Over the past nine months we have all become very familiar with the term social distancing. We use it to describe the distance we need to keep from others to avoid catching Covid-19, but its original use was to describe the variety of distances that we keep with and from other people. In aikido too, social distancing is important, and our present heightened awareness of it may help our future practise.
Aikidoka have always been aware of distance - or mai. This is the space you need to leave between yourself and an opponent, so that they need to move towards you to make an attack. In other words to move into your personal space. This is the point where we need to move offline to either a) leg it (technical term!) or b) prepare for a technique.
There is also another social distance or space. Private space. This is the one that, thanks to Alan, we know as 'granny space', the space in which you hug your granny. Your private space should be sacrosanct. Yet many aikidoka try and control an opponent by pulling them into this private space. As Alan said "It's where you hug your granny." So no attacker should be allowed in. After all, at the moment few grannies are getting the hugs they need. So why should a nasty person be there?
So, if we think about the social distancing we need at the moment, perhaps it will help our aikido practise - whenever that may be!
Margaret Thompson
