Sho-menuchi Swing-i-yo: Baseball and Aikido

The MLB Playoffs are finally here!  (And have been since last week, but whatever I've been busy.)  After a grueling six months of regular season play, we've narrowed it down to seven of the best of the best teams.  I haven't been covering the playoffs because it's taking all my energy just to stay up to date with the proceedings myself, while simultaneously trying to manage my "real life" activities.  But there are plenty of reputable press outlets devoting more resources to the story than I could ever hope to achieve on my own.

As it happens, one of my "real life" activities is playing softball, which is very similar to baseball in most respects.  So seeing as how this is a great opportunity to combine the two subjects in the title of this blog (Baseball and Life for those with short-term memories), I'd like to share some thoughts I had while reflecting on my time taking BP at the batting cages last night.  They involve my swing and how I can potentially improve it using the precepts of another one of my real life activities: Aikido.  These two activities dovetail nicely - both involve physicality, can be meditative in nature, and contribute to overall self-betterment.

Here are four ways in which my brief studies in Aikido have informed the work in progress that is my baseball swing.  And although I won't get a chance to try out these findings any time soon, since tonight's game has been postponed due to torrential rain in Los Angeles, I will be sure to keep my loyal readers up to date as far as my softball performance in future games.


- Stance

The Aikido stance (Hanmi posture) has you stand with feet shoulder width apart, one foot slightly in front of the other, with your weight spread evenly between your two feet.  (Further, the weight on each foot should be evenly distributed between all four corners of the foot: each side of the ball and each side of the heel.)  I know some batters like to start with their weight all the way back in preparation for a tremendous leg kick, but I personally feel more comfortable when I'm fully balanced.  And since pitch reaction time isn't so important in slow-pitch softball (where I more often find myself having to slow down my approach due to the large amount of time it takes the ball to reach the plate), having my weight evenly distributed allows me to really settle in comfortably and wait till the perfect moment to start my swing.

- Bat Position

When performing technique in Aikido, there should always be a straight line between your center of gravity and your hands (see the picture at right).  Even before actively trying to apply Aikido to baseball, I would hold the bat with my arms oriented such (rather than tucking the elbows in or holding the wrists up by my ears), as I felt it put my arms in the best position to generate power.

- Menuchi

But since it doesn't make sense to hold a bat as low as the O-Sensei holds his sword (pictured above), we have to combine the basic principle of establishing a line emanating from the center of gravity with another basic technique.  Menuchi is the main technique in Aikido for protecting the head against a straight or downward strike.  It involves raising the hands quickly but smoothly while shifting weight forward slightly.  It can also be performed with a sword, most notably a wooden practice sword, which is similar to a bat in most respects.  While the weight distribution and orientation of how the body is facing differs from how it's used in Aikido, using the Menuchi motion in the batter's box helps by reminding me of how the arms should be positioned and by putting the hands and arms in a more action-oriented position.

- Stride

When warming up in Aikido, one of the exercises we frequently do is to take "laps" back and forth across the dojo floor.  We take these laps step by step in a very specific manner: move the front foot forward while remaining planted on the back foot, then as soon as you plant the front foot, move the back foot forward proportionally, and reestablish balance.  You are supposed to emulate the feeling of gliding across the floor rather than pushing off from the back foot.  The strategy of making an Aikido-style stride - rather than doing a big leg kick or double-tap with my front foot and planting it firmly down during the swing - allows me to actually move forward, through the ball, as I swing, generating more power and producing a more even, smooth swing in general.

...at least theoretically.  As I mentioned, I thought up with this stuff hours after taking about 15 minutes' worth of swings at the batting cages (in the same way as an actor always thinks up the perfect line reading on the way out of the audition or a comic thinks up the perfect joke after losing the improv cage match), so I wasn't able to put this theory into practice.  But the form is sound and time-tested by generations of Aikido practitioners in Japan, and the Japenese love Baseball!