Transformative Martial Arts

Akuzawa Minoru’s (Ark) and his students clearly have a quality of strength that is unusual. They showed this clearly at their recent seminar and demonstrations in Paris.

Aunkai is relatively simple, and Ark has taken care to make what were considered ‘secret’ skills accessible. Still it is not easy to understand how the method works instantly. My appreciation of Aunkai has changed each of the times that I have trained with Ark, and I expect that will continue into the future.

Learning a method like Aunkai is like climbing a ladder. You need to start at the bottom, then progress sequentially. While each rung is much like the one below, the view changes as you climb. Whatis less obvious is that the first challenge is to find the ladder, and then to recognise the rungs!

Until I can do what Ark does I cannot give a perfect description of how he does it. But I can describe some of the bottom rungs of the ladder, as I have spent time and sweat to identify and explore them.

A summary of Aunkai

Aunkai is a collection of solo and partner exercises that are designed to develop power and movement for use in martial arts. Aunkai is not designed to train technique, but there are certain techniques that come naturally from the shapes and method of movement.

Aunkai develops power by building a kind of frame or connection in the body. It does this through the use of extension in the limbs, alignment of the spine and compression into the legs. During the exercises the body is taut like a pulled bow. The muscles are not deliberately tightened but tension results from the stretched nature of the postures. In application the body remains relaxed, but the connection or frame is still there.

I cannot say exactly what the frame consists of. However I can describe what sensations that I feel with the training, and the mental images that facilitate the exercises for me.

The exercises are designed to make the frame available from a range of positions that can be interpreted as or turned into fighting applications. However the intention is on keeping the qualities that develop the frame rather than any specific technique.

Requirements for training

Extension in the arms ties them in to the spine. To work this you need to extend through all your fingers. The spine itself is pulled up from the top, and pulled down from below. It feels as if the arms create a funnel that channels force down to the spine and torso. The spine itself has the sensation of being sucked into the pelvis, which acts like a basin catching the downwards flow of force, draining it down through the legs.

For this to happen the pelvis needs to be held in a way that it can catch the down flowing force. Hold the pelvis so that you can imagine it supports or lifts the hands. This will open the hips and quickly tire the thighs. Bending the legs makes maintaining the alignment of the hips/spine increasingly difficult, and increases the overall tension throughout the body.

The feeling of connection starts in the chest where the extension of the spine up and down combined with the stretching out of the hands gives the sensation of a cross of forces. With practise the sensation of the cross begins to spread out through the body, extending down to the hips and feet, as well as out towards the hands.

Related to the cross in the chest is the idea of maintaining force in six directions, up-down, forwards-back and left right. This helps you maintain balance in movement and the ability to change your shape or technique rapidly and easily. You can start to think of this within your spine, then out to the ends of your limbs. If you have a lot of intention pushing in one direction, make sure that you also have the intention to send an equal force in the other direction.

Throughout the movements even as the tips of the fingers stretch away from the body the intention is that force flows not out of the body, but can be accepted into the body without pushing back against it. This is what Ark and his student describe as ‘flip’ in thinking and perception – you do not try and develop you ability to push outwards, but accept inwards through maintaining correct body use.

There is a balance to the inward flow of force that can come from the sensation of the ground coming up through the body. While the connection comes from a tautness and extension, the feeling of the ground comes from relaxation. To get a sense of the ground coming up you need to have the idea of opening and giving your strength back to the ground. When you meet an external force in this way with your hand it feels almost as if the force bypasses your body entirely, and is instead met by the ground at the level of your hand (or a wall at the level of your hand).

If you maintain all the body requirements your thighs will burn and your body will sweat. You may also find your back, ribs, shoulders, forearms and lower legs tire out as well.

If you can hold a posture in a deep stance for two to three minutes you are doing well! Build up slowly, alternate the harder exercises with more relaxed ones so that you have some ‘rest’ and can increase the volume of your training.

Points of caution
Because of the intense nature of the practise I have found it can amplify my incorrect body usage. I have had problems in my neck, right shoulder and hip from forcing these exercises too much. Approach your practise intelligently. Even though it will be painful and tiring, the pain is no virtue in itself.

Keep thinking about alignment, and let go of unnecessary tension. Relax as much as possible, give up as much strength as possible while you keep the postural requirements. Pay attention to letting the chest relax downwards, and softening inside the hips/thighs. Do not go down too far into your stances, and keep the weight flowing through the centre rather than the front of the knees. Loosen up regularly between exercises. Monitor any aches that develop and get curious about what you are doing to create them – then change what you do.

Aunkai is a streamlined method, and it gets results quickly. It provides a new understanding of how to use the body, but this requires attention, care and practise.

You can find more information and ask questions At Ark’s site www.aunkai.net