The Aikikai publishes a grading system and requires students to submit a written impression during the 2-dan and 3-dan examinations and an essay during the 4-dan. I was asked by an overseas aikido practitioner what kind of essay is required in Japan, so I have translated my own essay from my 4-dan examination into English and put it here. I hope someone will find it useful.
Essay for 4th dan Examination
Takahiro Katoh
2020.1.13
A Study of Weight Differences in Aikido
It has been about 18 years since I first encountered aikido as a high school student. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to have always been familiar with aikido, even when I was studying for university entrance exams after leaving high school, and even when the rhythm of my life changed as I went to university, studied abroad, and became a newly graduated freshman. I am truly grateful for the opportunities I have had to receive instruction not only at the Honbu Dojo, but also at Koutoku-kai in my hometown of Kawasaki City, New York Aikikai, Waseda University Aikidokai, and Tada Juku Gessoji Dojo.
I obtained Shodan and Nidan when I was a student. When I was a student, I was convinced that I could improve my aikido skills if I practiced enough, and I sometimes visited the dojo more than ten times in a week, but after I left the university and started working, I had to seek quality over quantity. However, after I left the university and started working, I had to seek quality over quantity. For a short time after I started working, I felt that I was making progress just by continuing to practice, but from around the time I obtained my 3rd dan, I did not feel that I was making progress for a long time. At first I thought it was due to the amount of practice, but then I realized that one of the reasons was that I could not overcome the weight difference between me and my opponent. In recent years, I have been practicing how to overcome this problem and create techniques when one’s physique is considerably inferior to that of one’s opponent.
-Unconsciousness about the weight difference
In Aikido practice, it is rare to select techniques to practice paying special attention to the weight difference. Although practitioners are aware of the fact that there are always problems, to varying degrees, such as the ease or difficulty of applying techniques due to the difference in weight, they do not select their opponents according to the techniques they practice. The appropriate technique should essentially differ depending on the height and weight of the opponent. For example, if the opponent is much heavier than oneself, techniques that strongly affect the joints, such as kote-gaeshi and tenbin-nage, are more likely to be used than techniques such as irimi nage and tenchi nage, which break the opponent’s center of gravity with the entire body.
Weight is a significant factor in sports involving physical contact, not limited to martial arts and combat sports. When I was a member of a rugby club in high school, the rule was that the heavier players played in the vanguard position (forwards) and the lighter players played in the rearguard position (backs). The forwards would put their bodies on the line to stop the opponents and let the lighter forwards pass the ball to the backs to run through. In contact sports, weight is an important factor in determining a player’s role. In aikido, weight differences are rarely taken into account, but if the goal is to learn techniques that can be practically applied, it is probably a good idea to take weight differences into account. So, why do we practice without taking weight differences into consideration?
-Comparison with other martial arts
In other martial arts and combat sports, except for weapons arts such as kendo and kyudo, it is common to use a weight class system. In kendo, too, there are likely to be situations in which height and weight differences affect the outcome of a match, but since shinai (bamboo swords) of a certain length and weight are used, it is likely that these differences are not considered sufficient to separate ranks. Judo, which represents throwing techniques, is divided into seven classes for men, from the 60-kg class to the over-100-kg class, with the 60-kg class being followed by the 66-kg class, which is 6 kg higher than the 60-kg class. The weight difference between each class is, in descending order, 6 kg, 7 kg, 8 kg, 9 kg, and 10 kg, with the next weight class being approximately 10% higher than the respective class. In boxing, there are 17 weight classes, ranging from minimumweight (47.62 kg or less) to heavyweight (90.719 kg or more), with the lightest minimumweight class and the next lightest light flyweight class differing by only about 1.36 kg. It is assumed that the weight difference in striking techniques has a stronger impact on competition than in throwing techniques, which is why the classes are divided so finely.
Aikido includes weapon techniques, but the foundation of aikido is bodywork. There are strikes, but they are rarely practiced by themselves, so the focus is on throwing techniques. If aikido follows the example of judo, it would not be surprising if aikido practitioners are encouraged to train with opponents who are within 6 to 10 kg of each other.
