go to seminars?
00;08;57;08 - 00;09;11;27
Unknown
During those seminar classes, do the same thing first on the mat, last off the mat. During those seminars and regular classes, sit like you are ready to be thrown. Sit like you are sitting on a spring
00;09;11;27 - 00;09;22;02
Unknown
so that the teacher notices you, right? And then you get thrown more. Ukemi is really the key behind all of this.
00;09;22;02 - 00;09;23;23
Unknown
Chase down the sempai.
00;09;23;25 - 00;09;33;29
Unknown
So maybe. Maybe finally the teacher is using you for ukemi. Great. Then the teacher says, go ahead and get a partner. Run. Run to the sempai
00;09;34;01 - 00;09;44;11
Unknown
and soon you'll be. You'll be thought of as sempai anyway. You'll pass your sempai in rank if they're not doing the same thing. So if you've got a good sempai, they're doing this too.
00;09;44;11 - 00;09;48;06
Unknown
And it becomes a little bit competitive in a good way, in a positive way.
00;09;48;06 - 00;09;56;19
Unknown
So chase down your sempai and never, ever, ever hesitate to approach a sempai if you're at a seminar. And
00;09;56;19 - 00;10;00;28
Unknown
there's a super famous seventh on eighth dan teaching the seminar.
00;10;00;28 - 00;10;14;26
Unknown
So they're throwing all these fifth dan, sixth on seventh dans for the demonstrations. And you're like, oh, but I'm just shodan or I'm just a white belt or whatever. And so you're more passive. I hope I got to train with that person
00;10;14;28 - 00;10;23;29
Unknown
hoping isn't going to do it, because everybody's hoping, and there are just a small group of people who are running to that person and saying onegaishimasu
00;10;23;29 - 00;10;28;05
Unknown
any sempai, who turns their nose up or refuses you.
00;10;28;05 - 00;10;39;25
Unknown
I've never even seen that. Like, no, no, I'm not going to any sempai who does that, they're not worth training with anyway. So you run and and say and train with them.
00;10;39;25 - 00;11;05;26
Unknown
Don't hesitate to do that. In conclusion, the difference between different dan grades is real, but it's not about the certificate, and it's not about the number of techniques or how complicated the techniques are. It's about what's underneath it all. And that's something that you can start working on right today.
00;11;05;26 - 00;11;34;20
Unknown
Before we end the video, I just want to remind everybody that I've got a Germany tour coming up September 14th to 27th, and it's not too early to jump on the wait list. I'm going to be taking a small curated group with me to Germany. I'll be teaching seminars in four different cities, and you'll want to get on that waitlist so that I can tell you about the tour and see if it's a good fit for you.
00;11;34;22 - 00;11;42;19
Unknown
So look in the description below and jump on there. Thanks so much for joining me today. See you again next time. Bye bye.
