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YORK SUNDAY NEWS  Throwing Curves Spiritual and physical, the power of
aikido is in
Dispatch/Sunday News Aikido is Keith Engle's passion, his path. It has informed, he says, every part of his life and how he conducts himself as a parent, as a teacher, as a human. Still, he cannot quite define it. "The way that can be told is not the eternal way," Engle says solemnly. "The name that can be named is not the eternal name." This is a concept that might not make sense at first. It might sound like mystical vagueness. That lack of definition, Engle says, is an indication of the very depth of aikido, a martial art known for its series of joint locks and throws, for the way it redirects energy rather than using brute force. "Aikido is about understanding the nature of power. It's about controlling yourself, not other people. It's becoming aware of the power you already have," says Engle, 31, a computer programmer and analyst from Dallastown. He is also a sensei, or teacher, of aikido, at his own school, or dojo, in Red Lion. Aikido makes more sense the more one knows about it, he says. But you may never learn all of it. And that constant urge to learn, to improve, to grow -- that's the spark. Next week, Engle embarks on the next stage of his path, a trip to Akita, Japan, for the World Games. Sponsored by the International World Games Association, the games, which take place Aug. 16-26, are an Olympics-style sports competition in aikido, jujitsu, roller skating, archery and more. Engle's participation will be primarily as a student, as some of the practice's great teachers will be present. He believes he is the only American participating in aikido, although he said it's not because "of anything special about me. I had planned to go to Japan anyway, and I thought 'These are people I want to study with.'" Aikido is listed as a demonstration sport rather than a demonstration, which is fine with Engle, since he doesn't consider aikido a sport, anyway. What he does consider aikido is another matter. The ultimate truths of aikido, Engle believes, one has to discover for oneself. Here are a few. Aikido Truth 1: Aikido is where you least expect it. In this case, it's at Susquehanna Aikido on Red Lion's Charles Lane. Charles Lane is more of an alley, and it's easy to miss, as is Susquehanna Aikido. It's tucked on the second floor of a pink building, above what used to be Signature Beauty Academy, a name still partly visible under a rental sign. Here, Engle teaches aikido to the curious and the converted, three times a week. In his day job, he's a computer software programmer. But in the dojo, in front of what appears to be a wooden shrine, he is the sensei, or teacher. Engle met aikido 10 years ago. He practiced tae kwon do while growing up in upstate New York. After moving to York in 1989, he began looking for a martial art to study and happened upon aikido in Towson, Md. It became addictive -- "I started riding my motorcycle to Baltimore four or five times a week, in the rain, in the snow," he says.
One of the attractive things about aikido for Engle is its control -- "It makes it so you can't move, no matter how you want to," he says. "It's an extremely natural movement in an unnatural situation. You probably don't spend very much time with people trying to kill you." Engle, like his students, likes how aikido provides a defensive tactic without damaging the opponent. When he and his teacher in Towson parted ways, he founded his own dojo at Gymnastics of York, even though, he admits, "I wasn't ready to be a teacher." Aikido Truth No. 2: The sensei is also the student. Before the World Games, Engle will visit the World Headquarters Dojo in Tokyo and spend four days at a Buddhist monastery in Kyoto. Throughout his trip, he will be meeting and studying with some of the world's best teachers. "What I'm looking to get out of it is sweat. It's like if you're a journalist, and you have access to Pulitzer Prize-winning teachers every single day," he says. When he and his former teacher, whom he declines to name, parted ways, Engle went to Chicago and, along with some fellow teachers, asked to be recognized by Shihan Fumio Toyoda, who until his death in July was the president and chief instructor of the Aikido Association of America. Engle says it took a lot of persistence and a grueling four-day test in Chicago to earn Toyoda's recognition, as several other students of his former teacher had been recognized and then not progressed with aikido. "He didn't really take me seriously or trust me to stick around," he says. "He really wore me down." However, Engle passed the test, and studied with Toyoda twice. He was looking forward to traveling to Chicago again, until the death of Toyoda, who had suffered from kidney disease. "That's my biggest disappointment in his death," Engle says. "I wanted to train with him again." Aikido Truth No. 3: It's strong, and beautiful. Four barefoot men in billowing white, with with belts of various colors, stand under the low light of white paper lanterns, face Engle, and bow. The men tumble in succession around a white mat, their bodies following the same fluid pattern regardless of weight or size. There is a fluidity to it, graceful but with an inherent control and strength. Student Micah Yohe stands in front of Engle, bows, then with almost balletic motion grabs for the sensei's collar. Engle responds effortlessly, stepping back and gently but decisively sweeping Yohe around behind him, then