Don't let your guard down even after the battle has been won.

かってからかぶとのおをしめよ.Katte kara kabuto no o wo shime yo. "After victory, tighten your helmet."

This weekend three students took and passed their various dan rank tests.  I am truly proud of how they performed and the preparations that it took to get them there.

As the teacher, testing gives me an opportunity to look at who the students are under pressure, but only time will tell who they really are as human beings.  Katte kara kabuto no o wo shime yo is an old Japanese proverb that Furuya Sensei was fond of which translates to "After victory, tighten your helmet."

It is so easy to rest on one's laurels especially after a victory.  In the martial arts, the greatest enemy is complacency.

There are two types of people born out of testing.  Those who think they have arrived and those who realize how little they know.  Both of these are the curse of achievement.

It is a curse because shortly thereafter both realize that where they find themselves is really just a flat spot just before the path becomes a bit steeper.

Passing the test pales in comparison to what we do after that and thus the caution to "tighten one's helmet" is apropos.

Within the Aikido system of ranking, the first rank is shodan and is written with the kanji 初 which means "beginner."  Thus, this character alludes to the fact that attaining shodan is just the beginning of one's journey in Aikido.  First and second degree are "merit" ranks, third and fourth are technical ranks and 5th and above are teaching ranks.  There is so much to learn at each stage no matter where we find ourselves.  Each of us is student and we would benefit tremendously if we can remember that.

The battle never ends so wherever we may find ourselves, we must vigilant and thus tighten our chin straps to be ready.

Please keep up the great work and prepare yourselves for the next journey.

What do you do when you think nobody's looking.

When we look at a long time practitioner of budo we see nothing. We see nothing because there is nothing to be seen.  A person of budo follows the way of budo for themselves.

True budo is nothing more than seeing a piece of paper on the floor, picking it up and disposing of it properly.  Nobody will ever see us do it and therefore nobody will ever know that we did - only we will know.  At budo's highest level, we perform the task without thought.  There, the path of budo is the path of "no-minded" integrity.  Furuya Sensei called it, "The place where the self disappears."

It is "no-minded" because we want to reach a level where we barely even know we are doing it.

Nobody will ever know what it is we do or for that matter what it is that we can do because it is hidden.  Only we will know and we alone have to live with it.

To follow the path of budo means that who we are is the same person regardless of who is watching or what the circumstance might be.  Therefore if we see a piece of paper on the ground, we must dispose of it properly and almost without thought.  If one has to think about it, it is not yet budo.

To think is to discriminate between right and wrong or how it helps us pay homage to our  egos.  That moment of discrimination is the gap between non-budo and budo.

Please do whatever it is you do just to do it without thought of recognition or reward - this is true budo.

If the bird doesn't sing...

What type of martial artist are you? There is a famous Japanese children's poem that children are taught to remember which can illustrate what type of martial artist we are:

鳴かぬなら、殺してしまえほととぎす: If a bird doesn't sing, kill it.

鳴かぬなら、鳴かして見せようほととぎす: If a bird doesn't sing, make it.

鳴かぬなら、鳴くまで待とうほととぎす: If a bird doesn't sing, wait for it.

This is a famous Zen parable about a fictional account of a Zen master asking the three most powerful warlords of the Sengoku or Warring states period (Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu) what they would do if a hototogisu or cuckoo didn't sing.  It was a parable which illustrates the character of each of these three different types of leaders.

Oda Nobunaga was known for his fierceness and cruelty and thus would answer, "Kill it."

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the most cunning and would therefore coyly say, "Make it."

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the most diplomatic and patient so he would most likely say, "Wait for it."

There is a saying in Japanese, "Oda Nobunaga makes the pie and Toyotomi Hideyoshi bakes it, but Tokugawa Ieyasu is the one who gets to eat it."

The evolution of every martial artist is much like the philosophies of these famous Japanese Daimyos.  Whichever Daimyo style we identify the most with depends on where we are in our development.

The beginner usually wants to "kill it", the intermediate person wants to "force it" but an expert is willing to "wait for it."

Which of these most resonates with you?

The five traits to becoming a better martial artist are the same to becoming a great chef

It is said, "All roads lead to the same place."  This implies that to become a master at something is the same to master all things.

In order to master a way, it is sometimes helpful to see something from a different vantage point.  Therefore it can be helpful to peek in on someone who is considered a master and see what makes them tick.  Hopefully seeing how they work somehow helps us in our endeavors.

