One Step Further

三倍努力
San bai no do ryoku
To triple one's effort

The best martial artists are always striving to go one step further.

The one step further is a mindset which is dedicated to something called kaizen (改善) or “continuous Improvement.” Author James Clear wrote about continuous improvement in his book Atomic Habits where defined it as “a dedication to making small changes and improvements every day, with the expectation that those small improvements will add up to something significant.” In his book, Clear stated that “If you get one percent better each day for one year, you'll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.” Judo legend, Masahiko Kimura advocated this kaizen mindset in something he called, san bai no do ryoku (三倍努力) or “To triple one's effort.” He said, “If my opponents train twice as hard then I will train three times as hard.” For beginners, the one step further mindset is physical as they strive for a deeper irimi, a stronger tenshin, more reps, or further technical improvements. Later on in one’s training, the improvements become more mental and pertain to things outside of training on the mat. For instance, how my assistants prepare and set up this weekend’s O’Sensei memorial service will demonstrate their true level of training. The one step further mindset demonstrates to others who we really are or where we really are in our training. When we face off with an opponent, it is the littlest things which give away our true level. If we are willing to go the extra mile for something as benign as preparing or setting up a memorial service, then more than likely we also put that same diligence into our Aikido training. Therefore, we can see a person’s true level or their true character in “how” they do whatever it is that they do or as Martha Beck once said, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” Everything we do in the dojo is a practice run for real life. I’m not talking about hitting, kicking, or throwing people down. In the dojo, we are cultivating a mindset. One aspect of our mindset is to always strive to go one step further in everything that we do. A person who strives for a high level will have to push themselves further and that’s why the best martial artists are always striving to go one step further.

Today’s goal: Figure out how or where you can strive to go one step further.

Throwback Thursday - Start With Stupid!

Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on June 23, 2005.

Start With Stupid! I know what you are thinking, “What a horrible thing to say!” Everyone hates this word, “stupid.”

However, as bad as it sounds, this is the best place to start. Always start with "stupid." Do not take "stupid" in such a negative way but take it positively. If we start with “stupid," we can leave behind all pride, ego, stubbornness, selfishness, and greed and begin our practice with a clean slate with nothing at all to worry about. From the word, "stupid," we have nothing to defend or protect, we have nothing to stand up for, we have no care or worries in the world, we are free to do anything we like! Like cleaning the slate, it is the perfect place from which to begin.

Some students come to class with their own strong, self-image - "I am smart" or “I am better than others," or “I am great," and then spend all of their time trying to defend or conceal whatever their notion of themselves is rather than actually buckling down and learn what they need to learn and practice and be their real, true selves!

Often, in Japanese, they tell someone who is having difficulty making progress or at a standstill in their work, to "baka ni nare” or “to be a fool!" This means, "to stop thinking too much or "over thinking" (kangae-sugi) something and begin with a fresh start.

When we become a fool, we have no cares in the world and are free to do what we need to do without all of the heavy baggage of pride and ego.

Many, many years ago a great Karate teacher and good friend came up to me and said, "Hey, look at my feet!” I looked down and saw that he had on one red sock and one blue sock. He looked at me and started to laugh out loud. "Don't you think that is the funniest thing ever?" he asked. I smiled and thought to myself, "It's kind of stupid, what is wrong with him?"

He confessed to me, "I have to be so serious as a teacher every day, it is so nice to be stupid and do stupid things!" I understood this feeling perfectly. It is so hard to live up to my own standards when I think I am so smart and better than others, to be a fool - how wonderful and free of care!

We always think that "stupid" is a reflection on our tremendous, burdensome image of ourselves, not realizing that "stupid" is often the easiest, quickest way to freedom.

Watch Furuya Sensei demonstrate in 1990.

