OODA in Aikido

While the OODA concept is well known in some circles, it remains relatively obscure overall. Developed by Col. John Boyd as a framework of rapid decision making for USAF fighter pilots, it has far reaching applications that go well beyond the military sphere and is gaining popularity in the business world as well as a number of sports. In the case of Oni Kai, we are using the concept more true to form in it's military construct (adapted directly from DOD/USAF training) as a way to instill a level of repeatable conditioning to help young students learn to look before they leap, as it were, and make decisions that consider their entire environment instead of just themselves and what they intend to do. This is not as such a "combat" tool but a safety tool that conditions students to be aware of themselves and one another so as to avoid being injured as well as inflicting injury. 

In the simplest terms this equates to good old fashioned situational awareness though in this case we need to instill an all important pause at the D(ecide) point so that students have an opportunity to A(ct) in a safe manner. In more broad applications this might be as simple as reminding them to watch where they are running but making sure to do so long before the traditional time to use the phrase; that seeming to happen more often than not, after an ill fated collision, the very thing we strive to prevent. 

As illustrated in the graphic the order is Observe Orient Decide Act. These are usually referred to as "loops" that with practice and awareness, cycle faster and faster. The initial observation loop speeds up with experience as students begin to recognize patterns of movement or even feel them. This then feeds into how they move or orient themselves both physically and mentally before they decide what action to take. This decision is also something that radically speeds up over time as practiced routines become more deeply ingrained and require little to no thought when moving into action. The act then happens very quickly in conjunction with a running observation feeding into the cycles all over again until the entire process seemingly just happens. 

Aikido tends to be very circular and indeed "cyclical" in nature and while, especially at first, it's is useful to keep those circles large and flowing, it is also useful to consider the idea that if you make smaller and smaller circles they eventually come to resemble a point. The faster we run these loops the more agile we become both mentally and physically. 

Fudoshin and Zazen

Fudoshin is an interesting thing usually associated with Japanese martial arts that loosely translates to "immovable  mind". Our closest Western equivalent is likely the state of "flow" we sometimes use to describe when someone is in the "zone". The mind is focused on the activity at hand and not rattled or shaken by distractions. For a Samurai this may have meant being able to remain focused in the heat of battle regardless of the noise and chaos around them or even simply being able to pay attention in spite of things designed to distract and confuse.

In a more relevant context for Oni Kai students, fudoshin is a state of mind we cultivate in order to pay attention in Aikido or school classes, be aware of our surroundings and stay focused on what we are doing so as to apply ourselves directly to the tasks at hand. The world we live in is literally designed to reach out a grab attention at every turn, constantly interrupting coherent thoughts and activities. By training even our youngest students to focus through simple distractions as well as loud or startling noises they learn to remain aware of the world around them while selectively keeping their minds where they need them.

Through a process of zazen, seated meditation, students learn to center themselves and clear their heads. Then through the gentle application of distracting influences they learn to filter outside influences that rob all of us of productivity.

Even the youngest of our students (currently not even three years old) have embraced this practice and have been showing incredible ability of application. With less than ten students in such a young age group it's hard to say what is normal but if our current group is any indication, there are a number of organizations that could benefit greatly from teaching and allowing these same methods, if a two year old can do it, it can't be all that complicated but rather simply require patience and practice.

In the end, if the only thing we do with our Oni Kai students is give them a few minutes of peace in our noisy media saturated world, that they can recreate and replicate any time they like, we'll have done them and everyone around them a great service.

The Oni Kai Logo

Oni Kai Aikido logo and trademark!

Not long ago when I signed on to teach an Aikido class for San Francisco Rec and Parks, just a happy little class for 3-6 year old students but something I decided I should take my personal approach to Aikido to the next level.

The best way to accomplish this seemed to be by creating a micro-brand and just building it out like any other "business". Every organizational identity package needs a logo, some way of branding and identifying it. Even non-profits benefit from this and while graphic designers are most often talented folks with hard won skills, basic graphic design doesn't have to be hard or require expensive software.

Initial photograph of the ink drawing.

For this project I wanted something that would have a Japanese feel, be somewhat nostalgic and remain viable as an eye catching logo. To illustrate how simple this can be I'll go through the rough steps I used to make the logo.

The design centered on a mythical oni demon crossed with a ronin samurai. The inspiration came from a number of things including photographs of Samurai, Zen monks, blocks prints, paintings as well as modern imagery from anime and films. So, somewhat traditional with a bit of modern appeal. I made several simple ink drawings with a traditional brush pen until I had one that seemed to capture the feel of the mental image. Once that was set I needed to move it to the digital realm. This could have been accomplished with a scanner or in many cases these days with a pen interface such as a Wacom or Bamboo tablet.

Modifying and cleaning up the image.

I was on the go and didn't have access to any of those and realistically didn't actually need them. It's worth noting that as a photographer I do have formal graphics training but it's not in my first order skill set. I also didn't happen to have the laptop where my copy of Photoshop lives but not to worry, this really isn't complex stuff.

