| "May the Force be With You", was the recurring | | | | "guide" or force out this water through your extended |
| mantra in the Star Wars classic, "A New Hope". This | | | | arm as if to put out an imaginary fire on a distant wall. |
| movie began with, Obi Wan Kenobi telling Luke that the | | | | This exercise illustrates that the arm can be made |
| Force is an energy field and the source of their power. | | | | more difficult to bend than trying to hold it straight with |
| I imagine Ki (pronounced key) to be similar in the | | | | conscious strength. |
| respect that it is also energy that flows through us. It is | | | | A fire hose, when not full of water, is quite flexible (in |
| also the source of power in our Aikido techniques, | | | | fact it is readied for use by folding it on a fire truck). |
| which goes beyond what we can muster consciously. | | | | This changes drastically when the hose is "charged" |
| We have heard many stories of people generating | | | | with water from a hydrant, because it becomes so |
| unbelievable strength in survival situations, such as a | | | | stiff that it will not collapse even if a car is driven over |
| woman lifting a heavy object to free her pinned child. If | | | | it. A video of the unbendable arm is demonstrated by |
| the same lady were asked to do this in a "normal" | | | | Master Koichi Tohei on YouTube ( |
| situation, she would find it quite impossible. When Ki | | | | Overcoming an attack is easy if you are bigger, and |
| extension is taught in some Aikido schools, it is done in | | | | stronger than your opponent, but much more difficult if |
| an effort to begin to harness this untapped resource. | | | | you are on the one that is smaller or weaker. This is |
| Aikido practitioners believe that Ki energy originates in | | | | frequently the disadvantage that women face when |
| our One Point, which is our center of gravity. Aikido | | | | confronted by a male even if they are of |
| techniques focus on harmonization or blending with and | | | | approximately the same height and weight because |
| then redirecting this energy to neutralize an attack. | | | | the male normally will have greater upper body |
| The "unbendable arm" is one of the ways we attempt | | | | strength. Harnessing the power of ki extension can |
| to illustrate the power of ki extension. If one stands | | | | help someone with a size and/or strength |
| with One Point (in a balanced or centered posture) | | | | disadvantage, which is why women tend to internalize |
| with an arm extended and imagines that this center is | | | | these principles earlier than men. |
| the reservoir for a vast ocean of water, the mind can | | | | |