Discipline

Aikido is more than a way to defeat one’s opponents - it is a discipline. There is a difference between being disciplined and something being a discipline. “To be disciplined” or kinshin (謹慎) is “to show a controlled form of behavior or way of working.” A “discipline” or shitsuke (躾) is “an activity or experience that provides mental or physical training.” In order to follow a discipline like Aikido, one must be disciplined. We can be disciplined but not follow a discipline, but we cannot follow a discipline without being disciplined.

Furuya Sensei used to talk about Aikido being “a  discipline.” For most of my life, I misunderstood what he was saying and thought that having discipline was the same thing as following a discipline.

When I was younger, I thought discipline was only physical and I competitively searched for the outer bounds of my physical ability and Aikido’s effectiveness. What I found was that we only find our physical limit when we have exceeded the limits of our bodies. Only after I had beat up my body did I realize that being disciplined and following a discipline was mental the whole time. Where the physical leaves off is where the true psychological journey begins. In Japanese, “to overcome psychological barriers” is dakkyou (脱境). Here, I realized it is all mental and that to follow a discipline, one must be disciplined physically and just as much or even more mentally disciplined too.

At every level of our training, we will be confronted with obstacles, barriers, and difficulties. In the beginning, all of our discomforts will present as physical problems like stamina, technical difficulties, body control, footwork, pain, etc. With each obstacle we overcome we develop tolerance and fortitude. The direct benefit that physical training gives us is that we will use that discipline to overcome the things that are confronting us mentally.

Later in our training, we will meet the four undefeated opponents: old age, old injuries, the Self, and Death. (There is a 5th but Mother Nature rarely shows up on the mat.) We will face each of these opponents in this basic order. As we age, our bodies start to give out and it is frustrating that we cannot do what we used to be able to do. When our bodies give out, those old injuries resurface and add another layer of uncomfortableness to training. This is where things really become 100% mental because this frustration and difficulty bring forth our most formidable opponent - the Self. The Self knows all of our weaknesses. We can’t really defeat the Self. O’Sensei might have advocated for self-victory but the victory he was talking about is not in defeating the Self but in having the discipline to control it. If we cannot truly defeat any of these opponents, then we have to learn to deal with them. Dealing with them is 100% mental and that fortitude only comes from following a discipline like Aikido. Learning to deal with the Self is what prepares us to face Death. Therefore, what Aikido training is really teaching us how to face Death. In the Hagakure, Yamamoto Tsunetomo wrote, “Whenever you meet difficult situations, dash forward bravely and joyfully.” The practice of Aikido as a discipline is what gives us the ability to be disciplined. With a discipline like Aikido, we can face anything that confronts us with not only bravery and eagerness but with a joyful smile. Aikido is more than a martial art; it is a discipline.

Today’s goal: Realize that everything is just a mind game that you are playing on yourself.

Watch this video of the Kendo 8th Dan examination to gain a better understanding of discipline.

Empowerment

Aiki Dojo Message - Empowerment 

“Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead.” - Quote attributed to Morihei Ueshiba 

An Aikidoist is a seeker. A seeker is someone who is searching for knowledge. When we talk about training, we often use the word shugyo(修業) and most think that it means “austere or hard training” like in mushashugyo (武者修行) or “warrior training.” However, if we look up shugyo in the dictionary, it means “pursuit of knowledge.” The pursuit of knowledge is the search for empowerment. Empowerment is “the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights.”

Self-empowerment is not a place we arrive at. Empowerment is a constant cycle of self-refinement where we discover, learn, and refine ourselves. Furuya Sensei once wrote, “If you have a problem in your training, you simply work at it until you have mastered it. Once you have mastered it, you move on to your next obstacle and work on it until you master it. This is a continuous and endless process. In your lifetime, there will be many battles that you will face and conquer, and this is endless. As you gain experience however, you will find that you understand your situation better and become more accepting of each challenge as it comes your way, and you begin to welcome these encounters. This understanding is actually the growing of energy within you. Some people like to call this empowerment.” 

In a traditional dojo, the floors are wiped down before or after class. The students do this with a dampened cloth. Dampened means wet enough to clean the floor but dry enough so that the water on the floor afterwards evaporates quickly. Too much water will cause the floor to stay wet too long and create mold and mildew. Too dry and it won’t clean the mat. Damp in this sense is a delicate balance. When we wring the towel, we are supposed to use a shibori grip (絞り) or one hand over the other which is similar to how we grip a sword. Holding and wringing the towel vertically this way is supposed to be tidier because the water drips down and not out, but it is also supposed to help us develop our grip. The “wringing of the towel” is also a metaphor. Shiborikomi (絞り込み) means “refinement” or “to narrow-down.” Thus, as we wring out the water, we are also refining ourselves. In cleaning, we are trying to find the perfect balance between wet and dry. In training, we are also trying to find the perfect balance between warrior and human being. Furuya Sensei called this balance saikan koubai (歳寒紅梅) or “the elegant apricot flower and the strong plum blossom.” He said, “Saikan koubai means to focus too much on war makes us rough and crude while the emphasis on too much beauty makes us weak.”  

