ChatGPT Translates: Dan Harden and the art of non-resistance

This is my second blog post which was translated with the help of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Similarly to the first one, this also required only minor adjustments, the translation itself was close to perfect. So let’s see the content:

In connection with aikido, we often hear the phrase “Aikido is the art of non-resistance.” Usually, this principle is used to explain why there are no blocks in aikido (except when there are), why we step out of the line of attack (except when we don’t), and why we try to find angles and directions in which we can move easily and which do not collide with the direction of the attack. If it were only about this, perhaps it would be more advisable to apostrophize aikido as the art of avoidance.

“The art of non-resistance” often comes up when teaching proper ukemi. We bring up many better or worse arguments why uke should not resist tori’s technique, and we spend a lot of time on how uke should move with tori to create a harmonious effect – after all, aikido is also the way of harmony, isn’t it?

When I write this blog, it’s 2022, and it has been five years since I started attending Dan Harden’s seminars and transforming my training based on his method. The October seminar is still vivid in my memory. Working with Dan is completely different from anyone I’ve ever been taking ukemi for. He moves as if I weren’t even there. One moment I think my position is strong, the next moment I’m off balance and receiving one or two signaled strikes and kicks, or finding myself three meters away. All this with just a tiny fraction of his power. I don’t feel our forces clashing, I simply move. I can’t resist anything, and the feeling of vulnerability is complete from the very first moment. It’s hard to find words for this because Dan stands far above any master I’ve met. He embodies the other, neglected aspect of the art of non-resistance in modern aikido – that in aikido, we make the attacker non-resistant through our own movement.

But perhaps 8th dan Hiroshi Isoyama expressed this experience better:

– What was it like? [Ueshiba Morihei]

– It was as if I were trying to apply a technique on a big tree. However, he was always taking proper ukemi for me, not trying to resist or cleverly escape the technique. I was like a high school student trying to put some strength into my technique, but I couldn’t.

– Why?

– I don’t know. It felt like he suppressed me while draining my strength. I couldn’t use strength. Even today, I don’t understand what happened.

– He had incredible power.

– It was superhuman power. But it wasn’t like he was tensing his muscles to create strength. It felt like strength naturally entered his body. When I felt tough, I often tried to resist him, but he didn’t pay any attention. We also tried this, but somehow always clashed with the strength of our partner, which eventually penetrated our bodies. O-sensei was never bothered. Regardless of whether we tried to resist or did nothing, O-sensei worked with the same force. It felt like his energy leaked out, but it didn’t. He was completely different in this respect.

If anyone doubts whether taking ukemi for Dan Harden is similar as it was for O-sensei, I recommend this article: https://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/finding-aiki-aikido-hawaii/

I think it’s important to keep in mind both aspects of the art of non-resistance – our own non-resistance and making uke non-resistant. If we are able to realize these two interpretations simultaneously (not one after the other), we can take a big step closer to realizing the power in O-sensei’s aikido.

Sources, recommended reading:

https://trueaiki.com/descriptions-of-ueshibas-aiki-compared-to-aiki-123

https://trueaiki.com/shiratas-essay-part-5

http://bodyworkseminars.org/testimonials.html

ChatGPT translates: Meeting Dan Harden

This is a ChatGPT translation of my 2017 blogpost in Hungarian, which you can find under this link.

ChatGPT is a very tricky animal when it comes to translations. When I provided the url of my blog asking for a translation, the outcome was not a translation, but a summary that was half a translation and half bullshit – information that the original post never contained. However, when I copy-pasted the text, the result was a translation way above the level of Google Translate, which only needed a couple of minor corrections.

So here it comes:

If someone had told me a year ago that I would meet someone who would turn my ideas about aikido upside down, I would have laughed at them. I started practicing aikido in 2002, and since then I have had the opportunity to train with many great names, including Kobayashi Yasuo sensei, Christian Tissier sensei, Seishiro Endo sensei, Takanori Kuribayashi sensei, and Giuseppe Ruglioni Ki Aikido master, all of whom I have had the chance to be uke for over the years. In addition, I have attended numerous seminars led by less famous but by no means less high-level instructors, both in Hungary and abroad. I have read a lot about aikido, mainly from Hungarian and English sources, I have translated for Aikido Journal, and I paid close attention when we went out with the senseis for a beer (interestingly, the most exciting information was often shared during such occasions). Thanks to Maekawa Nobuo sensei, I also got to know the teaching methods and ideas of Daito-ryu. I began to do Systema, so I became able to look at the art founded by O-sensei from an outsider’s perspective. I thought I had a good overview of the aikido map, knew what each person represented, what could be achieved with aikido and what could not. I never liked the mantra that O-sensei was a unique crazy genius, an unbeatable warrior monk, whom we could never hope to emulate -so it was better to not even try – but I was beginning to resign myself to this truth.

