Echilibrul - Balance, Eseu pentru shodan - Essay by, Valentin Paun

Natura nu cunoaste binele sau raul, frumosul sau uratul, ea este pur si simplu, fara extreme, fara directii sau valori absolute.  Ea, natura, sau Universul (puteti sa-i spuneti si Dumnezeu, Buda sau Allah) este pur si simplu in echilibru. Acest echilibru, aceasta stare a punctului zero,  atat de necesara pentru ca natura sa fie nemuritoare se afla, conform principiului hologramei in orice parte, fenomen sau subsistem al naturii.

Toate artele martiale cauta echilibrul insa fac acest lucru cu pasi mici. Si toate incearca sa gaseasca masura perfecta atat pe plan fizic cat si in plan spiritual.

Aikido, nefacand exceptie de la regula si fiiind o esenta a artelor martiale, incepe de la prima lectie prin invatarea echilibrului. Tehnicile din aikido au la baza dezechilibrul adversarului urmat de aruncarea, sau fixarea lui.

Din punctul meu de vedere, calea armoniei din aikido poate fi foarte bine inlocuita-echivalata cu calea echilibrului. Cele mai bune tehnici sunt cele in care dezechilibrul este perfect. In acel moment greutatea adversarului aproape nu mai exista iar partea urmatoare a atacului vine natural, fara efort ca un continuum de energie ce nu mai poate fi oprit.

Daca in cadrul celorlalte arte martiale dezechilibrul apare mai putin accentuat la finalizare, aikido il foloseste de la inceputul pana la sfarsitul fiecarei tehnici. Fiecare om indiferent de masa lui, mare, sau mica, poate fi dezechilibrat atunci cand este in miscare. Este foarte important ca atacul lui Uke sa fie cat mai cinstit cat mai real(natural). Fiecare om poate fi incadrat intr-o sfera, iar fiecare sfera are, in mod evident un centru. Acest centru este centrul de echilibru maxim al acelui om. Pentru al dezechilibra trebuie ca centrul nostru, al sferei in care ne incadram sa fie mai jos decat al lui. De aceea cand aplicam tehnicile de aikido coboram intotdeauna centrul nostru de greutate mai intai.

Oamenii sunt sensibili la dezechilibrarea fizica. De fapt sunt sensibili la orice fel de perturbare a echilibrului fie el fizic, mental sau de alta natura, ca sa nu mai vorbim de faptul ca sunt multi oameni care au rau de miscare. Ca exemple putem evidentia starea de rau pe care o au multi oameni atunci cand se afla intr-o ambarcatiune si datorita tangajului percep acut un rau fizic, sau, starea pe care o incercam la inaltimi foarte mari si care este de fapt nu un rau fizic ci un dezechilibru mental produs de teama..

 In momentul unui atac mintea adversarului se focuseaza pe regasirea echilibrului, in parte datorita antrenamentului dar mai mult datorita capacitatii naturale a oricarei fiinte de autoconservare. Insa aici autoconservarea manifestata ca gest reflex este in mod vadit un handicap. Uke trebuie dezechilibrat atat fizic cat si psihic. Atunci cand el este  fie un adversar foarte foarte puternic, sau un incepator, el va alege un atac asupra unui punct, maini, gat puncte sensibile si  va apuca,  sau lovi, punctul ales  atat  cu mintea cit si fizic. In functie de cat de priceput este dar si in functie de atac va ajunge sau nu la tinta.

Dupa inceperea atacului, simpla ridicare a bratelor in dreptul ochilor, sau un sabaki, unul dintre tenkan-uri va crea un dezechilibru mental, care chiar daca nu este vizibil fizic,  va exista pentru un timp foarte scurt. Pentru a se redresa psihic si a incepe un alt atac, va dura  un timp  in functie  de adversar,  moment  in care Tori va  face tehnica.

