Aikido Eastside with William Gleason sensei

Contributed by George Ledyard*

I have long felt that practicing Aikido is like Koan study in Zen. Most people are familiar with those enigmatic questions like "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" or "Show me your face before you were born?" Zen Masters use these koans to put the conscious mind of the student into a form of mental gridlock that forces the student to experience reality on a direct intuitive basis rather than intellectualize about it. These questions have no logical solution and the answers are different for each student.

In October Aikido Eastside hosted William Gleason Sensei for his yearly visit. The entire weekend seemed to be one continuous string of Aiki koans which challenged each of the participants to let go of old habits and viewpoints and experience the art from a new perspective. Gleason Sensei demonstrated a subtle ability to simultaneously address the widely differing experience levels of the students. While the beginners received valuable technical instruction on their basics, the advanced students found themselves challenged to manifest their technique on a deeper internal, energetic level.

Gleason Sensei's original teacher, Yamaguchi Sensei, used to say that a technique should never require more effort than allowing the weight of the arms to rest on the partner. Gleason Sensei repeatedly demonstrated how the movement of the mind produces change in the energies of Fire, Water, and Earth within the stillness of "Fudoshin" (Immovable Mind) thus producing technique. So practice moves from the technical level with concerns for footwork, grips, balance points, etc. to become an energetic act of creation, the expression of the universal principles that govern the universe. This is of course precisely how O-Sensei, the Founder, talked about the art he had created. It was Gleason Sensei's gift to all of us that, whether empty hand or using the sword, he helped each of us gain some measure of direct experience as to what the Founder meant.

Anyone coming to this training with true Beginner's Mind could not help but have his or her Aikido changed in unforeseen ways. If you get a chance to experience this wonderful teacher first hand, go out of your way to do so. You'll never regret making the effort.

*George Ledyard sensei is the founder and chief instructor of Aikido Eastside. To read more about him and his dojo, please go to our Featured Dojo page in January's Newsletter, also check out Aikido Eastside's website.