flat on the mat. "This," he says, pointing to Yohe's arm, "is not the problem." He points to Yohe's head: "This is." "The arm is just where the attack happens to be coming from. Because the primary badness is coming from here," he says, pointing to the student's knee, which is in prime position to nail Engle's groin. "Or it could be from the guy behind me I don't even know about," he says. Engle lets Yohe go. Student and sensei bow. The student takes his place with the others. The sensei begins to teach again. Aikido Truth No. 4: It's not a religion, but it is spiritual. The shrine in the dojo is called a kamiza, literally "god seat." Engle said that while some teachers in Japan may have been followers of the Shinto religion, there's no required religion necessary to practice. There is an altar called the doko noma, which Engle describes as "a fireplace mantel, where you display things that are important, like the picture of O Sensei." It also bears Japanese script for "aikido" and a clear glass vase of flowers, "a reminder that there is life out there," Engle says. The students begin each class by bowing, but "they're not worshipping the doko noma. It's a hunk of wood," he says. "What is there to worship? When we bow, it's in respect and gratitude to (O Sensei) for what went into forming aikido." Aikido, Engle says, "is compatible with any religion. Any religion is about love. My practice of Christianity, in a large part, is from what I've learned in aikido." Aikido Truth No. 5: The spiritual part is really key. Western culture has always borrowed bits and pieces of other cultures to suit certain needs. Many fitness trends, like Tae Bo and power yoga, are examples. While aikido is one heck of a workout, thinking of it only physically is missing the point, Engle says. "That's watering it down. If it becomes a mere physical practice it's not as useful," he says. Aikido Truth No. 6: Steven Seagal was actually on to something. Seagal, the star of such martial arts flicks as "Hard To Kill," "Under Siege" and "Above The Law," is actually a seventh-degree black belt in aikido. Although his movies tend to be violent, Engle said there are some aspects of aikido found in all of them. The need to avoid violence whenever possible, however, isn't one. "The movie-going audience doesn't want to see aikido," he says, citing as an example "On Deadly Ground," in which Seagal tries to save the Alaskan wilderness from evil oil companies. The need to respect nature is very aikido. Killing evil oil executives is not. "(People) want to hear 'Don't spoil the environment. Let's blow up some stuff,'" Engle says. Ironically, "Under Siege," the Seagal movie that critics seemed to hate the least, was "his worst movie for aikido. 'Above The Law' really shows off his skill," Engle said. "But he's better in real life than in the movies. His spirit doesn't come out in the movies." However, those who know what Seagal is really about understand that spirit: "If you have the information, you know it's not about kicking butt," Engle says. "It's not about being a movie star." Aikido Truth No. 7: It is about being a better parent. As aikido has helped Engle understand that the path he is on as a practitioner is eternal, it's helped him form a similar view of raising his six-year-old son, Alex. "It helps me maintain a long-term view. It helps me learn to choose my battles," Engle said. "It's simply the ability to become aware of the power you already have. I don't have to give control of myself over to my son." For instance, in the grand scheme of things "is it really important that all of the cheese sauce mix goes into the bowl? Ten years from now that won't matter," he reasons. And remembering things like that make him more patient with Alex, who lives with the divorced Engle. "It encourages you to take a good look at yourself," he said. "There comes a point which demands that a look at who you are. How you think largely affects how you behave." Aikido Truth No. 8: The way may take you somewhere you never imagined. The bumper sticker on Engle's car reads "Got Fire?" Well, Engle does, on either end of a chain that he is spinning above his head, in his backyard, after an aikido class. "Watch," he says, whipping the now bright chain over his head, the "whoosh" punching the summer night. "The sound is the first thing I noticed," he says. Apparently, aikido friends introduced him to the art of fire spinning, a skill he has now performed several times at various events. He has set himself on fire once but he's being more careful. While Engle was lead to fire spinning through aikido, his attraction to it is a little more concrete. "It's really neat," he says. Aikido Truth No. 9: He's never done. Learning aikido is frustrating, Engle acknowledges, involving so many moves, so much to concentrate on. Still, some students want to master aikido all at once, he says. For those people, he has a story of an aikido teacher whom he first saw on a videotape made in the 1970s. "I was blown away. I thought 'I wanna be that good,'" Engle says. "Then I saw a video of him made in the mid-1980s, and I realized that he was better. After 30 years of practicing, he still had room to improve." And by the time Engle trained with that teacher in 1994 and got "thrown around, he was better. And I was so relieved. I remember thinking -- 'I'll never be done. Aikido will always have something to offer me.'" After all, the way that is worth following is the one that is eternal.
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