Paul Rest is a 2nd degree black belt in aikido. He has been training for fifteen years. His teacher is Richard Strozzi-Heckler who is the founder and head teacher at Two Rock Aikido in Petaluma. Paul has written numerous articles about his experiences in aikido and low impact aikido, and is currently working on a handbook about his low impact program.

A Low Impact Martial Arts Program

A group of us, all aikido black belts in our late 50’s and early to middle 60’s, were in our local microbrewery one summer evening after class discussing our aches and pains. We had had our share of injuries over the years (on and off the mat)): Steven, broken fingers; David, a severe shoulder injury; me, a broken ankle; others there that night had had numerous strains, pulled muscles, burses and assorted dings the body gets hit with when training in a martial art. All of us had trained through our injuries when possible. And even off the mat, we hurried back on as soon as we were able (and sometimes before).

The joke that night over our pints was that we would eventually be doing “walker aikido,” moving our walkers around the mat trying to do something martial looking with each. Of course, our plans were to keep training as long we our bodies held up. We all knew aikido, even with the emphasis on the use of energy (or ki), was tough on bodies with all the falling and rolling. We had seen many students drop out just because their bodies couldn’t take it anymore. And those dropping out were not just older students. They included students of all ages- from early twenties on up to those in their late sixties and early seventies. “My body just can’t take it anymore,” was the most common statement.

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Three years ago, when I began developing a low impact aikido program, I discovered that by modifying how a traditional aikido class was taught, there might be a way for those who can no longer take a full impact class to continue their martial arts training. The classes I taught changed some parts of a traditional class outright and adapted other parts to the level of the students being taught, all the while leaving the martial edge intact. For example, in low impact classes all rolling and falling are eliminated. Students train together and break balance, moving as they are able and as their bodies allow. That is, students with limited mobility can self-adapt with their training partners. This allows for a full experience of the potential of the various techniques without having to have a roll or fall.

Leaning to move together

The classes can be taught on a mat or a hard wood floor. Although I decided to wear my hakama, I made wearing a doji optional for those attending classes. Most students choose to train in comfortable street clothes. All classes begin with a formal bow in and proceed to warming up. The warm up time can include the traditional movements we use in aikido: the rowing exercise, extensions focused on energy, two stepping as well as walking and turning (which involve moving around the mat in a centered, purposeful way, then stopping and moving in a new direction…this might also be viewed as variation of a slow moving randori). Or, the warm up period can include stationary hip and arm movements, both of which can be done standing or on the mat/floor, or both. Class instruction can center on things I’ve observed in previous classes; answering questions from students and then demonstrating techniques that align themselves to these questions; or by adapting to the students in a class at that particular class. If those present have had prior martial arts training, I would probably teach a more advanced class dealing with strikes and punches. If the class had more beginners, there would be more focus on blending, turning and learning how to move off the line and on moving self and partner with energy. Those classes that have a mixed group of students present might have as an emphasis on a combination of blending techniques with standing pins using the wrist, fingers or elbow. All classes close with a formal bow out and a circle. The circle is where students can ask questions and raise any concerns or issues. I found the circle a great opportunity for me to get immediate feed back on how the class went and if the students were “getting it.”

Moving partner off the line

As I taught my classes, former students with prior martial arts experience began attending. Their stories were basically the same: their bodies could no longer take the rough and tumble world of full impact classes. Some had not trained for years. I had one middle aged women in a class I taught in Marin County, California who was a brown belt when she left aikido due to injuries. She had not been “on the mat” for eighteen years. As we trained, ever once in a while a technique that was still in her body would spontaneously show up. I’d remind her of the name of the technique which she would then vaguely remember with a smile on her face. We’d then adapt it so a throw wasn’t necessary. Another student, in his sixties, had a military background and had previously taken Tae Kwon Do for years. Between his knees giving out and a subsequent gain in weight, he had given up on his martial arts training. The low impact program offered him an opportunity to continue his love of martial arts. After a year of classes, he surprised everyone by becoming so excited about his new mobility that he began training at a local aikido dojo and at the age of sixty-six took and passed his 5th kyu test last month.

Moving from center

Over the years, I’ve observed that those taking the classes who have had prior martial arts training gain increased mobility. They also find and regain their martial form. For older students, the classes give them a renewed confidence in their ability to move and a grounded sense of martial focus when out in the world. Recently, one student and her husband (both in their late 50’s) were light heartedly sparing when he reached for her. A moment later he found himself in a wrist pin. After class later that week, she exclaimed to me, “It just happened!” This is not the first time I have had reports come back to me with similar stories. And those with broken bodies can develop some additional movement that was lost due to their injury. A teenage student at another class had brain damage from an accident where the car he was in rolled over. He eventually was able to use his left hand (which had very limited mobility) to move his training partner by initially extending energetically and then slowly by moving his arm and hand forward- inches more than he had been able to move before. Over the course of a summer, he gained an increased range of motion in his hand and arm and became a full participant in the classes he attended.

Martial Edge Meet Richard Strozzi Hecker Martial Edge is pleased to be in conversation with martial artists and leadership expert Richard Strozzi-Heckler. From a fully working horse ranch north of San Fransisco, California, the Strozzi Institute offers courses in leadership that incorporates many martial arts principles. Richard has recently been working closely with NATO in Afghanistan where he has been helping to train the Afghan national army in martial arts.

My experience has been that the basic form of a low impact class can adapted to other martial arts as well as aikido. It presents an opportunity for those of us in the martial arts community to offer a way back to those who have dropped out and stopped their training due to injuries or age. It also opens the door to those interested in exploring a martial art and allows them to enter this arena even with limits on their physical abilities. There is a learning curve here for both teachers and students: for the teacher in adapting their martial training to a new way of expressing it and for the student an opportunity to bring a martial discipline into their lives that they thought was no longer available to them.

Author Profile: Paul Rest

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teach at Tenchi Aikido in Sebastopol, CA (www.tenchiaikido.com). I teach both a low impact class (Aikido for Everyone) and a weapons class. I also spread the word of Aikido.

Also by Paul Rest:

• Will You Still Train With Me When Im Sixty Four

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Keywords : Paul Rest, Aikido, Richard Strozzi Heckler, Two Rock Aikido, martial arts, martial arts for elderly, martial arts for older people, martial arts teaching,

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