I first used my phone to photograph the ink drawing. Since I wouldn't be printing the photo but rather converting it to a digital logo that I'd work over with graphics software, resolution wasn't much of an issue. This allowed me to import my ink drawing as a JPG into GIMP, a free graphics and photo manipulation tool. It's probably closest to Photoshop but can serve a number of functions and as I'm not printing anything to large, will work even for creating promo materials business cards, t-shirts and stickers. I'll vectorize it later.

Cleaned up image ready for text.

Once in GIMP it was a simple matter of using the magic wand to select the parts of the image I wanted to work on and clean up to get the look I was after. I think most anyone could learn this in anywhere from a couple hours to a weekend if they wanted to.

Once I got the basic logo, and several versions carefully saved along the way, I was able to add text with the native fonts in GIMP and put the whole thing together. Pretty easy and with a brush pen, cell phone and free software as my only tools, I've got custom business cards on the way to promote my Rec and Parks Aikido class.

So, if you don't think you can do graphic design, you might just be right about the more complex things but the small stuff, most anyone can do that and there's no reason you shouldn't at least give it a try.

All images copyright Jason Barnhart 2011. "Oni Kai Aikido" copyright and trademark Jason Barnhart 2011 all rights reserved. 

Aikido and the dynamic sphere

Aikido And The Dynamic Sphere has been a staple introductory text for Aikido practitioners since its publication more than 40 years ago in 1970. The book remains, for the most part, as relevant and useful today as ever.

It was the first book I studied as I was learning and, now on my second copy, it is usually the first book I reach for when sorting something out.

Today I'm revisiting some very basic things and considering the differences in the ways my young students learn and approach things as well as going over their strong points to build on as we introduce new techniques.

Real Progress

Building an Aikido program from the ground up is a real challenge and I expected running an all kids class would be an even bigger challenge. I have to say I was wrong about that. Just a few weeks in and everyone is showing such great progress that I can hardly believe our group is so new. I'm learning an incredible amount from the kids and their enthusiasm is making all the difference. Everyone is rolling and tumbling and already understanding some of the bigger concepts in Aikido.

Word is already spreading as well and we're expecting two more students next week! 

Breathing

It's almost a given, noting that breathing is important, not simply breathing but breathing well and at it's best potential. Breathing is not only a core element of Aikido, it's a key to living life to it's fullest. Having struggled with asthma in my youth while remaining unflaggingly determined to run, climb, swim and all the other active things young people do was a challenge.

It wouldn't be until my teenage years, when I became a competitive distance runner, that I would encounter, first yoga, and then Aikido and Judo. For me running was all about pushing envelopes and finishing races by simply refusing to give up, sometimes this resulted in collapsing in a heap as I crossed the finish line, not so gracefully laying on the ground to the side of the race course gasping for air and desperately begging my heart to slow down. Though, within roughly six months of studying Aikido, under the watchful eye of Jane Burghoff, I learned I'd only been haphazardly using all of the lung capacity I had available.

Being aware that, even with somewhat limited breathing do to asthma, I could compensate by really opening up my lungs and allowing my body to breath was a game changer. Something that literally altered how I live my life to this day. I still have some minor seasonal issues and chemical sensitivities but ultimately it only took that six months or so of learning to listen to my body and let it inform what I was doing and what I needed. Once in a very great while I'll go for an inhaler, usually only if I've been around something that aggravates my allergies but my personal experience would suggest that asking your body to do things and then giving it room to do so is at least as valuable as medication and the two combined can move mountains.

With regard to Aikido, one critical difference from yoga is that Aikido teaches breathing in motion. Slow at first but faster over time, Aikidoka retrain their core breathing, often simply returning to how they inhaled and exhaled as children. it isn't the blissfully quiet calm of yoga but then, we don't live in a blissfully quiet and calm world. We can't very well control the world around us, but learning the posture, breathing and body mechanics of Aikido is one way we can carry our practice peacefully into our daily lives and cultivate a personally relevant and lasting inner calm helping us each and every day well outside of any "martial" application.

First fall session for SF Rec and Parks!

We had our first fall session of Oni Kai Aikido for SF Rec and Parks down at Helen Wills yesterday. It looks to be a great venue and an enthusiastic bunch of kids. Everyone had a good time and they were all learning fast picking things up in a hurry.

Turning Aikido into play so it translates well for the very youngest students can be a challenge but when it takes hold it's an incredible thing to watch. The group for this class is all between 3 and 6 years old, so the focus is somewhat different and the fighting aspect of is hidden in congenial game play. At this age it's far more about body movement, cooperative exercise and organization than self defense. In many ways it's as true to the art as it gets and children often, as was demonstrated again yesterday, have a deep and intuitive understanding of how to move and adapt with very little guidance.

For our first class we worked on the simplest of things like bowing and sitting in seiza as well as tenkan and the early phases of falling safely. With children it can be helpful to use visualization tools such as imaginary balls or birds flying toward them so as to build the foundation skills without sending them home attempting to send their siblings and schoolmates sprawling. The martial applications become obvious with practice and they quickly figure out what they are doing but in a relatively soft and kind way. We even managed to sneak in an introduction to Japanese language that was happily received. These little folks will be learning an awful lot over the next several weeks!

Thanks to any of our Oni Kai Aikido parents our there as well as SF Rec and Parks for making it all possible!