Orice pozitie nenaturala a lui Uke sau a lui Tori duce la dezechilibru. Pozitia in aikido este naturala, cu o stabilitate buna,  dar nu extrema ca in cazul altor arte martiale, unde pozitiile  sunt joase si foarte stabile, dar  rigide ne  permitand  miscarea corpului simultan  cu a membrelor. Pozitiile  si deplasarile unui aikidoka  sunt  simple si  permit  miscari   foarte  rapide fara  eforturi  fizice  mari.

Putem afirma fara sa gresim ca echilibrul, exprimat in filozofia, disciplinele mentale si artele martiale asiatice este pentru aikido punctul central. Comuniunea cu adversarul, exprimata prin miscarea impreuna cu el pana la un punct de despartire ne arata simplu si eficient si o filozofie sanatoasa de viata conform expresiei grecesti - Panta rei  - Totul curge, nimic nu rămâne neschimbat.

Nature knows no good or evil, no beautiful or ugly, it is as simple as it sounds, not extreme, without directions or absolute values. She, The Nature or The Universe (you can also say God, Buddha or Allah) is always in simply balance. This balance, this state of zero, so necessary for nature to be immortal, is - according to the hologram principles - in any part, phenomenon or subsystem of the nature.

All martial arts are looking for balance, but they do it using small steps. And they are all trying to find the perfect measure on both levels: physical and spiritual.

Aikido, making no exception from this rule and being an essence of martial arts, starts from the first lesson with learning the balance. The techniques of Aikido are based on unbalancing the opponent followed by throwing, or fix it.

From my point of view, the way of harmony from aikido can be substituted / equivalated with the way of balance. The best techniques are those in which unbalance is perfect. At that moment, there is almost no weight of the opponent and the next part of the attack comes naturally, without effort, as a continuum of energy that cannot be stopped.

If in other martial arts the imbalance is less pronounced at the end of the techniques, aikido uses the imbalance from the beginning to the end of each technique. Every man, regardless of his weight, big or small, can be unbalanced when is moving. It is very important that Uke's attack has to be as honest, as real (natural) as possible. Everyone can be framed in a sphere, and each sphere has obviously a center. This center is the center of the maximum balance of that man. To unbalance him, we need to have our center - the sphere in which we fit - to be lower than his. Therefore when we apply the techniques of aikido, we always lower our center of gravity first.

People are sensitive to physical imbalance. In fact they are sensitive to any disturbance of balance whether physical, mental or otherwise, not to mention the fact that there are many people who have motion sickness. For examples we can highlight the malaise that people have when they are in a boat and because of the pitch they perceive an acute physical harm, or the state that we face at very high altitudes which is not actually a physically harm but a mental imbalance as a result of the fear ..

When an attack comes, the opponent's mind focuses on finding the balance again, partially due to training but more due to natural capacity for self-preservation of any beings. But here, self-preservation manifested as reflex is obviously a handicap. Uke must be unbalanced both physically and mentally. When he is either a very strong opponent or a beginner, he will choose an attack on one point, hands, neck, sensitive points and he will grab, or hit the chosen point, with both the mind and the body. Depending on how skillful he is and also based on the type of attack, he will reach or not to the target.

After starting the attack, the mere lifting of the arms in front of the eyes, or sabaki, or one of tenkans will create a mental imbalance, which even if not physically visible, it will exist for a very short time. In order to recover mentally and start another attack it will take a while, depending on the opponent, moment in which Tori will execute the technique.

Any unnatural position of Uke or Tori lead to imbalance. The position in aikido is natural, with good stability, but not extreme as in other martial arts, where positions are low and very stable but rigid and not allowing body and limbs movement in the same time. Postures and movements of an aikidoka are simple and allow very quick movements without great physical effort.

We can affirm without mistake that the balance expressed in philosophy, mental discipline and Asian martial arts is the central point of aikido. Being one with the opponent, expressed by moving along with him to a point of separation shows us simple, efficient and a healthy philosophy of life according to Greek expression - Panta rei - everything flows, nothing stays the same.

English translation by Cristian Vlaescu. Many thanks