In the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi,  the food critic Masahiro Yamamoto explains the five traits that master sushi chef Jiro Sukiyabashi has which makes him a great chef.  

The five traits that all shokunin or master craftsman have are:

"First, they take their work very seriously and consistently strive to perform at the highest level.

Second, they aspire to continually improve their skills. To be better today than yesterday. To be better tomorrow than today.

Third, cleanliness. If the restaurant doesn’t feel clean, the food isn’t going to taste good.

The fourth attribute is impatience. They are not prone to collaboration. They’re stubborn and insist on having things their own way.

What ties these attributes together is passion. That’s what makes a great chef."

It doesn't matter if you are serving sushi or practicing the martial arts.  Every serious practitioner has these same five traits.  These like every aspect of good manners or character cannot be taught, but can be learned.  First, we have to want to be better.  Next, we have to strive to be better.  Then lastly, we must execute.

For a martial artist, the five rules could be:

1) Be serious about what it is that you do. 2) Strive hard to improve yourself. 3) Be meticulous. 4) Be restless and always do your best. 5) Be passionate about whatever it is you do.

If we can embody these five traits into whatever it is we do, then we too can be a shokunin or master craftsman.

Nobody's perfect

猿も木から落ちる saru mo ki kara ochiru "Even monkeys fall out of trees."

We often think that we "should" be this way or that way.  The word "should" is about control.  When we engage in "shoulds", we give away our ability to control our own lives by choosing  what it is we want and we allow our choice to be governed by something or someone else.

Sometimes, the best thing that can happen to us is for someone to see us when we are most vulnerable.  Then, the cat is out the bag so to speak, and we can drop that false front that we all carry around.  When the jig is up we can relax because our so called worst fear has been realized and then we can take back the control of our lives.

Sometimes the best thing for us is the worst thing that can ever happened to us.

My favorite quote from the book, Tea Life, Tea Mind is:

Be rebuked Stand corrected and learn

Do you want to be great?  Then make some mistakes.  Relax, nobody's perfect.  Even monkeys sometimes fall from trees.

Gratefulness

Deepak Chopra once said, "Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom and the creativity of the universe." It is said that a happy life is rooted in gratefulness.  Gratefulness is probably on par with forgiveness as the two hardest concepts to not only understand but to practice as well.  They are both something which cannot be taught but one still can learn.  Here is an excellent TED talk about gratefulness by Catholic Benedict monk David Steindl-Rast.  I hope that it helps you keep the Mondays at bay and that it helps inspire you to your greatest height.

Please enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtBsl3j0YRQ

Flashback Friday: Pay attention

Flashback Friday: Please enjoy this article Furuya Sensei posted to his Yahoo group on September 23, 2004. In Aikido, one of the greatest skills to develop is to be able to think clearly and assess the situation without bias - this is essential to act correctly and do the right thing to protect one's self and others.  This is one reason why, in traditional martial arts, they continually talk about mushin or "no mind" which really means "unbiased mind" or "clear mind."  Today, we don't realize how important it is to think clearly.

When you ask a question, please think.  When I answer you, I think long and hard before I answer so that I can give people the best answer.  I look at everything from the standpoint of training.  I am not concerned with my popularity or the politics or what I can do to buy your favor.

As much as I consider my answer to you, you must consider the question you ask and what the answer means.   This is the simple basic, process of learning and education.

Just to ask me questions to satisfy a passing curiosity or to gossip does no one any good at all.

Some people ask me questions and I immediately realize that they have not been paying attention.

Endless discussion about this and that and how much of this really pertains to your practice?  How much of the questions you ask really will help you with your understanding of what you do during training?

Looking at how one handles their sword, we can immediately determine their skill before they even draw it.  When a student bows into the mat before practice, one can quickly tell where their mind is.  By the questions some people ask, one can immediately tell where this is going.

Please remember that this group as well as my Daily Message is an extension of my dojo and I am here to teach you Aikido.  Please pay attention, as you would in class. . . . Oops!  I shouldn't say that - Please pay good attention more than you usually do.  Pay attention like you are facing a lion (I am just a pussycat, really) who will leap and attack you if you make the wrong move!

Hahah!  Have a good day today!

Always assume you are being watched

A good martial artist always hides themselves. All warfare is based upon strategies of deception, misdirection and the element of surprise.  Our opponents can only defeat us if they are more prepared than us or are somehow aware of our intentions or tactics.