Be Patient

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” - Sun Tzu

The best warriors are always patient. Having the ability to be patient is often the difference between winning and losing. Patience is defined as “being able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.” When the Japanese talk about patience they either use nin (忍) or gaman (我慢) which both mean to have “patience, endurance perseverance or self-restraint.” In combat, being patient is about self-restraint which means knowing when to strike and when to retreat. Sun Tzu once wrote, “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” If we are patient and attack when the moment is right, then there is a high likelihood that we will be victorious. If we are impatient or impetuous, then we run the risk of attacking when the time is not opportune and we will most likely fail. In the dojo, being patient is about learning to persevere through the ups and the downs of training where we have to be patient with how fast (or seemingly slow) we develop. Just yesterday, someone much wiser than me reminded me that, “training is a marathon and not a sprint.” Most of us want to develop as fast as possible, but true skill is only born out of consistency and constancy and that requires the patience to persevere. With patience, we circuitously learn to have tact and deftness. Furuya Sensei once wrote, “In Japanese, there is a word, ‘sunao na’ which means to be ‘gentle.' Be gentle in our outlook and try to see what the teacher is trying to teach us. Sometimes, understanding does not come immediately and may take days, weeks and even many years before it comes to us. This is what it means to be ‘gentle’ and have a little patience.” This gentleness is one of the greatest gifts that comes out of training because it teaches us to have the humility of the student which dictates that we are all on the journey of self-discovery and so we should always be kind, gentle and patient. Ian MacLaren said, “Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle.” In Aikido and in life, being patient is the difference between winning and losing and that is why the best warriors are always patient.  

Today’s goal: How can you be patient with others or yourself today? 

Watch this video to better understand patience

Move Forward

臨兵闘者皆陣列在前
Rin pyo to sha kai jin retsu zai zen
The bravest warrior excels at the front of the battlefield. 

The best warriors always move forward. Zenshin (前進) is the Japanese word used when talking about moving forward on the battlefield. In Aikido, moving forward toward our opponent is referred to as irimi (入り身). A number of years ago, a famous Aikido teacher visited our dojo and watched class. After class, he admonished me by saying, “Your Aikido is too aggressive and relies too heavily on irimi.” From what I gather, because he didn’t have any other sagely wisdom, he was insinuating that irimi was a form of aggression or violence. He is not wrong on a certain level, but Aikido is about balance and one can think of irimi as yang and tenshin and tenkan as yin or that they are two side of the same coin, and one cannot exist without the other. The movements of Aikido are weapon based movements. So, if we think about it from the standpoint of swordsmanship, irimi must be learned first. Prior to the 16th century, swordsmanship was primarily irimi based but in the mid 1500s, Yagyu Munetoshi, the founder of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, developed muto (無刀) or “no sword” techniques.  He was considered genius or enlightened because he was able to incorporate tenkan and tenshin movements and use them to disarm a person with a sword. Before that time, it was unheard of person to irimi on a swordsman empty-handed let alone tenkan or tenshin. In my opinion, people learning Aikido need to be able to have a balance between irimi style movements which can be thought of as “aggressive” and tenkan/tenshin movements which some think are more “peaceful.” Furuya Sensei referred to this balance as, “Saikan Kobai” [sic] or “the elegant apricot flower and the strong plum blossom.” He said, “To focus too much on war makes us rough and crude while the emphasis on too much beauty makes us weak.” Thus, in Aikido and in life, we have to learn how to move forward (irimi) before we can learn to yield or draw back (tenkan/tenshin). Training in the martial arts gives us confidence in ourselves to move forward toward that which confront us and it is why the bravest warriors move forward and excel at the front of the battlefield. 

Today’s goal: Figure out what in life you need to move forward on?

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Non-violence

“The Art of Peace is the principle of nonresistance. Because it is nonresistant, it is victorious from the beginning. Those with evil intentions or contentious thoughts are instantly vanquished. The Art of Peace is invincible because it contends with nothing.” - Morihei Ueshiba

The true goal of martial arts training is non-violence or “hiboryoku” (非暴力). This statement seems like a paradox. The other day, a friend asked the question, “Does Aikido encourage violence?” The short answer is no. My friend is a mediation student, so I tried to explain it to him from the standpoint of meditation. In meditation, one thing that we are trying to strive towards is mushin (無心) which literal translation means “no mind.” Erroneously, some misunderstand mushin as a state where we are trying to not think or the absence of thought. I don’t think that this understanding is true because what we are trying to achieve in mediation is equanimity or learning how to not hold on to our thoughts. This same misunderstanding happens in martial arts as we think that non-violence means the absence of anything violent. Violence/aggression is a primal tendency and so we cannot eradicate it from our minds. Understanding this, in Aikido we are learning equanimity where we are not that we are trying to suppress violence but how to manage our violent tendencies. From the standpoint of violence, any form of resistance or retribution on any level, mental or physical, can be considered violent. Thus, in Aikido, we are trying to learn how to better deal with situations which previously could only be solved with violence. What Aikido is trying to do is to teach us how to manage our desire to deal out violence when attacked. In Aikido, we learn how to move with the attacker to ensure our safety and theirs. We are all capable of violence and hurting others, but it is only the trained and learned person who can put a limit on the violence. Physical movement is just physical movement, but it becomes violent with our intention. Therefore, violence is really about intention and so we try to not engage in violence but also try to have the intention to not be violent as well. The situation might be violent, but our intention is compassion rather than destruction. Digging a hole to plant a tree is virtuous but to the insect who got crushed it is violence. No matter how hard we train, we can never be completely devoid of violence. Thus, the goal of training, like mediation, is equanimity where we do not hold on to the desire to be violent or act on that desire. That is why the true goal of training is not to learn how to be violent but to learn how to manage the violence which arises inside of us.  

