AIkido and Cancer

The daily jo staff katas and taiso undo now has helped me reach a point I can ride a bicycle again!

been eating the old dojo breakfast sardines! Forgot how much I like them!

My legs and hip strength are flowing, even while on full chemo I am finding that exercise is helping me.

Today I used the principle of funakogi undo to move a heavy deep freeze alone. Instead of muscleing I extended my ki through my hips and slid into the deepfreeze with leading hip and allowed that to move it. Hips then shoulders movement- using the arms to just steer.

It worked very well for me.

As I use AIkido to strnegthen my bidy and help me center myself, my work is like this:

I am on treatment 3 of FOLFOX chemo-

SO my balance is off and I am weak.

So I focus on the big toe and leg exercises. I do about 15 minutes 4 five times a day- staff kata, maybe a sword kata, then udefuri chiyaku undo, funakoge undo, tenkan undo and then I hold the door frame and lift up on my toes 20 times each.

This has been really improving my quality of life. When 2 weeks I could not walk.

Its been while since I could train again. But today I was able to work on big toe strength! Breathing, being centered, and being positive.

I have drafted my 16 yo son as a training partner. Basically So I will not be alone if I have any problems. So today I made two walking / jo staffs and I got some walking in and practiced one jo / staff form. It left me a little tired but feeling good. My chemo pump did not get in the way at all.

The biggest problem was trying to find rubber feet for the staffs as I am going to use it as a daily walking aid. Started running out of energy. But rested drink fluid and energy came back pretty quickly.

I chose to use post hole digger hickory handles to make my staffs from, as the local big box stores carried no hardwoods above 3/4" or 1" rounds. It also saves me alot of sanding etc. Added the rubber feet to one end, and leather wrist thong to the other end. This is not traditional for aikido jo staff- but I need a walking aid as much as a exercise staff. And I think this is a better choice.

I made two of them so I can do matched training with a partner.

Now I can rest and eat dinner.

Link to the handle:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/True-Temper-48-in-Post-Hole-Digger-Replacement-Handle-2038100/100605596

link to the rubber feet:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-1-4-in-Off-White-Rubber-Leg-Tips-2-per-Pack-49223/203661034

You put the rubber cap on the end without the holes. That becomes your staff bottom. Then you add a thong or rope thru the 4 holes at top as a wrist thong so if you fall your staff doesnt roll off and you can use it to get back up.

Also a jo staff should only be about chest level so you can rest your hands on top when standing. About 48" to 54" long.

Today I have been watching videos of jo staff katas or forms. Refreshing my memory and seeing which ones look best for my needs.

In my dojo's we were jo staff centered, We had a lot of full contact (with armor of course) including multiple opponents and grappling allowed.

So our kata were always based and tested against actual use of the jo in resisting opponents.

Even though I am going to be using my jo for development of good health, I do not like practicing or promoting fru fru staff twirling and ignorant usage. As I watched all these videos this morning I noticed most schools were using Saito Sensei's 31 count kata which is a good solid kata. But not video I saw actually showed any understanding of why the movements were in the kata or what they were doing. They did not know the difference between practicing throws, strikes, and entanglements or even where their center and their vision should be. They had memorized good reproduction of the foot work. BUT very poor reproduction of hand and eye application, nor hip usage. As a result they translated a kata based on a 3rd parts throwing, striking, and entanglement into a almost purely percussion or striking kata and even then striking with the jo like it was a katana. A jo does not move like a katana, and a katana does not cut well with a jo strike.

So I went back and watched videos of Ueshiba perfoming jo kata. His were very basic and useful- long sweeping strokes to clear away a mob, followed with tight staccato thrusts to eliminate individuals to close. I did not find any of the modern dojo teaching Ueshiba's katas, nor any of the Aikijujutsu kata, nor any of the Japanese riot police jo kata (which they still use btw).

This doesnt mean that that the modern aiki jo kata are useless- no by all means they are beautful and can be wonderful exercise, but their application has been lost.