In the old days there was a lot of fighting going on.  Simultaneously, there was competition for students and people came to schools in order to defeat them to make a name for themselves.  When someone went to the school in either of these contexts, it was called dojo yaburi or to "break" the dojo.  If they defeated the teacher then they could take over the school or use that win to find a job.  The modern definition of the word yaburi means to escape, but in an older context it was defined as yaburitoru or "to break or rip in half."  A common occurrence after one won was to break the former teacher's kaban or sign in half.

Because someone might want to attack, a good warrior smartly never demonstrated their techniques in public and never drew attention to themselves.  A good rival studies their opponent's every move in order to gain an understanding of how to defeat them.  A good martial artist, therefore, always keeps themselves hidden.

Yesterday I posted a video of 27 different people being robbed on a street corner in Rio de Janeiro.  Most were minding their own business when they were robbed by these hoodlums who were just hanging out waiting for unsuspecting and distracted people to walk by.  When an easy mark walked by, they would snatch something like a necklace or a phone and run away.  The people who were are aware almost never got bothered.

Today, nobody comes to a dojo to "break" it, but this doesn't mean we can let our guard down.  No matter where we are, we can be attacked.  A good martial artist knows this and hides themselves because they never know who might be watching or who wants to attack them.  When we practice we are supposed to be aware of our surroundings so that we don't fall or hurt someone.  Likewise we are supposed to exercise this awareness as we go about our normal day.  A good martial artist is never surprised because they are always aware and thus always one step ahead.

One's actions define who they are

Warriors are supposed to be people of stature.  Who we are as martial artists is based upon how we live our lives.  What we say pales in comparison to what we do. The samurai of old were reputed to be people of high moral character and superior inner strength.  Stories of their will are the material that legends are made from.  This unwavering fortitude of character is referred to as shitsujitsu gouken (質実剛健) in Japanese.

Someone who lives their life by shitsujitsu gouken is someone who here in the US might be the "strong silent type."  What they do speaks volumes about who they are rather than who they say they are.

Warriors who live by shitsujitsu gouken firmly believe in the principles by which they live their lives and they are willing to go to any length to keep them intact.

Furuya Sensei used to say, "Always act as if your teacher is watching."  This statement helps remind people of lesser character or strength to act appropriately in hopes that someday they may become shitsujitsu gouken type people.

Who we are is defined by what we say, think and do.  When what we say, think and do is in alignment, we call that integrity.  To be in alignment with one's beliefs is the Way and warriors of old believed that they should let noting sway them from that path.

Who are we when nobody is looking?  Hopefully we have integrity and are living the way of the  shitsujitsu gouken type person.

We are not alone...

We are not alone...

Sounds like a sci-fi title or some tag line to a bad movie about aliens, but the fact of the matter is that we are not alone and nothing is ever achieved or accomplished alone.  It's wonderful to think that we alone score the winning goal, achieve enlightenment on our own or get good at Aikido alone, but the reality is that no matter what is done, accomplished or won, we had help.  I read an interesting article about a book coming out called the Powers of Two in which the author contends that everything that has ever been done was done as a partnership.  In the article the author was spending time refuting the idea of the lone genius.  The lone genius would be someone who came about as a result of solely their own efforts.  Of course this is not true because from the moment we are born we are nurtured, protected and fed by someone else.  Therefore we are never alone and we never get it done by ourselves.

Aikido is the same.  Everything we achieve and experience is done as a cooperative.  We only get good as a result of someone helping us.  In a a big way, people help us by taking our ukemi or because some other person teaches us.  In smaller terms, someone made the cotton which was then turned into the uniform that we then bought so that we could do Aikido.  Either way our experience of Aikido came as a result of cooperation.

Upon realizing that the world turns only because of this cooperation we can begin to learn gratefulness and compassion.  We are grateful because we need the cooperation, kindness and compassion of others just to exist let alone do Aikido.  We are compassionate because we realize that they sacrifice for our benefit.  This never ending cycle of gratefulness and compassion is what Aikido is all about.  O Sensei called it love.

There is an old Japanese proverb, "No road is too long in the company of friends."  Please remember that you are not alone and to be not only grateful for the sacrifice and kindness of others, but to be also compassionate to them as well.  This is what Aikido is all about.

"The more you know, the less you have to carry." - Mors Kochanski

Mors Kochanski, the famous Bushcraft survival expert once said, "The more you know, the less you have to carry. The less you know, the more you have to carry." When we are confronted, there is sometimes a lot going on so our minds can easily become  distracted.  With this confusion sometimes comes defeat.