Today’s goal: Try to understand in what ways you engage in violence with not only others but with yourself as well. Be kind!

Watch this video of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to better understand non-violence.

Face Your Fears

A true warrior faces their fears. In the Empire Strikes Back, Luke is instructed to go into the Cave of Evil on Dagobah. Yoda says, “That place is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go.” Luke Skywalker asks,”What's in there?” Yoda replies, “Only what you take with you.” Every day we are confronted by illusions which are created by our own fears. In the past, fear helped primitive people to survive because it prevented them from eating strange berries or venturing into dark caves. Fear has a way of creating illusions in our minds which tell us a story which may or may not be true. These illusions or stories keep us from experiencing our lives in a way that fulfills us or makes us happy. In Japanese, an illusion is “kinomayoi” (氣の迷い) or more literally that our “ki (氣) has been tricked.” Nowadays, we are more learned than our primal ancestors and we can use fear in our favor. For the most part, fear is just showing us which direction to go towards or as Marcus Aurelius is famously quoted as saying, “The obstacle is the way.” In training, with every roll, technique or throw, we are learning to face our fears and dispel those illusions which are holding us back. First it’s joining a dojo, then it’s rolling, next it’s stronger opponents or difficult techniques. Then, at some point, we realize that the only thing which is really holding us back is the “fear” that we created in our minds or the story that we have given into which is not the reality at all. The reality is that nothing is really all that bad and that most things are surmountable with practice. Once we get good at confronting that which confronts us in the dojo, we take that courage and focus its lens on other aspects of our lives. This is how training becomes a positive influence on our lives and makes every aspect better. Buddhist monk, Ryokan said, "When you have a problem, face it; when you are sick, face it; when death stalks you, face it.” The only way to know if something is an illusion in our minds or not is to face it. Fear is the way toward change and that’s why a true warrior faces their fears. 

Today’s goal: “Don't shrink. Don't puff up. Stand your sacred ground.” - Author Brene Brown

Watch this video to better understand standing up to your fears

Mountains

No matter how the wind howls, the mountain will not bow to it. - Chinese proverb

All warriors love mountains. From a martial arts standpoint, mountains (山) are a symbol of strength and courage, but mountains can also represent difficulty or challenge. Every day, and maybe even every moment of our lives, we find ourselves confronted by a mountain or a challenge. Training teaches us that we can either perceive these mountains as being blockades which are preventing us from being successful or we can see climbing them as the building blocks to our greatness. Therefore, mountains are all about perspective. A person who studies a martial art doesn’t see mountains or challenges as being negative. They see everything from the positive perspective of the journey of mastery where mountains are merely a test of our mastery or a lesson toward it. Some days, the mountain can be just making it to the dojo where just getting there seems like a herculean feat. On other days, the mountain can be just making it through class. Regardless of the mountain which confronts us, it is all relative as every person is challenged by their own mountain and each of us is struggling with ours. Only after we have overcome our mountain do we realize that they were only mountains in our minds. Diplomat Dag Hammerskjold said, “Never measure the height of a mountain until you reach the top. Then you will see how low it was.” With every mountain we surmount, we build strength and gain courage and thus in doing so become a mountain ourselves. On the meaning of life, Dostoyevsky once wrote, “To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart—that’s what life is all about, that’s its task.” Mountains, or the challenges they represent, help us understand ourselves and teach us the meaning of life and that is why all warriors love mountains.

Today’s goal: Every day, there is going to be some wind blowing. Be a mountain; don’t let it get to you.