I will as my health allows try and post one or two jo kata that are solid in historical application and tested against live full contact resistance so that not only will exercise and beauty be portrayed but solid self defense (against animal or man) is used.

Today is my first chemo. I have a terrific fear of needles. So before coming inside I took a few moments to walk and practice misogi- breathing. Being sure to let my eyes see the trees flowers clouds creek and insects as I felt the cool wind and the warm sunshine. I filled my lungs deeply and let my mind calm.

Aiki walking is a mobile form of meditation. It times your steps and arm movements to your breathing. It is practiced in two stages, stage 1 you breathe out as you step and breathe in between steps.

Stage 2 you try and step 2 to 4 steps per each deep breath. Breathing in as deeply as you can and breathing out slowly.

So this I did for about 10 minutes and found myself feeling nice.

When I came inside the tray full of needles it would normally unnerved me. But because I had centered my mind I was able to keep my mental balance.

So now that I am on the chemo feed I can relax and be centered. To just be, breathe, and rest.

My philosophy of Aikido.

We master the sword to master the mind.

We master the mind, to subdue our flesh.

We master the flesh, to be pleasing to God and helpful to man.

****

The most important thing is to breathe. Everything else arises from breath.

"Let us make man in our image," and God breathed life into Adam.

Breathing is is the golden key to mastering emotion and programming the mind. An undisciplined mind is ruled by fear and base impulses. Happiness and peace is found when we can overrule our destructive fears and reason clearly.

Exercise 1: Breathe from your Hara.

Your hara is the center pint above your navel, between your hips. All Asian martial arts are mindful of the hara or centerpoint. So is Aikido and Taichi especially which focus on breathing from your hara, and moving from your hara.

So for now lets try this:

Sit comfortably and breathe in using your belly- expand your belly and draw breath in thru your nose deeply for 4 seconds and then exhale thru your mouth by contracting your belly for 6 seconds. Just think about the breathing nothing else.

Okay now lift your palms up to your face as your breathe in- move them slowly, and then as you breathe out lower back down turning them palm down.

Try this exercise with about ten to twenty repetitions.

The purpose of this page is to share my struggle with cancer and how I use Aikido to help me cope. This page welcomes anyone interested in Aikido, Aiki principles in living with and fighting cancer.

MY bio: I am a 50 yo, and I have been practicing Aikido since 1978, I have been teaching since 1989. I lost two of my Sensei to cancer in the early 2000's.

I currently am diagnosed with stage 3b colorectal cancer. I have other serious health issues as well that Aikido has helped me control.

When I was a young man I pursued Aikido / Aikijujitsu as combat and self defense arts. I found the principles worked very well to enhance karate, judo, and boxing skills. So the thrill for me was throwing and being thrown on the Aikido matts. I am also experienced in judo, karate, taichi, kenjutsu, jojutsu, and shurikenjutsu as well as European sword play and American Boxing. Taichi I found blends into Aikido seamlessly and only enhances my health.

In 2005, 2 years after I closed my last live in dojo I developed Sepsis in my lower right leg and nearly died. Amputation was discussed. Instead I used aiki taiso undo (aikido exercises) and saved my legs. Though I eventually lost the ability to walk for almost a decade and my weight skyrocketed to almost 500lbs!

I since have lost over 160 lbs.

Though I was able to still teach Aikido off and on till 2015.

In 2015 another sepsis event occurred and I was again unable to walk much until 2018. I quietly practised my aikido during my lunch hours building my lung, heart, and leg strength.

Little did I know that I had cancer. In Nov 2019 I passed two pints of blood and passed out. In June I had 24" of my colon removed, 27 lymph nodes removed, 2 tumors removed. I have a chemo port a catheter inserted in my chesl and I am doing chemo.

After my colon surgery in the hospital I practised Aikido before the great windows on the 5th floor over looking the parking lot.

It was then I decided to create this page- to share with others how aikido can improve their lives and battle with cancer. So I am looking at this from a good health perspective.