The place that all warriors are striving towards is equanimity.  For lack of a better definition, equanimity is a fluid type of focus where our minds are sharp and aware but never stuck on one thing.  Training provides us with the opportunity to develop our physical skills which gives us a lot of options.  These options can sometimes bog us down and we sometimes fall prey to "option overload" and we freeze.  Over time we learn how to hone our minds and so the body might know many things, but the body only knows one - calmness.

Calmness is the harmony of one's thoughts which is called equanimity in Buddhism and the "non abiding" mind in swordsmanship.

Calmness comes from having faith in one's training and trust in one's teachers.  With this acceptance comes a sense of confidence in one's self and thus one can be calm.

How does one attain this "calmness"?  This can only be achieved with constant and consistent training.

Our bodies are our greatest asset, but our minds are our greatest weapon.  One cannot exist without the other.  Both require training.

Mors Kochanski's quote, "The more you know, the less you have to carry. The less you know, the more you have to carry." can be thought of as the reason why we need to constantly and consistently go to class.

What did you see?

Well, you learn something new everyday. Last night Karita Sensei and his son, Naoki, gave a lectured aimed to give us a better understanding of the Japanese sword.

Something that I didn't know was that some swords come with a kaeritsuno (返り角) which is a piece of carved horn that keeps the sword in the obi or belt (see arrow above).  Now why would they want that?  Karita Sensei said that after a samurai was done cutting their opponents down there would be a tremendous amount of blood on the sword.  When they re-sheathed the sword, the blood would dry and the sword would become stuck.  The kaeritsuno acted as an anchor that enabled the samurai to still draw the sword with one hand and break free of the dried blood.  He also said that how the kaeritsuno was designed and oriented can help you understand where and when the sword was made. Pretty ingenious.

It doesn't matter what we do or where we go, we can always learn something new.

Tonight Karita Sensei will be giving a free lecture on how to understand Balance and Axis' in the martial arts.

Henry Ford's popular admission “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right” can be apropos to tonight's lecture.  One could think, "Karita Sensei does Tai Chi, what does that have to do with Aikido?" and turn off one's mind to other possibilities.  Another way to think might be, "I wonder what I can learn from this that might help me shed light on what I am doing?"  With both mindsets, we are correct.

A good martial artists is supposed to be proficient reading the situation and then acting.  To be able to read a situation, one needs to be good at "seeing" things that a normal person wouldn't readily be able to notice. 

At tonight's lecture, pay attention to how Karita Sensei moves more than what he says.  Don't let the words get in the way.  Watch how he uses his center and how he generates power.  If we can't "see" these things then we need more training.  If we can see these things then a cacophony wealth will open up for us and we will be able to see something that just might help us in our own training.

Free lecture on How to Understand the Japanese Sword

Free Lecture tonight: How to Understand the Japanese Sword

"When you talk you are only repeating what you know; but when listen, you may Learn something new." - His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

Tonight, the dojo and the Furuya Foundation will host a free lecture by Naoji Karita Sensei who is a master Japanese sword polisher from Tokyo, Japan.

Karita Sensei is a second generation Japanese sword polisher and he will be sharing his wisdom and experience with us to help us understand the sword which is at the core of Aikido training.

A good student is one who has the openness and willingness to learn.  A clever student is someone who can differentiate between what is good to "steal" and disregard what is of no use.  To learn by stealing is called nusumi keiko (盗み稽古).  

Having the openness and willingness to learn is referred to as shoshin (初心) or the beginner’s mind in Buddhism.  Zen priest, Shunryu Suzuki, said, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few."  In training, and in life, we are striving to get back to this beginner's mind where the possibilities are limitless and our wonder and enthusiasm are inexhaustible.

A possibly fake but apropos quote from the Buddha is, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."  This means that when the student has the openness and willingness to learn then anyone and anything can become their teacher.  When we turn our nose at something, we run the risk of missing that nugget that can be ever so small which changes us forever.

To be open and willing enables us to see things from another's point of view and use it to our own advantage to improve ourselves.  To steal it and make it our own is nusumi keiko.

Tonight when Karita Sensei's is lecturing, please do your best to "stay awake" and be a good student and just maybe you can find a nugget or two to steal that helps you become the martial artist or person that you want to be.

This lecture is free and open to the public.  Everyone is invited to attend.

How to Understand the Japanese Sword 6:30 PM

1211 N. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Still pictures are allowed, but video or film are not.  Thank you for your understanding.

So which way does your toilet paper go?

