How can you tell if you’re moving from your center?

There is a very clear sign that tells you whether you are on the right track: when you move from your center, everything unnecessary begins to disappear. You stop using excessive strength in your shoulders, your legs no longer rush, and your hands relax. In Japan, people often speak about the hara, the lower abdominal area, simply because this is where balance, direction, and power can be organized most effectively. There is no need to overcomplicate it; you can feel it immediately. If you have to tense up, lean over, or end up fighting against your own body to make a technique work, then something has fallen out of place. By contrast, when the movement originates from that lower center, everything flows: the posture naturally aligns itself and the power is transmitted cleanly, without interference.

You can also feel this in contact with another person. When the center is leading, there is no need to push or constantly make corrections as you move. Your body enters in a stable way and transmits direction naturally. Have you ever had one of those moments when a technique worked incredibly easily and you were not even sure why? Most likely, your center was there. And when you try to compensate with your arms for something your body is not properly supporting? That is one of the clearest signs that you have become disconnected. The center is not a pose for a photograph; it is the foundation that puts every part of the body in its proper place.

That is why, in practice, it helps to pay attention to concrete things: can you move without your shoulders rising? Can you turn without holding your breath? Can you enter without losing your structure because you are rushing? That is the kind of observation that truly matters in Aikidō. Moving from the center is not just a nice phrase to repeat in class; it is a much more efficient, stable, and honest way of using the body. And when you achieve it, it shows.

Gabriel Benítez©