Complimentary Aspects of Yoga and Aikido

- Dan Penrod, March 2007
Thanks to edits by Carol Gonzalez

The original meaning of the word yoga, in sanskrit (yuj), means to join.  The word has the same derivation as our English word yoke.  It encapsulates a set of ideas, including; unification, to join, to be in relation to, to enter into, or to merge into.  Each of these subtly different ideas is represented by the concept of the word yoga.

Interestingly the word AI, as in ai.ki.do, has the same meaning.  Our aikido practice teaches us to unify ourselves with our attacker in order to neutralize the attack, resulting in the resolution of the conflict.

Yoga’s roots come from India and the Hindu religion from thousands of years ago.  Aikido’s roots are based Japan’s long history of feudal martial arts and the Shinto faith.   While these two physical disciplines have a long history of their native religions being intermingled into their practice, it’s important to point out the yoga and aikido are not religions nor do they require or ask of the student to practice any particular religious belief system.

Yoga and aikido share certain goals and practices including;

The origin of most Asian martial arts is generally agreed to be the Shaolin Temple of Hunan Province of China.  The Japanese jujutsu arts as well as karate, by way of Okinawan, find their source in China, in the old forms of Shaolin gung fu (kung fu).  In 1922, Japanese karate founder and historian, Gichin Funakoshi, published one of the first books on Okinawan karate and it’s history, titled Kyohan.  In this book he documents the roots of karate and their origins in India.

About fourteen hundred years ago, in the 6^th century AD, Bhoddidharma (Dharuma), a Buddhist monk and the founder of Zen Buddhism, traveled several thousand miles, crossing the Himalayas from India to the Hunan Province, China.  He traveled and gave lectures on Buddhism and later taught a physical health system there in Hunan Province, in the Shaolin temple.  Since Bhoddidharma was a member of the warrior caste, historians believe that this physical health system was a form of yoga combined with a native Indian martial art known as kalarippayat.

Dharuma found that the discipline of his Buddhism, which involved meditating for long hours, was too exhausting for the weak and under-nourished temple monks.  “Although the way of Buddha is preached for the soul, the body and the soul are inseparable.  As I look now, I think it is likely you will not complete your training because of your exhaustion.  For this reason, I shall give you a method by which you can develop your physical strength enough to enable yourselves to attain the essence of the way of Buddha.”  The discipline he set forth at that time was referred to as Ekkin Kyu or Ekkin Sutra.  The monks trained in this form and became spiritually and physically strong.  The monks were renowned throughout China for their courage and fortitude.

This physical system is considered to be the progenitor of shorin-ji kempo, Okinawa Te, and the early grappling arts that became the jujutsu of the samurai class.  The 17^th century Okinawans who were subjugated by the Japanese developed their Okinawa Te from the Chinese sailors and merchants who were trained in forms shaolin gung fu.  These Okinawan warriors practiced zazen meditation, to discover a state of self-realization and awareness, similar to the state referred to as samadhi in yoga meditation .  It was a practice of moving the center, attaining a relaxed state while under pressure, and extending spiritual energy, chi, ki or prana. 

In this context we see that yoga and martial arts have been practiced together for several thousand years.  Also, we can see that whether the religious backdrop was Hindu, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, or Shinto, these physical disciplines have transcended the religions that transported them across the vast expanse of Asia.  Today, people of all religions practice both yoga and aikido.

In modern day aikido we practice zen-like principles that focus on intuitive action and de-emphasize the intellect, that allow us function in our world without becoming grid-locked in analysis, judging, and evaluating processes.  Similarly yoga encourages this release of the intellectual mind that tends to constantly over-strive in daily life.  Aikido and yoga both focus on the process of being in the moment over doing and achieving.  This mental process of letting go can be extremely beneficial in this modern world that presses us to relentlessly achieve results and provides an antithesis to the stress and anxiety of modern life.

I remember one time I was in a yoga class and the instructor was leading us into a pose that I found very difficult.  My muscles were crying out, my body was shaking, and I could feel an anxiety and tension creep over my body.  The instructor said to relax the face and to feel the cheeks and jaw relax.  As I did this I could feel my muscles quiet and my body became still.  By creating a face that says I'm comfortable and in control, my body was enabled to behave accordingly.

When I watch the great aikido shihans performing randori, (multiple attackers) and, like a dance, they gracefully move their bodies around the mat like a child's spirograph, continuously throwing their partners effortlessly, I'm always most amazed when I look into their face... look into their eyes.  They reflect pure calm in the center of the storm, without a trace of tension or effort.

In aikido, the dojo is a place of enlightenment, a place where the Aikidoka comes face to face with his or her fear, anxiety or aggression.  Through partner practice we come to understand ourselves more fully.  In yoga, although the practice is essentially solo, we again come in contact with our anxiety and limitations and it is here on the yoga mat that we learn to release ourselves from those internal physical and emotional constraints.  In both disciplines the goal is to stretch and train the body and spirit while releasing worldly tensions.

Practicing yoga asanas can improve strength and flexibility in your aikido.  Aikido can improve self-confidence in a physically and mentally aggressive world with tangible yet subtle forms of power.  Both arts provide complimentary healing benefits that increase strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance in movement.   And both arts provide a stage on which we can temper and release both the fear and the aggressions that we encounter on our daily path of physical and spiritual development.