失敗を繰り返すことで、成功に至る。 Shippai wo kurikaesu koto de, seikou ni itaru. "Repeated failures lead to success."

Somehow a good student of the martial arts always knows the right thing to do at the right time.

The other day a new student was cleaning the bathroom and asked me a question.  He said, "Sensei which direction do you want the roll of toilet paper to go?"  I replied, "I am sure there isn't a right way or wrong way, just put it in."

According to the patent application for toilet paper, the inventor intended the toilet paper to be "over" the top and not be dispensed from "under" the bottom.  I am sure now all my assistants will groan when I scold them for losing focus and putting in the toilet paper in backwards thanks to this diligent student.

As it turns out, like all things in the world of martial arts, there is a right way to do something even with something as benign as toilet paper.  The techniques in class are the same.  One can do anything they want, but in order to get good one needs to follow the way that the technique was intended to be performed.

Closely paying attention in class is a really important factor in getting good.  This high level of awareness enables the student to not only learn the "right" way to do something, but it also gives them the ability to be aware of what is "technically" right and what "works" in the moment (which are sometimes two different things).

How does one know what the right way is?  It is whatever way the teacher is teaching it in that moment.  Thus, teachers must then be aware enough of themselves to be professional in how they teach the class as well as what they teach too.

So which way does your toilet paper go?

Do you have "it"

Students are a fickle bunch.  We never know who has "it" and who doesn't.  Some that have strength don't have spirit.  Some with spirit don't have strength.  The pivotal factor is the person who has the desire and humility to become better.  Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on November 18, 2002 which succinctly sums up this idea of what I am talking about. One difference I see nowadays in the martial arts is that some students come into Aikido to confirm who they are. The other thing I see is that some students come into Aikido to confirm who they want to become.

From the standpoint of the teacher, such as myself, the latter is more desirable to teach. Today is all about the ego of "who" we are. Who can say this? We should realize that we are changing every moment, even as we speak. Traditional training is all about transformation and becoming - the essence and the bottom line of nature and life itself.

Although it is not a popular thing to say, I would like to say that you must learn the "form" of Aikido first. In other words, the proper etiquette and attitude of the dojo and the proper focus for training. I really don't teach outside of this and, in almost all cases, it is the only way to open the door for instruction.

I notice that students practice much like the drive cars. Some people drive in the direction they "think" is right and where they "think" they are going. Some people look and check where they are going and know exactly how to get there.

In Aikido, "how to get there" is clearly stated in every moment of our practice, yet there are some who rarely follow such clear advice.

When we have to say to ourselves, "shall I go this way or that way?" we are already heading in the wrong direction whichever way we turn. When the Path takes us beyond our intellect, we can only rely on the strong and unwavering faith that we have in the years we have invested in our training which is our true selves.

Ultimately, who would we rely on the most? A man of strong faith or a man of strong physical strength?

Be at least just a little bit skeptical

Nietzsche said, "Great intellects are skeptical."  Therefore in learning, a good martial artists is always at least 10% skeptical. Being skeptical or kaigiteki (懐疑的) enables a good martial artist to not only stay grounded but also to be a little bit curious.  This curiosity is what drives a martial artist to improve themselves as they try to prove their skepticism wrong.

Being too skeptical and not very accepting makes one too obstinate and thus this person becomes too hard to teach and finds improving difficult.

Being too accepting and not skeptical enough makes a person too mealy because they are too believing which makes them drop their guard and enables people to take advantage of them.

All warfare is based upon deception, misdirection and surprise.  Therefore in battle, a warrior is always trying to read their opponents in order to find the suki (隙) or openings.  This is why they need a bit of skepticism.  We are always simultaneously trying to shore up our suki and deceive our opponents into thinking they know our true intentions.  When the time is right and we have misdirected them, we strike!

Thus if we are too accepting or liberal in our judging/analyzing of our opponents then we run the risk of being deceived and will accidentally show our hands.

Closing up our gaps or weak spots is a process of elimination by experimentation.  In order to see our weak spots or suki, we need to be a little skeptical.  This skepticism keeps us grounded and enables us to stay ahead of our opponents.

A good martial artist is someone who is accepting to a point but is also a little bit skeptical too.

The Way is in seeing

Often times we get into trouble when we "think" things are one way when they really are another.

As martial artists we are straight forward people.  We mean what we say and we do what we say. This can sometimes make relationships difficult especially if the people in the relationship aren't being totally honest regardless if they are aware of it or no.

Relationships can sometimes be very difficult.  Hurt feelings and misunderstandings arise when we "think" our relationship with someone is one way, but they think it is something completely different.

