Body Skills

I sit here today, reflecting on body skills. I can't remember where I heard or read this, but I was once informed that aikido is a body art not a hand art. This had a profound influence on how I continued my study of aikido. It took my concentration from that getting my hands right for a technique to getting my body in the right place at the right time and letting the hands be the vehicles for connection to my partner rather than the parts of my body that did the technique. I had been told many times that power comes from the hara (centre) and that you must keep the shoulders relaxed. However, as I was learning the technique my concentration would move back to what my hands were doing and this would naturally cause my shoulders to tighten and I would forget proper hanmi etc.
So I am studying a body art. Technique is done with the body. Not the hands, not the feet. The body.
 This idea is reinforced in TSYR. Connect to your adversary with your hand, hip, shoulder, whatever. Then apply the technique with the body. Thinking this way will ensure that the hara comes into play and to fully harness a soft power, the body must be relaxed.
The struggle I have now is with the sword work. How to get the connection through the sword? It is challenging enough to try and form an integrated, aligned body. Now I add a piece of wood to the mix.
But that is a story for another time.
Back to practising both my body arts!

Techniques and Principles

Often during my training, I find myself being caught up in the finer details of getting a technique right. At this time my sensei, whoever it may be (aikido or TSYR) will often mention a certain prinicple of the art that will correct the technique I'm struggling with. It is easy to forget that the techniques are merely a tool or medium through which to teach a principle. This has become clearer and clearer to me as I practise both arts. Principles are the underlying concepts that make an art what it is. The techniques are what we see, externally. Bend the arm this way, place your feet like this. The body moves a finite number of ways, many techniques are similar across different martial arts. However, the principle guides technique and the difference lies in how the technique feels when it is applied. Someone who is a good technician can get the same result on the surface but at a deeper level it feels hollow. Principles are applied to many techniques and a practitioner who grasps a principle will have stronger technique. Now, I often try to see the principle behind the technique that I am learning.
What is really intriguing is how many principles overlap in the two arts I study. Such things as moving from the centre, pushing (never pulling), upright posture and of course, timing and placement of one's body in relation to the opponent.