Watch this video to better understand how the obstacle is the Way.

April Fools

騙されないで
Damasarenai de
Don’t get fooled

Don’t be an shigatsubaka (四月馬鹿) or an “April fool.” In T.S. Elliot’s The Waste Land, he opens the poem with, “April is the cruelest month.” April is supposed to be about renewal as crops are planted, flowers bloom and the snow begins to melt. In a “waste land” everything seems dead and none of these renewals are happening. A fool is defined as “a person who acts unwisely or imprudently.” Thus, an April fool is someone who doesn’t see the robustness of life which is happening all around them and therefore takes life for granted. Training in the martial arts is supposed to teach us about mujo (無常) or “impermanence.” As a warrior learns how to hurt or kill, they inadvertently learn how to live. They learn how to “live” by realizing the futility of violence and the reality that we are all going to die and so they try to make use of every moment of their lives. Martial arts training can seem quite foolish because most of us train for an eventuality which may never happen. Regardless, if an opportunity arises or not, we still have to approach our training with a sense of seriousness. Being serious gives us an edge and it is with this edge that we can come to realize the tenuousness of life and learn how to live and not foolishly waste our lives. There is a Japanese proverb: bakahashinanakyanaoranai (馬鹿は死ななきゃ治らない) which means “stupidity can only be cured by death.” The death we are talking about in a martial arts sense is the death of our egos. This is why in training we are supposed to “kill our egos” so we don’t take life for granted. Today, being the first of April, resign yourself to not be fooled into thinking that you are not good enough, that your life is worthless or that it has no meaning. Your life is very much not a wasteland and is full of purpose and meaning if you could only realize it as such. Don’t be an April fool! 

Today’s goal: Don’t be fooled into thinking that you are not good enough.

Watch this video to better understand not being April fooled

Throwback Thursday - 3 Types of Students

Throwback Thursday - 3 Types of Students

Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on September 12, 2003.

Three types of students:

The first type tries to do as little as possible but still remain in the bounds of approval and acceptance.

The second group tries to do exactly as they are told, no more no less.

The third tries to do just a little more, taking that one extra step, going beyond what is expected of them.

If we are a hard laborer whose job requires much effort for little pay, then perhaps, we should be in the first group.

If we work for a big company with many people, maybe we are in the second group.

If we are an artist or someone seeking something more in Life than just physical or material comforts, perhaps we need to be in the third group.

It is hard to imagine any one with the mentality of the first or second group doing well in training.

Training is maximum effort for minimal return to achieve a state of minimum effort for maximum return. Of course, we are not speaking of the material world or the world of the ego here. We are talking about the effort to achieve something much more deeper and profound than just throwing people down. 

Watch this brief video of Furuya Sensei explaining Aikido in 1986

Don’t Get Distracted

泰然自若
Taizenjijaku
Having an imperturbable and calm mind.

A good martial artist never gets distracted. Kiutsuri (氣移り) and meutsuri (目移り) both mean “distraction” but they literally mean that our energy or our eyes become “moved.” Thus, to be distracted is to allow our mind, energy, or eyes to lose focus. When we lose focus, it can create a mental or physical opening called a “suki” (隙).  When an opening is created, our opponent might be able to seize upon that gap and defeat us. In training, we are often told not to look directly into our opponent’s eyes. One old school reason for this was that it was thought that a deft warrior could supposedly distract us or hypnotize us with their eyes and then seize the moment and attack. If you have ever had a niramekura (睨め競) or “staring contest” you might understand this. When we stare too long, our eyes dry out and this causes us to blink. Likewise, when we focus too strongly on not blinking, then we get mentally distracted and might miss our opponent moving in on us. Perhaps this could be the origin of warriors being able to “attack in a blink of an eye.” To guard against being hypnotized or distracted, we are told to soften our eyes and focus our relaxed gaze at our opponent’s shoulder line or to blur their face with our vision. This way of “looking” allows us to not get distracted and catch the smallest movements in our opponent’s bodies and then capitalize on the openings that they create and defeat them. Samurai, Adachi Masahiro said, “The imperturbable mind is the secret of warfare.” To have an imperturbable mind is to have a calm mind which is not easily swayed by distractions. In life and in the martial arts, we need to know which fights need to be fought and which wars have to be won. Martial artists train themselves to have an imperturbable mind and that is why a good martial artist never gets distracted. 