If we want to have meaningful relationships then we must be honest.  This honesty is with not only ourselves as to who we are and what we want but also to be honest in the way we see people.

If this person continually hurts us and we do our best to rectify the situation by changing our behaviors and talking with them honestly then maybe it is time for us to down grade our relationship.

There are many levels of "friendship" just as there are many levels of what one calls "family."  The trick is to see things as they are not as we wish them to be.  The poet, George Santayana said, "Intelligence is quickness in seeing things as they are." 

As a martial artist, our ability to be successful lies in our ability to read the situation correctly and acting appropriately.  We don't have time or room for duplicity because duplicity only takes us off the path.

As martial artists, we must practice single-mindedness at all times so therefore we must be honest and see things as they are regardless of how painful it can be.

Choose to be better.

Another week starts and, like most of us, we haven't fully recovered from the previous one.

How does one choose one thing over another?  It comes down to what our priorities are and what we hope to achieve.

If our ultimate goal is to lose weight then the obvious choice is to not eat at McDonalds.

If we want to get good at a martial art like Aikido then the obvious choice is to go to class.

The hardest part is when we forget in that one moment what our goals are.  This is why experts recommend that we constantly review our goals throughout the day as a reminder and review them just before going to be and as soon as they wake up.  Reviewing them many times throughout the day enables us to remember and if we schedule it just right then it helps us stay on track.  Reviewing them in the morning and at night enables our goals to sink down into the subconscious layers of our minds where our goals can be put into play within our minds.

It is said to take 21 days to create a habit and 90 days to create a lifestyle.  This only works if one is "doing" it for those 21 or 90 days.  Any day missed can lead to one losing their way.  This is why it is important to review them regularly and in the morning and at night.  Our minds cannot differentiate between conscious action and sub-conscious thought.  Therefore if one is able to put time into just affirming the goals in their minds regularly and in the morning and at night then the 21 days are easy to arrive at.

Anything is achievable with action but just about impossible with inaction.  Don't wait.  Think about your goals regularly and choose to be better.

People aren't out to get you, they are just in it for themselves.

One of the saddest things about humans is our proclivity to choose ourselves over others.  Everyone does it to some degree or another.  It is just one of those things that is left over from a past time of scarcity and fear.

Martial artists are people of character and thus act accordingly.  We are people who choose the difficult paths in life.  One of those unbeaten paths is that of selflessness and compassion.  We put ourselves forth for the benefit of mankind, not to destroy it.

Furuya Sensei once wrote:

To show the proper spirit in regi-saho (etiquette) is a very difficult part of Aikido practice. This is only because we think of ourselves too much and not enough about others. Thinking of others, we learn how to appreciate their effort, but only thinking of ourselves then we never have time to care for others. We become selfish people and this is not Aikido at all. In fact, it is contrary to all Aikido principles.

Practice regi-saho in the dojo and learning to practice it with the proper mental attitude and spirit - maybe this will be the most difficult of all to learn - more difficult than the hardest throw or pin. Once you master it, then practice it in your daily life.

The weird circuitous logic is that when we focus on others, we actually get the benefit.  Fighting, ambition and competition is sometimes thought of as being part of our DNA.  This is contrary to the way of nature.  In nature, nothing struggles to happen and nobody takes more than they need.  Selfishness is man made and something that we could all do without.

Each and every one of us is to some degree selfish, but it is the martial artist who is aware of it and does their best to suppress it.  We choose to do something else and to be better than all the rest.  Sensei always used to say, "Act as if your teacher is watching" so that we would learn to be selfless and act like the people we are trying to become.

Don't give up!

ちりも積もれば山となるChiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru "Even specks of dust over time become mountains."

"Don't give up!"  This is probably the best advice that anyone has ever given me.

So many times when we come up against our own mountains we become disheartened or disenchanted.  This disillusionment can cause us to lose sight of the bigger picture which is that every one of us starts out as a beginner and with time, patience and determination we get better.

"Don't give up!" means seeing the entire road and not just its impediments.

There is a saying in budo, "Bushi to kogane wa kyukei shite mo kuchinu" which means that gold and warriors may rest but never decay.  As martial artists we fight battles everyday against apathy and contentment.

"Don't give up!" is the battle cry of the specks of dust which over time pile up to become mountains.

"Don't give up!" because the only way to get better at whatever we are doing is to keep going - no matter what.

I promise, you will get better as long as you keep going and never give up.