Heavy hands and where to put them.

I would like to share with you two of the most important tips for creating or experiencing the so called internal power.

At a seminar on the island of Ameland, the Netherlands, Yamashima sensei was giving a seminar. The translator at the event commented on the Japanese text of Yamashima sensei in English. There are two sentences which stood out for me and which I currently try to include in my practice.

1. Use heavy hands, for when you use heavy hands your center will turn naturally.
2. Put your hips in your hands.

What one can try to experience is the sensation of creating a feeling where the hands and lower part of the arms are heavy. Like gloves filled with sand. Why should one do this kind of strange imaginative excercise?
The whole body structure wants to be balanced at all cost. Otherwise we would be falling continously when trying to walk. When the hands are used as counterweights just like a a tightrope artist, balance is assured by small corrections of the hips. This is the same feeling a lot of sensei speak about when they try you to urge to use "your center". Simply put, your hands and hips will always make movements which are opposite in direction. This will create the possibility of using your strength of the lower body into your hands.

So in your practice, and more important, during every day walking and tasks, try to imagine your hands are heavy and make a connection between hands and hips. You will be surprised by the results of this simple excercise over the course of your Aikido career.
Yamashima has practiced this for a long time I would imagine and in the next clip you can see what it can lead to.

Enjoy practice.

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