Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on January 21, 2002.
One should never hide their vulnerability. Maybe this sounds very strange in a martial art because it is assumed that we are trying to be brave and strong at all times. Of course, we should be courageous in everything we do, but we must also understand that it is part of a human being’s original nature to be weak and vulnerable too. In our strength, humans can show what they can do, in their weakness, humans can show their own humanity as well. In our weakness, we can see how others are weak and how we need each other to get along in this world. In this case, it is better to be weak than to be strong. Ultimately, we should try to understand in our Aikido, and in life, how to be weak and strong at the very same time.
Photo: Furuya Sensei from the late 1980s with uke Douglas Firestone Sensei
Watch this pitch video for a TV show featuring Furuya Sensei that was never picked up.