Today’s goal: In everything that you do, ask yourself, “Is this a distraction?”

Watch this video to better understand distractions.

Training Doesn’t Add up

“It takes a 100 times to remember the move, a 1,000 times to make them beautiful and 10,000 times to grasp their essence.” - Unknown

You cannot buy budo. The main question that people ask when shopping for a martial arts school is “How much does it cost?” Obviously, they are trying to figure out if they can afford training and are weighing its value from a cost standpoint. The problem is that from a cost-benefit analysis, martial arts training doesn’t add up. For instance, it takes the average person five years to reach shodan (初段) or “first degree black belt.” If dues for training were $100 a month, then the cost to get a shodan would be about $7200 but that is not the real cost because that price doesn’t reflect any other ancillary costs like gas, equipment or uniforms. That $7200 might be the monetary commitment for shodan, but there is also a time and energy commitment which, generally speaking, costs somewhere around 1000 hours of training. Therefore, if we were to present martial arts training to potential students as requiring an average commitment of five years, $7200 and 1000 hours and that sho (初) means “beginner” then most customers probably wouldn’t start because of the sticker shock. Some call this consumer based mindset shoninkonjo (商人根性) or the “mercenary spirit” where things are transactional and the tangible benefits outweigh the costs. However, martial arts training teaches us to have a bushikatagi (武士気質) or “warrior spirit.” The word samurai (侍) itself means “one who serves” and to be a warrior in the service of others requires that we be gijin (義人) or “selfless.” There is a great line in the movie Seven Samurai where Shimada says, “By protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself.” If we have the mindset of a customer, then we will never be able to jump into the void and save another person. With that being said, today, every student begins as a customer. However, at some point, we start to see training less transactionally from what it costs us to what we are gaining from it self-developmentally and thus stop being customers and become students. There are so many intangible benefits to training in the martial arts which don’t add up on paper like having more self-confidence, getting into better shape, or becoming a better person to name just a few. Those intangible benefits completely outweigh the “price” of training and that is why training is a journey and not a destination. Therefore, we cannot buy the benefits of training, they are something that we have to work for and that is why we can’t “buy” budo, we can only strive toward it. 

Today’s goal: In everything you do, try to see the intangibles. 

Watch or listen to the Aiki Dojo Podcast’s episode where they discuss customers versus students

Watch the HIGHLIGHTS

Final Form

“It is not important to be better than someone else, but to be better than yesterday.” - Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo

A true warrior never stops developing themselves. The goal of human beings is to evolve. A true warrior is searching for their saishuhensei (最終編成) or their “final form.” Our final form is the highest level of development we can attain. For each person, that apex is different. We won’t know where our final form is unless we strive to find it. In the martial arts, the art is the vehicle that we use to develop ourselves and find our highest level or final form. In class, the teacher pares down the techniques in order to make them digestible. Once we have mastered that particular level, the teacher then adds another level, then another and so on and so forth. With each level or layer, comes new obstacles to overcome and new skills to learn. If we have the mindset of jikokeihatsu (自己啓発) or “self-development” then we will strive to improve ourselves. If we have the mindset of jikomanzoku (自己満足) or “complacency” then we will stop when we have attained any little amount of self-development. In battle, the worst place to be is rojo (籠城) which means “holing up in a castle during a siege.” When we are attacked, it’s better to fight to save our own lives than it is to wait and hole up in a castle as we stagnate and wait for others to save us. If our technique doesn’t evolve it will become stagnant, wither and maybe even get us killed. It withers because our bodies are constantly changing over time and with those changes, we cannot rely on the physicalness of our bodies as we lose strength, stamina, and speed as we age. However, even as we get older, we can still improve our technique. Someone once said, “technique and spirit will always beat strength and speed.” Obviously, wherever it is that we “stop” developing ourselves is where our final level will be. All that is required in not only Aikido but in life is that we just keep going no matter the adversity or obstacle. With this perseverance, we will sooner or later overcome ourselves and find our highest level or final form. A true warrior is striving to find their final form and that is why they never stop developing themselves.

Today’s goal: Have you evolved into your final form? If not, get to work!