Then I meet this American guy who, with almost arrogant confidence, blunt honesty and humor, tells us that we know nothing about what Ueshiba taught, and proceeds to build us up from the basics, supported by Ueshiba quotes throughout. Those exhausting lectures that the post-war twenty-something uchi deshi could hardly wait to end were not just philosophical or religious discourses, but explanations of concrete technical principles. For each such quote, there is a simple exercise that allows us to experience the concepts it was supposed to transmit. Then he shows us how to apply these principles in techniques, whether in aikido or even MMA. A funakogi undo movement can easily become an incredibly effective ryotedori kuzushi or a double block-break and strike. He makes sense of statements that are now meaningless in aikido, such as “Aikido decides life and death with a single blow, so you must always follow the instructor’s orders and not compete to see who is stronger.” He shows me what it’s like to use aikido principles in striking and kicking techniques. These are the principles that O-sensei talked about all the time, not those that come from the generation raised by Kisshomaru. And you don’t have to do ikkyo for a lifetime to understand it. It’s logical, simple, immediately understandable, and the basic exercises give a sense of accomplishment even performed at a low level.

Aikido will never be the same for me again.

Útjára indult a Sangenkai Budapest

Öt évvel ezelőtt, 15 év aikidóval a hátam mögött abban a hitben éltem, hogy rálátok az aikido térképre – milyen stílusok vannak, kik a legfontosabb mesterek, és hogy mit tud adni az aikido és mit nem. Azt tudtam, hogy az aikidóból valami fontos elveszett, és azt is, hogy valószínűleg sosem értem meg, hogy az általam csodált mesterek mivel működtetik a saját aikidójukat.

Öt évvel ezelőtt találkoztam Dan Hardennel és az ő Sangenkai rendszerével, ami egy teljesen új világot nyitott meg a számomra. Itt olvashatjátok, milyen élmény volt az első alkalom, 2017-ben:
https://danielkati.wordpress.com/…/talalkozas-dan…/

Itt pedig a gondolataim a 2022 október végi szeminárium kapcsán:
https://danielkati.wordpress.com/…/dan-harden-es-az…/

Öt éve szinte nem telt el nap, hogy ne foglalkoztam volna a Sangenkai-jal, és volt már számos alkalom, zárt körben illetve néhány szemináriumon, ahol átadhattam ennek a rendszernek egy-egy részét, amit mindig pozitív visszajelzés követett.

Mivel van tapasztalatom arról, hogy milyen szinten vannak Dan Harden régebbi tanítványai, különösen pedig Dan maga, tudom, hogy milyen messzire el lehet jutni, és hogy én még hozzájuk képest alacsony szinten vagyok – bár az öt évvel ezelőtti önmagam egyszerűen lepattanna rólam. Szerencsére a rendszer zsenialitása abban rejlik, hogy a gyakorlók saját magukon érzik, azonnal megtapasztalják, hogy a testük sokkal stabilabb, és az erejük megsokszorozódik. Egyszerűen ennyire jó a rendszer, megáll a saját lábán.

Ezért döntöttem úgy, hogy indítok egy csoportot, ahol csak ennek a módszernek az elsajátításával foglalkozunk.

Kéthetente találkozunk a hatodik kerületi Jáde Forrás Sportegyesület termében, a Rózsa utcában. A részleteket a többi általam tartott edzéssel együtt itt találjátok:
https://danielkati.wordpress.com/edzesidopontok/

Egy másik lehetőség, ha szeretnél betekintést nyerni a Sangenkai rendszerbe: május 7-én, vasárnap reggel 9:00-től tartok egy 4 órás szemináriumot.
https://www.facebook.com/events/531190609217937