Yaki-tachi wo saya ni osamete, masumasu masurao no kokoro wo togarikeri.
Keep your tempered sword in its scabbard - first polish a heart of courage.
- Old Samurai maxim
More than mere self-defense, the martial arts teach us to have self-restraint. Some might wonder if hand to hand combat has any place in modern warfare or in the modern world. Josef Stalin once said, “The artillery is a god of modern war.” What he was referring to is that in warfare, “Range is the king.” The farther we are from our opponent while still being able to inflict damage or death upon them without sustaining any damage ourselves is the best possible scenario in any conflict. So the hierarchy goes: fist, knife, sword, spear, bow, gun, artillery and nuclear bomb. If the martial arts or hand to hand combat is so ineffective with its mere six feet of range, then why practice it in modern warfare? The reason is because there is no better way to develop one’s self than through martial arts training. Through training we are able to access our sokojikara (底力) or “Our hidden reserve of strength.” This strength is what we will rely upon when find ourselves up against something that is seemingly insurmountable. Training forges things like self-discipline, perseverance, and confidence to name just a few but most of all we learn how to become better human beings. Furuya Sensei once wrote, “Through training, strive, commit, persevere, endure, overcome, be patient, honest, open, humble, seek and achieve - this is what makes Aikido the great art that it is and this puts the final polish on all of us as human beings.” After a certain amount of training and experience, we come to realize the futility in not only hand to hand combat but in fighting as a whole. With this realization, we come to understand why O’Sensei advocated for non-violence. O’Sensei knew that our true inner strength comes not from being able to dispatch someone but in having the power to resist the temptation to. Thus, our real sokojikara is in having the ability to restrain ourselves especially when someone is trying to hurt us.
Today’s goal: Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. How can you show restraint today?
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