Posture is Power

二枚腰
Nimaigoshi
Sumo term which means to have a posture in which the legs are firmly planted

A good martial artist always has good posture. Posture is defined as either “the position in which someone holds their body” or “an approach or attitude.” One correction that Furuya Sensei would often give us was “back straight.” Poor posture usually means that we are pushing or using our upper bodies too much or that our minds have become disengaged. In meditation, when we lose our posture, it usually means that our minds have fallen asleep. Poor posture then disables us from using our centers properly and generating our power to our fullest potential. In swordsmanship, it is thought that posture is important because proper posture and proper grip usually indicate a balanced center and an engaged mind. The proper posture or stance for a martial artist is shizentai (自然体) or “the natural body” stance. In Shizentai, we stand up straight and extend our spines which allow our shoulders to sit naturally. Therefore, good posture activates our power and enables us to use the energy from our centers. In Aikido, our center is referred to as the “one-point” or the chushin (中心) or hara (腹). When our centers are activated then our minds are calm but also engaged. In Japanese, many of the words like migamae, taisei, and goshi mean “posture” but like in English, posture can also mean “attitude.” Furuya Sensei used to say, “You can tell everything you need to know about a person by the way they do Aikido.” Thus, what he is saying is that our physical posture is an indication of our inner attitude. Leadership guru, Brian Tracy said, “You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.” When we stand nimaigoshi or “firmly with good posture,” we are saying to the world, “I am calmly ready for.” In Aikido and life, being “calmly ready” might be a physical posture but posture is power because it shows our attitude and our level of engagement. That is why a good martial artist always has good posture.

Today’s goal: Mind your posture because others are trying to figure out just how powerful you really are. 

Throwback Thursday - Value Your Life

Throwback Thursday - Value Your Life

Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on January 18, 2004.

As Aikido evolves in this modern world, it is vital to maintain the teacher-student relationship. Without this system, the art cannot be transmitted to the next generation of students.

We like everything cheap, fast and easy. Do you think this is the way to enhance the quality of our everyday lives? If we think about it for a minute, we will easily see that it doesn't make any sense at all. A higher quality of life means to work hard and be honest - don't make your life a matter of economics and do not base your life on such low minded thinking.

A student of Aikido, like a warrior, must go through all kinds of trials and obstacles in order to understand what Aikido and Life truly are. If we think this can be made easy, we are very foolish and open to disappointment. Something of great value does not come easy, if we value our lives, we will understand that there are many hardships and disappointments to face.

What makes Aikido harder and most profound as a Way, is that in Aikido, there is no fighting and there is a strong value placed on respect. The fact that fighting, anger, hatred is not an option - our most easiest way out in most cases - means, by definition, that we are already living on a much higher plane. Please always appreciate this in your practice each day. Finally, it is for this reason, we bow and pay our respects to O’Sensei each day as well.

To value our own Life is the hardest realization of all. We think that people understand this but they do not! They know how to value money, power and their own pride and ego but this is not their own life, it is only their own awkwardly heavy mental baggage which they carry all around inside of their heads. If one truly values their own Life, they will live each minute with great honor and respect for others. Only in respecting others, will one understand how to respect one's self. Simply to hold ourselves dear above others, is not understanding - it is only greed and pride.

Temper your knowledge with compassion and faith. Strengthen your faith and compassion with knowledge.

Labor of love

奉仕活動
Hoshikatsudo
Labor of love 

The martial arts are a labor of love. The dark secret in the martial arts that nobody tells us is that every person has to put in the work regardless of their level. An often quoted but anonymous aphorism is “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Naively, most think that this means that if we find something that we “love” then it won’t be work. No, it will still be work or the act of putting in the effort but it will be our work and thus a hoshikatsudo (奉仕活動) or “a labor of love.” At every step on the Way, we are confronted with obstacles. Some of those obstacles are physical but a vast majority, even if they seem physical, are mental. The normal person views “work” as something bad and associates it with suffering. Gordon Allport said, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering.” Martial artists are different people and so they can see past the immediateness of work and embrace its toil because they understand its meaning in their self-development. At different stages and levels of ability, the work is different, but the perspective is all the same. Kendo legend, Moriji Mochida said, “It took my body 50 years to learn the basics of Kendo. After I reached 50, that is when the real training began. This is because I finally started to practice Kendo with my mind and heart. When you reach the age of 60, your legs and hips will weaken. You will learn to conquer this weakness with your mind and heart.” Understanding this, every obstacle which we face is the Way. The martial arts are a labor of love where each of us, master and beginner alike, must put in the work but we don’t see it as work. Every person has to work, but not every person sees it as suffering. A martial artist sees it as a labor of love and so it never feels like work. 

