subject: What is the Ki in Aikido? [print this page] The basic theory behind Aikido is the use of ki. But what is ki and how can it be used in our lives? Most if not all martial arts depend upon strength, agility, timing, and speed. These are usually channeled through some sort of technique such as punching, kicking, blocking, dodging and so on. But what about Aikido?
In Aikido we initially do some sort of basic training such as taking a fall and reversing directions to meet oncoming attackers. But this all a prelude to developing an almost 6th sense in reading our opponents muscle tense and channeling it in a direction that will not allow them to cause us bodily harm and at the same time stopping the attack.
We learn to read our opponents bodily intentions and can easily intuit when and where they will strike and the best way to defend against it. This mind reading as some call it, is tapping into the bio electric energy of the universe. Once one learns to sense his own and others ki we can easily avoid confrontation.
Although this ki sense was originally developed for fighting one can also use it to heal both physical and mental problems by letting the ki work on our minds and bodies.
This is a very deep subject and may require some form of meditation to understand. The type of meditation here is not head oriented but rather concentrating on the hara which is the region between our navel and our sexual organ. Focusing on this area can give one a very stable grounded feeling. Once we feel the ki in our hara we can then channel it throughout our body and even into other people and things.
