“Chance favors only the prepared mind” - Louis Pasteur
The best Aikidoists leave nothing to chance.
In Aikido, we are supposed to be scanning for our opponent’s suki (隙) or “openings” and simultaneously hiding our own “weak points.” Weak points are used to gain advantage and hopefully the victory. Interestingly, the word suki can also mean “chance.” Thus, one can posit that chance needs some sort of opening.
This makes sense, up to a certain point, that chance is a function of preparedness. In Japanese, “attack preparedness” is kougekitaisei (攻撃態勢). If we are diligent in our preparations, then chance will go in our favor but if we are careless in our training then most likely chance will not. One definition of chance is “The occurrence and development of events in the absence of any obvious design.” Therefore, to the ardent Aikidoist, chance or its effect on the outcome is largely about effort.
In the dojo, students should be searching for incremental improvements in their techniques. With every mindful repetition of technique, a pattern should start to emerge. Some patterns are about what is working while others are about what is not. Those things that are not working enable us to “see” where we need to put in the work. With every wrinkle that we smooth out, we get closer and closer to perfection. Obviously, perfection is not attainable or sustainable but in striving for it, we close the gap on chance.
When I was a student, we weren’t allowed to hurry in the dojo. We weren’t allowed to do things in a hurried way like run in the dojo or throw things to each other. My first foray into this was on someone else’s behalf. During a black belt examination, Furuya Sensei asked the candidate to demonstrate tanto-tori or knife disarming techniques called for a tanto. At that moment, a black belt slid one across the mat. Sensei got mad and afterwards unleashed a diatribe on this guy. We all had to sit in seiza and listen to this lecture for what seemed like an hour. The gist of Sensei’s teardown was, as Martha Beck would say, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” He spoke about how we don’t run in the dojo or throw things because a moment of carelessness can cause damage, an accident, or an injury. He said something to the effect that when the time comes, it is hard to separate being a normal person from being a martial artist and that our sloppiness in the dojo would most likely carry over to carelessness on the street.
From Sensei’s teardown, I learned that rules of the dojo weren’t there to oppress me but were there to help me develop good habits. Learning those good habits could then be applied to everything in my life because it really is true that “how you do anything is how you do everything.”
Author James Clear said, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” The system is how we prepare ourselves. Without a doubt, chance can never be completely eliminated but it can be mitigated if we prepare ourselves ahead of time.
In Aikido and in life, we should try to use chance to our benefit. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Well begun is half done.” His wisdom indicates that if we prepare ourselves ahead of time, the chances of things going in our favor are much higher. Things will happen and we can never be 100% prepared but the more we apply ourselves in our training, the more likely the outcome is in our favor. A good Aikidoist understands this and does their best to leave nothing to chance.
Today’s goal: Apply yourself, leave nothing to chance.
Watch this video of former Delta Force Operator Brett Tucker talking about preparedness