Today’s goal: Can you make everything that you do a labor of love? 

Be Dedicated

義兵
Gihei
A warrior dedicated to a righteous cause

The best warriors are dedicated. This week was the third anniversary of Steven Shaw’s passing and the 15th anniversary of Furuya Sensei’s. As I thought about Steve, the word which came to mind was gihei (義兵) or “a soldier who is dedicated to a righteous cause.” After Furuya Sensei had passed away, Steve would religiously come back from Colorado to attend his memorial service. In 12 years, the only one Steve missed was the year he passed away. In the beginning, many others were dedicated too, but over time, most others found new teachers to follow, better opportunities elsewhere or just simply forgot. I remember, one memorial when I went to pick up Steve at the hotel and he came down 10 minutes late. We were on a tight schedule, so I was a bit annoyed at his tardiness. When he got into the car, he casually apologized with his characteristic big smile and began to explain why he was late. As he explained, he beamed with pride as he told me about FaceTiming with his daughter who was showing him a piece of art that she had created. I remember him saying, “It was so cool” and ending it with “Man, I love my kids so much.” At the end of his explanation, he just said, “You’ll see” as he touched my arm knowing that my wife was pregnant and due in a few months. He was so happy and glowing with pride that I didn’t have the heart to be mad at him. I will always remember Steve as being a dedicated teacher, husband, and father. Steve’s memorial is in the same week as Furuya Sensei’s. Each year, it becomes harder and harder to remember them. The easy thing would be to just forget them and just “move on” with our lives. However, being dedicated means not forgetting which helps us to remember the lessons they were trying to teach us. Thus, like Steve, I strive to be a dedicated teacher, husband, and father. Remembering his life helps me to not to forget to live mine. When I think of Sensei and Steve’s passing, it makes me sad, but remembering them helps to remind me to be dedicated. The best warriors are dedicated long after everyone else has lost theirs. 

Today’s goal: What can you be dedicated to?

Throwback Thursday - Don’t Dwell

Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on May 9, 2002.

We shouldn't dwell on death, yet it should never leave our minds. Being aware of the harsh reality that we can go at any time, should urge us to live our lives fully and meaningfully. It is hard to find the right Path for ourselves, but once we find it, like Aikido, do not leave it but pursue it whole-heartedly with all of our body and spirit. We think that we have all the time in the world, but, in reality, we do not. In the years that we are allotted, there is not that much time to do very much!

Nowadays, I see on the news that so many young people are doing stupid, wasteful things and throwing their lives away. We should not dwell on stupid or unnecessary matters and try to see our lives very clearly. Be practical and realistic and pursue your goals without reserve. Don't bounce around from here to there, back and forth. We may think that we are getting everything we can, but we will find out that we have nothing doing it this way. We may think that our lives are our own and we can do anything we please with it, but this is a silly view as well. We are all connected. At the same time, we fulfill our dreams, we should not cause sadness and grief to others around us. We do this without knowing, this is why we must be so careful in what we do and how we think. Of course, there is nothing we can do when our lives come to an end, but yet many people will be sad.

Read the Air

空氣を読めるよう
Kuuki wo yomeru 
“To read the air”
To be aware

The best martial artists are always aware. Aikido is a very sophisticated martial art on many different levels. On one level, we see its sophistication in its desire to not harm the opponent. Throwing someone down without hurting them or with the desire to show them compassion requires koseido (高精度) or a “high level of precision.” In class, part of our training is to show restraint and precision in not only not injuring people but also by not throwing people off the mats or into other people. In order to train with this level of precision requires that we have a sense of awareness. The other day, a few students and I went out to dinner. The restaurant required that we show a vaccine card or negative test to enter. During the meal, I saw someone sneak in the back door apparently to circumvent the covid vetting process. After eating, I asked if anyone had noticed this person. Everyone was busy having a good time and nobody did. What the students forgot is that our awareness doesn’t end at the edge of the mat or when the class is done. Our Aikido training teaches us to be aware at all times. In Japanese, the ability to be aware is “kuuki wo yomeru” (空氣を読めるよう) which means “to be able to read the air.” Awareness is about seeing or “reading” that which is not readily apparent. In this case, the guy could have been coming in through the back door to commit some sort of violent crime. Being a martial artist, we know that surprise is one of the best assets in warfare. Being able to read the air enables us to be aware and see things before they come and thus act appropriately and with composure. Awareness enables us to realize O’Sensei’s vision of non-violence and enables us to do Aikido while delivering the least amount of damage but at the same time being in complete control. Non-violence requires compassion and compassion cannot be achieved without precision and precision necessitates that we be aware. That is why the best martial artists strive to always be aware.  

