“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” - Anonymous
The best martial artists care. The not-so-secret to success in the martial arts is to care. Nothing more, nothing less. Success comes to those who care enough to do a good job. In Japanese, kikubari (氣配り) or kokorogake (心掛け) both can mean “to care” but they also literally mean to put one’s “energy” or “heart” into something. An anonymous person once said, “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” To fall in a colloquial sense means “to be tricked” but in a martial arts sense, it means “to be cut down.” As a martial artist, everything we do must begin with care. If we care about the outcome, we must put care into its preparation or as Archilochus put it, “We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” If we care, then we will pour our energy (氣) or our heart (心) into it and eventually we will succeed. Care is one of those things like self-discipline or willpower which cannot be taught but can be learned - it is an internal thing. The more we train, the training somehow teaches us how to care just as it teaches us to also have self-discipline or willpower. Aikido is a very technical and precise martial art. Learning Aikido is kind of like learning the language of movement. Once our bodies learn the details of the language, it can flow just like in a conversation. However, to learn the details requires care and consideration on our part. James Redfield said, “Where attention goes energy flows; where intention goes energy flows.” Thus, to care begins with a choice. We must deliberately choose to want to care. This is a threshold that every student must come to on their own. When we make the choice to care, it opens up the doors to great things not only in Aikido but in life as well. Emily Dickinson once wrote, “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves.” Nothing great is achieved without care and consideration and that’s why the best martial arts always care.
Today’s goal: Remember, “We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.”
Watch this video to better understand caring