No, we practice Iwama style. Our association is Takemusu Aikido Association - it's under Hombu dojo, but with a lineage that follows Morohiro Saito Sensei.
Good question. I wish people understood what a practice like Aikido actually provides to the body and the brain. People are constantly trying to regulate their energy, attention, mood, and focus with superficial fixes, trying to train their thoughts or behavior with affirmations, discipline, or therapy. They don't know the three inputs most effective at integrating brain activity are touch, heavy muscle activity, and movement in 3-dimensional space. There aren't many opportunities for adults to get this vital input, and we don't even realize how the lack of activity effects mood, productivity, relationships, and judgement.
I've been thinking about you last comment and I believe I miss read it the first time and now I'm not so sure of what it is your trying to tell me. What exactly do you mean by integrating brain activity? And what would the perpuse of that be for?
I guess it's a complicated answer. I am interested in neurology and psychology, and my job involves analyzing what conditions people need to learn a new skill.
A common misconception is that the brain and body are separate. They are integral to one another. This is obvious when you think about it, but people forget all the time.
A person who has been static for a while, perhaps looking at text on a screen, has a lot of brain activity in some areas and very little in others. Not integrated. He may be tense in his shoulders and breathing shallow, unaware of his body carrying stress. He is more likely to react defensively in fight, flight, or freeze to any change in his environment. Now imagine him driving home in this state. Imagine he carries this state home to his wife and child. He didn't sleep well, and he goes to work again. He's in a bad mood and can't make his mind focus.
Maybe he tries some music to help him focus. Maybe meditation. Strong coffee. Maybe he goes for a walk. Any of these can be helpful, but they still largely ignore that the brain lives within a body.
We know that moving in three-dimensional space (like rolling/ukemi), challenging core postural muscles, and having physical contact with people produces massive shifts in attention, emotional regulation, and learning. That is brain integration. The smooth transmission of information from sensory neuron to action potential. Most people don't even know it exists, and they don't try to maintain it.
Sounds like the work your doing is in educational research; but the research it's self is in kinesiology. Because moderit to vigorous exercise 3 times a week for 30 min to an hour can definitely improve focus, self-esteem, and a few more things I'm not sure I can list today. But any sport or martial practice could help with that; aikido isn't really special in that case. Unless there's something i don't know that you do?
I'm an occupational therapist. So I don't do the research, but I read a lot of it and apply it to problems in real life.
Exercise like you mentioned improves cardiovascular health, and more oxygenated blood moving through the body has all kinds of benefits, including for the brain.
But the brain needs more than oxygenated blood, it needs stimulation. Let's say you chose to run the treadmill three times a week. You'll get the obvious health benefits. But will it make you more assertive the next time you are confronted at work? Will it teach you to solve problems by being proactive, instead of avoiding issues until they grow too big to ignore? I say no.
Yet I've had these benefits from Aikido, and I know that this is because Aikido provides:
Moderate to intense vestibular input - arcing, rolling, spiraling through three-dimensional space. This input has a strong effect on attention and alertness, and increases the brain's ability to take in information without becoming stressed. Stimulation lasts about 8 hours. If you never roll, tilt in space or go upside down, your brain is starved of vestibular input.
Moderate to intense muscle and joint input - this has the greatest effect on self-confidence and mood, as well as body mapping and coordination, especially if you are getting enough vestibular input. Lots of people know about this and lots of sports provide it.
Close physical contact with people - even though I know scientifically that we need this, I shy away from it as more of an introvert. You can get physical contact with people in any martial art and many sports, but not all. I always pursued solo sports before this. This was intentional; close physical contact with people is not necessarily pleasant, especially in competitive sport when you aren't very good. There is something unique about working with a partner who matches your movements, challenging and supporting you at the same time. I think that is unique to traditional martial arts, and dance. I did dance, but hated partner work. The difference for me? Dancing with a partner and feeling awkward, it's easy to think "why am I doing this?" Starting Aikido with a partner and feeling awkward, there isn't much time to think. They're about to hit you, so you move. Then they literally show you how to throw them to the ground. If I could've thrown my dance partner down each time I got frustrated, I might have stuck with it.
I would never argue that Aikido is the only way to get certain benefits or even the best, as I think that's an individual choice. But I do think it is uniquely suited to improve who you are as a person (physically and mentally) and how you are in the world. That is because it provides this range of vital sensory input to the body, not least of which is a network of people who want to challenge you, not defeat you.
That's an extremely long answer (but you wanted to know 😏). I tend not to compare Aikido to other fighting styles. That isn't because it can't compare, it's because I'm not the person to do it. I was never interested in fighting, and I probably would have dropped any other martial art quickly.
I might have been one of thousands of others telling you how yoga or running was life changing for me. But I'm convinced that with those arts I might never have learned to be a goal-driven as I am now, might never have become interested in business or leadership, and would probably not have made it through some recent financial hard times without becoming physically or mentally ill. I likely would have dropped my practice when things got tough.
I'm so long-winded about this because few people understand (though I think you do) - the effectiveness of Aikido as a fighting style is probably the least important thing about it. If you need to be a good fighter, you need to train daily, intensively, right up to your limits. That's true regardless of style.
Most people don't do that, and that's ok. But if you're going to exercise just three days a week, I say try something with some real sensory input, and see where that gets you.
No, we practice Iwama style. Our association is Takemusu Aikido Association - it's under Hombu dojo, but with a lineage that follows Morohiro Saito Sensei.