Today’s goal: Can you be aware of your surroundings at all times?  

Never Forget

三尺去って師の影を踏まず
Sanjakusatteshinokage wo fumazu 
A student must never forget to honor their teacher.
-Japanese Proverb

The best warriors never forget. Remembering is about being able to recall something which is not in our immediate awareness. Never forgetting implies that we wish to keep something in our awareness and keep it in the forefront of our minds. It is thought that the average person forgets four important facts, items, or events every day and thus 1460 things can become “lost” in the recesses of our minds every year. Knowing that there is mental degradation over time, a warrior strives to not forget because they know that little things when forgotten can become bigger things in the future. This weekend we honor our teacher Rev. Kensho Furuya who passed away 15 years ago. After 15 years, it would be easy for Furuya Sensei, the person, to just become a picture on a wall that we venerate every once in a while. The reason why we should not forget our teachers is because the Way is perilous. The path is fraught with danger and with each and every step we can easily or unconsciously be led astray. Sensei used to say something like, “To step off the path even one step takes hundreds of miles to return from.” When we have lost our way then we may succumb to any vice, situation, or fear. That is why Furuya Sensei used to always say, “Always act as if your teacher is watching.” By pretending that our “teacher is always watching” we are much less likely to do something that would embarrass us, lead us astray or cause us to make a mistake. By acting as if our teacher is watching, we end up not forgetting our teacher and the lessons that we learned. There is a secret power that exists in not forgetting. I am not sure I can explain it well but every person who neglects the memory of their teacher or “moves on” from it, ends up suffering the consequences and loses most of the lessons that they struggled so hard to learn. For instance, there was a really diligent student who was a great person and hard working. When he quit, he ended up getting a divorce, going bankrupt and losing his professional license. In all of those mishaps, it seems that he did not act as if his teacher was watching. By never forgetting, we don’t forget what it is we should be doing and how we should be doing it and that’s why the best warriors never forget. 

Today’s goal: Act as if your teacher or your parents are watching. 

Grit

打たれ強い 
Utarezuyoi 
You have to be able to take a hit.

A good martial artist has grit. Grit is defined as “courage and resolve” or “strength of character.” In Japanese, one way to say grit is konjo (根性) which means “willpower” or “fighting spirit.” Someone on the internet said that GRIT is an acronym which meant “Growth, Resiliency, Initiative, Tenacity.” I thought that their explanation of grit was apropos for a martial artist. As a student or a teacher, we must be constantly seeking growth. Becoming better is a function of one’s growth internally and externally. We must also be resilient because growth is often accompanied by failure and failure is oftentimes the best teacher. Martial artists must also take the initiative or have the wherewithal to act because growth only occurs when we put in the work. Most of all, a warrior is tenacious and won’t back down no matter how big the goal or how bad the odds. Grit is having a versatile mindset focused on growth but also the temperament to be consistent and constant regardless of the situation. Unfortunately, grit is one of those things that teachers can’t teach us but we can learn on our own. Throughout our training, we are learning grit without even knowing it. For instance, one of the first obstacles that one must surmount in their training is learning how to roll comfortably. People can tell us how to do it and even show us but that still won’t make our rolling anymore easier. The only way the roll gets better is if we put in the work to make it that way. With consistency and constancy, our roll eventually becomes better and without even knowing it we have begun to teach ourselves grit. On a certain level, this is utarezuyoi (打たれ強い) or the learning “how to take a hit” method which teaches us to have grit. In life and in martial arts training, things will happen and many times it doesn’t go in our favor. The average person will give up at the slightest difficulty. However, a martial artist is not a normal person. Things will happen and sometimes they go in our favor and many times they don’t. Regardless of the outcome, having grit enables us to get up and try again. What makes a warrior good is merely having the grit or the mindset to get up, dust ourselves off and keep on going no matter what. 

Today’s goal: What things can you do to teach yourself to have grit? 

Watch this video to better understand Grit