Why do we have to practice our Aikido so slowly all the gosh-darned time?

Why do we have to practice our Aikido so slowly all the gosh-darned time?
by Heather Gawlick
 
Slooooower...  Slooooower...  Slooooower...
 
But, sensei, it's not as much fun!
 
Slooooower...  Slooooower...  Slooooower...
 
Awwwwwhhhhhh...  Maaaaaaaan!
 
This conversation repeats itself every class.
 
I chuckle as my students complain.  Sure, it's tons of fun to go fast.  I totally get it.  While there are certainly times when valuable lessons occur at high speeds, the majority of class should be performed slowly. 
 
The most obvious reason is safety.  We have a stellar track record for our lack of injuries, and we would like to keep it that way.  When partners work slowly, they have a chance to let each other out of a potential danger prior to it becoming a terminal problem with damaging consequences.
 
Another practical reason is it is simply not nice to exhaust your partner.  People like taking a few big falls sometimes for fun, but most people don't want to spend the entire hour and a half going full force and wearing themselves out.  If you are constantly going full speed, your partner is going to resent being worn out from throws and sore from cranking down on joint locks too often.  No one will want to work with you if they are always worried about becoming injured or being exhausted.
 
There is also the problem of working faster than your brain can keep up with all the data being thrown its way.  When you always work at fast speeds, you simply cannot observe all the details and intricacies of all the movements.  The subtleties get lost in the blur of movement.  When you slow down, you start to realize all the tiny corrections needing to be made in your motions and the off-balance points (or lack thereof) in your partner.  This is critical for advancing your understanding of the art.  Aikido is all about off-balance and subtle movements.  Miss those, and you miss 90% of Aikido.
 
When you practice slowly, you become more sensitive to the nuances in your own body and in your partner's.  When my students complain I'm not teaching them how to do randori at a super high level (you know who you are!), I tell them they need to practice slower so they can feel what's going on.  When I watch super high-ranked players do Aikido, what sets them apart from the rest of the crowd is they are able to feel super subtle movements both in themselves and in others.  The only way I know how to learn that skill is to spend many, many mat hours going very slowly.  That is when the magic finally starts to happen.  People I see who always work hard and fast never seem to make that next leap into the land of magic.
 
So, yes, it is lots of fun to go fast and hard.  It is even a good idea to learn what happens to your Aikido when you do.  But, in my opinion, if you want to learn the real 'voodoo,' you have to slow it down a few notches in your regular practice.
 
Slooooower...  Slooooower...  Slooooower...
 
No.  I mean slower than that.  Slower than Tai Chi speed.
 
Slooooower...  Slooooower...  Slooooower...
 
Now, you're talking!