-The Nature of Aikido
The reasons why aikido is practiced without taking weight differences into consideration may be summarized in the following several points. First, Aikido has a major policy of not unnecessarily competing with one’s opponent in terms of strength or weakness. The Aikikai, which is directly affiliated with Morihei Ueshiba, does not hold matches or competitions. The purpose of Aikikai is to train with each other through friendly competition, and to measure the training of mind and body. The lack of weight divisions in the rank system means that there is little need to train in separate weight classes.
The second factor may be the direction of the techniques that Founder Morihei idealized. The founder was 156 cm tall and weighed about 75 kg. This may seem short in modern terms, but it was the average height for a Japanese born in the 1880s. He must have been quite muscular, as his weight was much heavier than his height. Nevertheless, he would have had little advantage in terms of physique, as many of the people who came to the Ueshiba dojo in the early days when martial artists and military personnel gathered there would have been of considerable strength and ability. Given this, it is possible that they thought it was important to hone techniques that could be used even by those of inferior physique.
Thirdly, it is difficult to form combinations of people of the same physique in training unless there are a large number of people in the dojo. This limitation itself may have led to the custom of practicing a variety of techniques without concern for weight differences. Since the ratio of male students to female students in aikido is roughly 7:3, it is not realistic to divide the students into groups according to weight, even taking into consideration the ratio of male to female students in the dojo. This is a factor that may well have an impact.
Looking back at the nature of aikido as described above, there will be no change in the situation of training with opponents of different weights in the future.
-Response to the weight difference
Assuming that the above assumptions are correct, then, how should each of us study? I have felt for the past few years that there may be a clue in the swinging up and down of the arms.
Many of the techniques of Aikido are based on the swinging up and down of the arms, with the lower body following. If we stick to the basics, we do not lean forward and bend down to throw, but rather apply techniques in a way that limits the movement of the lower body to the hips and lower body flexion and extension. The arms should be raised as close to the center line of the body as possible, and the arms should be lowered in front of the belly, with the tanden in mind. The up-and-down motion of the arms from the belly to overhead, through the center of the body, is probably one of the most forceful up-and-down movements. Because it is an up-and-down motion that is easy to apply force and create a drop, we can feel that it works in various throwing and joint techniques.
When we look at the video recordings of Founder, we notice that the lifting and lowering of the arms are very graceful, and the later the years, the more techniques using the up-and-down motion of the arms seem to be used. Many of the statues of the founder also look like they are raising and lowering their arms.
Another point is to practice with an awareness of how to release the opponent’s weight. For example, in the Enso stance, you can make your opponent’s elbows open and make it difficult for him to put his weight on you. Swinging up and down in the circular stance can be thought of as a way to minimize the mass of the opponent who is coming at you. When we consider not only the upper body, but also the lower body, we naturally learn how to use our legs and hips in a way that allows our body weight to be released. For example, when performing ikkyo in gyaku-hanmi katate-dori, one might drop diagonally backward before applying ikkyo, but in this case, the opponent can easily put his weight on his side because he is dropping back. In this case, the opponent can easily put his weight on your side because you are backward. It is like creating a subtle distance to break the opponent’s center of gravity with the tenacity of the feet and legs.
Looking back, we can see that the fundamentals are also important in overcoming the weight difference. The repetition of techniques that are faithful to the basics in daily practice leads to overcoming the weight difference. Practicing with an awareness of whether or not the opponent’s weight is on the body leads to the improvement of the techniques.
-Practice while being aware of the opponent’s weight
It is one of the ways to improve your techniques to devise ways to release your opponent’s weight and to understand the timing so that your opponent’s center of gravity is not disturbed and your body weight is not carried. Where does the opponent’s weight and your technique intersect, and what should you do to prevent them from intersecting as much as possible? Morihei explained to the students that they should perform their techniques without being aware of their opponent’s weight, and if they can create a situation where their weight does not cross with their opponent’s weight, they may be able to achieve this. I would like to continue my practice with a strong awareness of the relationship between body weight and technique.
Aikido Katoh Dojo 