sees and experiences aikido mainly through the teaching of physical discipline and practice of the techniques. Most dojos and senseis permit very little, if any, talking while practicing and training. This type of introspection may need to be part of the personal study and journey of the aikido student. Two of the most common obstacles to optimal performance are fear and anger. One creates fear by negative internal fantasies about what might happen. Fear is strong enough to create an avoidance reaction, but usually only brings into one's experience everything that one is afraid of and trying to avoid.
Peak performers in sports and athletics demonstrate an absorption in the activity facilitated by a detachment from conscious awareness of their performance. The athlete feels a sense of ecstasy, a sense of personal power, an altered perception of time, and a sense of unity. "Peak experiences" have a high level of joy or ecstasy, feeling transpersonal and mystical, a sense of passivity, a feeling of unity and fusion, a loss of self, spontaneity, and a feeling of peak power. "Peak performances" demonstrate superior behavior, a high level of performance, a clear absorbed focus, a strong sense of self, and a sense of fulfillment with intended action but spontaneous performance. Most do not necessarily consider it playful.
The optimal arousal level refers to an inverted-u theory in which too little or too much arousal produces a decline in performance. Therefore, for optimal performance, the arousal level must be neither too much nor too little. Too little often leads to a lack of motivation or drive. Too much arousal tends to overwhelm. One need is to know that moderate zone where one is "psyched up" but not "psyched out."
The flow state (CSIKSZENTMIHALYI 1990 and JACKSON & CSIKSZENTMIHALYI 1999) characterizes a challenging activity requiring skill and a merging of action and awareness. The flow state has clear goals and feedback. The athlete concentrates on the task and the possibility of control, and experiences a loss of self-consciousness and a transformation of time. Athletes report the flow as fun, enjoyable, a loss of ego, playful, a feeling of control, a loss of time and space, and an intrinsic motivation. The athletes balance the challenge of the skill to allow themselves to feel neither too much anxiety nor too much relaxation, leading to boredom. Athletes learn to overcome inertia and get moving by facing down failure and by moving beyond their comfort zone by believing in their skill and ability. The flow creates an absorption in the task that transcends normal awareness, allowing the athletes to forget themselves, to let the competitors worry about themselves, to accept the environment as a given, and to focus on the process at hand. This flow of awareness results in a loss of a sense of clock time and any sense of effort. The flow uses winning only as a guidepost from which to set clear and specific goals that will enhance motivation and enjoyment. The flow emphasizes feedback from the kinesthetic (feel) sense of awareness and outcome information from the athletes themselves, the coaching staff, teammates, the opposition, and spectators. The flow focuses awareness in the present since the past is gone and leads nowhere and the future is still under construction. Total immersion in the present requires the ability to refocus, to use task goals, to keep things simple, to plan for the competition, to make backup plans, and to practice concentration that will direct attention. The flow only controls what is controllable by finding the optimal control level, recognizing the controllable, setting the stage, and choosing responses. Above all, the flow is fun.
The zone describes a transcendent experience in sports (MURPHY 1978 AND 1995). The zone has mystical sensations of acute well-being, peace, calm, stillness, detachment, freedom, floating, flying, weightlessness, ecstasy, power and control, being in the present, instinctive action and surrender, mystery and awe, a feeling of immortality, and unity. The zone alters perceptions of size and field, time, extrasensory perceptions, out-of-body experiences, and an awareness of a spiritual other. The zone facilitates extraordinary feats of exceptional energy, overcoming invisible barriers, and fosters an extension of energy, psychokinesis, or mind over matter. Sports and athletic performances evoke this spiritual zone through the physical and mental demands of the activities, the sacredness of time and space, and sustained and focused attention. An athlete in the zone has a sense of detachment from the results and demonstrates a dedication to the creative and integrative powers for the exploration of human limits. The zone has the ability to command long-term commitment to express a perennial philosophy of a fundamental spiritual reality that is a provisional reality of the ordinary world. The zone facilitates the need for discipline, for the knowing and expressing of a deeper perfection, an essential ecstasy, knowledge of and by identity, a rich inner world, and a knowledge and acceptance of the subtle energy body. Elements of a mind/body training program to facilitate the zone would include meditation, biofeedback, visualization and mental practice, inner seeing beyond simple visualization, dreaming, sensory and kinesthetic awareness, and the development of Ki, or the energy body.
Athletic programs that facilitate peak performances, the flow, and the zone, all have several things in common. The first is the centering of the athlete's attention and total awareness in the present task. The second is the use of repetitive rhythmic routine and training. The third is to trust one's training to the point where conscious control and thought are removed.
It can easily be seen that training with honest intensity and intent in aikido will produce peak flow and zone performances or what one might call takemusuaiki, the spontaneous and creative execution of aikido.
ETIQUETTE TRAINING
Everything in aikido begins and ends with etiquette and respect, essential parts of the continuous practice of aikido. Etiquette and respect should find natural expression in all one does. The essence of aikido is to unite "with the universes energy (ki) and to follow the dynamic flow of nature." (UESHIBA, K. 2004, P. 24).
This should be the basic principle in the mind of every practitioner. There are not a lot of formal rules of etiquette in aikido because by following the principles of nature all people will behave respectfully and with the highest good for all in mind. This represents the very positive, even optimistic, point of view of aikido.
HUMBLE CONFIDENCE, RESPECT, AND LOVING PROTECTION FOR OTHERS
In the beginning, students know that they do not know much about aikido. As they progress in training, they will often believe that they know quite a bit. Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, students of aikido come to know that they do not know and enjoy the idea that they will never know most of aikido. The advanced student accepts the lifelong learning process that keeps them actively engaged in training.
In the beginning, students look to the instructor to teach them all the aikido they need to know. Eventually, students of aikido accept that their instructor can only point the way. The path taken by advanced students is completely their own responsibility. The instructor can point the way and teach them the basics, but as for the finer points of the art, the advanced students of any martial art learn to depend more on their own drive to learn and to train.
In the beginning, one will either lack confidence or be overconfident. Aikido is difficult to learn. As one progresses in training, one has some sense of both confidence and humility. Eventually, the student of aikido maintains humility yet has attained a sufficient level of technical and conceptual skill to have something to be humble about.
In the beginning, one can seldom apply the technical skills of aikido in a structured training context. As one progresses in training, one gains technical application within a predetermined routine. Eventually, the student of aikido can apply the technical and conceptual aspects of aikido in spontaneous contexts.
In the beginning, one learns the basic techniques of self-defense. Eventually, the student of aikido is able to apply the concepts of aikido in his or her martial intent as a way of war but also as a way of life, as a way of peace.
In the beginning, one seldom has self-appreciation. As one progresses in training, one begins to appreciate him or herself and all others. Eventually, with consistent and persistent training, the student of aikido develops a deep appreciation and respect both for the self and for all others. The development