Nice, my second guess would have been tenshin but iwama is good two.
Is there anything you think someone should talk about that the public doesn't know about?
Good question. I wish people understood what a practice like Aikido actually provides to the body and the brain. People are constantly trying to regulate their energy, attention, mood, and focus with superficial fixes, trying to train their thoughts or behavior with affirmations, discipline, or therapy. They don't know the three inputs most effective at integrating brain activity are touch, heavy muscle activity, and movement in 3-dimensional space. There aren't many opportunities for adults to get this vital input, and we don't even realize how the lack of activity effects mood, productivity, relationships, and judgement.
Ok I was thinking about doing a comparison between internal and external martial arts so that might be a good way to fill in some of the blanks.
I've been thinking about you last comment and I believe I miss read it the first time and now I'm not so sure of what it is your trying to tell me. What exactly do you mean by integrating brain activity? And what would the perpuse of that be for?
I guess it's a complicated answer. I am interested in neurology and psychology, and my job involves analyzing what conditions people need to learn a new skill.
A common misconception is that the brain and body are separate. They are integral to one another. This is obvious when you think about it, but people forget all the time.
A person who has been static for a while, perhaps looking at text on a screen, has a lot of brain activity in some areas and very little in others. Not integrated. He may be tense in his shoulders and breathing shallow, unaware of his body carrying stress. He is more likely to react defensively in fight, flight, or freeze to any change in his environment. Now imagine him driving home in this state. Imagine he carries this state home to his wife and child. He didn't sleep well, and he goes to work again. He's in a bad mood and can't make his mind focus.
Maybe he tries some music to help him focus. Maybe meditation. Strong coffee. Maybe he goes for a walk. Any of these can be helpful, but they still largely ignore that the brain lives within a body.
We know that moving in three-dimensional space (like rolling/ukemi), challenging core postural muscles, and having physical contact with people produces massive shifts in attention, emotional regulation, and learning. That is brain integration. The smooth transmission of information from sensory neuron to action potential. Most people don't even know it exists, and they don't try to maintain it.
Sounds like the work your doing is in educational research; but the research it's self is in kinesiology. Because moderit to vigorous exercise 3 times a week for 30 min to an hour can definitely improve focus, self-esteem, and a few more things I'm not sure I can list today. But any sport or martial practice could help with that; aikido isn't really special in that case. Unless there's something i don't know that you do?
I'm an occupational therapist. So I don't do the research, but I read a lot of it and apply it to problems in real life.
Exercise like you mentioned improves cardiovascular health, and more oxygenated blood moving through the body has all kinds of benefits, including for the brain.
But the brain needs more than oxygenated blood, it needs stimulation. Let's say you chose to run the treadmill three times a week. You'll get the obvious health benefits. But will it make you more assertive the next time you are confronted at work? Will it teach you to solve problems by being proactive, instead of avoiding issues until they grow too big to ignore? I say no.
Yet I've had these benefits from Aikido, and I know that this is because Aikido provides:
Moderate to intense vestibular input - arcing, rolling, spiraling through three-dimensional space. This input has a strong effect on attention and alertness, and increases the brain's ability to take in information without becoming stressed. Stimulation lasts about 8 hours. If you never roll, tilt in space or go upside down, your brain is starved of vestibular input.
Moderate to intense muscle and joint input - this has the greatest effect on self-confidence and mood, as well as body mapping and coordination, especially if you are getting enough vestibular input. Lots of people know about this and lots of sports provide it.
Close physical contact with people - even though I know scientifically that we need this, I shy away from it as more of an introvert. You can get physical contact with people in any martial art and many sports, but not all. I always pursued solo sports before this. This was intentional; close physical contact with people is not necessarily pleasant, especially in competitive sport when you aren't very good. There is something unique about working with a partner who matches your movements, challenging and supporting you at the same time. I think that is unique to traditional martial arts, and dance. I did dance, but hated partner work. The difference for me? Dancing with a partner and feeling awkward, it's easy to think "why am I doing this?" Starting Aikido with a partner and feeling awkward, there isn't much time to think. They're about to hit you, so you move. Then they literally show you how to throw them to the ground. If I could've thrown my dance partner down each time I got frustrated, I might have stuck with it.
I would never argue that Aikido is the only way to get certain benefits or even the best, as I think that's an individual choice. But I do think it is uniquely suited to improve who you are as a person (physically and mentally) and how you are in the world. That is because it provides this range of vital sensory input to the body, not least of which is a network of people who want to challenge you, not defeat you.
That's an extremely long answer (but you wanted to know 😏). I tend not to compare Aikido to other fighting styles. That isn't because it can't compare, it's because I'm not the person to do it. I was never interested in fighting, and I probably would have dropped any other martial art quickly.
I might have been one of thousands of others telling you how yoga or running was life changing for me. But I'm convinced that with those arts I might never have learned to be a goal-driven as I am now, might never have become interested in business or leadership, and would probably not have made it through some recent financial hard times without becoming physically or mentally ill. I likely would have dropped my practice when things got tough.
I'm so long-winded about this because few people understand (though I think you do) - the effectiveness of Aikido as a fighting style is probably the least important thing about it. If you need to be a good fighter, you need to train daily, intensively, right up to your limits. That's true regardless of style.
Most people don't do that, and that's ok. But if you're going to exercise just three days a week, I say try something with some real sensory input, and see where that gets you.