There is a thin line between empowerment and delusion. The only thing which staves off delusion is constant refinement and that is why O’Sensei implores us to never stop growing. Knowing oneself is true power and that is why a true Aikidoist seeks to know. 

Today’s goal: Knowing requires learning and learning requires humility. Be humble and seek to know.

Watch this video of author Robert Greene to learn more about finding yourself.

Never be Defeated

Editor's note: This article by David Ito Sensei originally appeared in the Spanish language magazine El Budoka and was translated by Santiago Almaraz Sensei. Read it here in Spanish: Nunca Ser Derrotado

Never be Defeated

In the martial arts, we can fail or lose but we should never allow ourselves to be defeated.

To fail is defined as “being unsuccessful in achieving one's goal” while to lose is “to fail to win.” To be defeated is also defined as “to have been beaten in a battle or other contest” but it also can mean “to be demoralized and overcome by adversity.” On a certain level, failure, losing, and defeat are all the same. However, failure and losing are external but being defeated has this internal quality to it.

In the martial arts, we are all trying to reach a place where we are mukautokorotekinashi (向かう所敵なし) or “undefeatable.” Mukautokorotekinashi literally translates to mean “to go to a place where no opponent exists.” Understanding this, that’s why teachers like Morihei Ueshiba advocated for masakatsu agatsu (正勝吾勝) or that “the true victory is self victory.” To realize the true meaning of undefeatable takes a long time. Only after we have fought virtually every person on Earth, do we realize that the only true opponent is ourselves and thus we realize that to be undefeatable is really just a mindset that we strive for.

Because it is a mindset, one way to look at it is that we are trying to cultivate a certain type of willpower called konjo (根性). In Japanese, konjo is defined as “willpower,” but it is supposed to mean “fighting spirit.” Itzik Zur wrote that “Fighting Spirit is a supreme and revered expression of the human soul’s ability to overcome, transcend, and attain the unattainable.” Fighting spirit is the inner strength or willpower that we draw upon to overcome adversity and never give up.

To be truly undefeatable has three components that we must unify. In swordsmanship, this unification is sometimes referred to as kikentaiichi (氣剣体一致) or “the spirit, sword, and body as one.” In other words, when this unification occurs (body, technique and mind/spirit), a person isn’t easily defeated. This is what people refer to as “having heart.”

The body and sword represent the outer aspects of our fighting spirit. Body refers to the hardening and conditioning of our external bodies and sword alludes to technique. American Army General George Patton once said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” What Patton is referring to is that the outer aspects of one’s fighting spirit are the basis for fighting spirit and are intertwined. If our bodies fatigue, then our technique will soon fail and if we don’t have technique, then our bodies will overwork and soon succumb to fatigue. When the outer aspects of our fighting spirit fail then we have to rely on our minds or spirits.

The spiritual part is last and truest aspect of fighting spirit which is also the most difficult to cultivate. True fighting spirit is a spiritual type of willpower where one is so determined to win that even if they are on the verge of death, they will still try to defeat you. We’ve all seen it in movies as the hero who is beaten half to death still stands back up, wipes the blood from his brow and dives into the fray one last time. We also see this understanding written in the Hagakure where Yamamoto Tsunetomo wrote: “Even if a samurai’s head were to be suddenly cut off, he should still be able to perform one more action with certainty. With martial valor in his life; if he can make himself to be like a revengeful ghost and show great determination, though his head be cut off, he should not die.”   

Some people think that fighting spirit is something that we either have or we don’t. I don’t think that is entirely true. I believe that every person has fighting spirit but most don’t know how to activate it or cultivate it. In Japanese, it is said that young people have iji (意地) or “willfulness” and that it is the job of the teacher to channel that obstinacy and transform it into the konjo or “fighting spirit.”

The teachers of old believed that the key to fighting spirit is in the body and likened its development to the sword. In the beginning the sword is too heavy to pick up let alone to wield. Later, with time and conditioning, we are able to pick it up and swing it. Once we are able to wield it with ease, we use it to make inroads into our minds and spirits. As we forge ourselves outwardly and inwardly, the sword ceases to be and the only thing left is the warrior who’s mind and spirit are the weapon.

Some believe that fighting spirit is in the body and has to be let out. The way we let it loose begins with physical training. The easiest way to do this is by following Judo legend Masahiko Kimura’s  san bai no do ryoku (三倍努力) or “Tripling one's effort.” Kimura was renowned for his incredible work ethic of outworking his opponents and he never wanted to be outdone. He is widely remembered as the person who would regularly give out 10 concussions a training session. Kimura also won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row and didn’t lose a judo match from 1936 to 1950. During his competitive era, he would train 10 and a half hours every day and in his retirement, he cut it down to eight. Kimura famous training mantra was “Tripling effort!” He once said, “If my opponent trains for one hour, I will train for three.” He was known for his brutal workouts which included 1000 push-ups a day and practicing 3,000 foot sweeps per leg every training session. Kimura’s training prowess is so prolific that there is a saying in Judo: “No one before Kimura, no one after.” Kimura’s tripling effort first began as a competition with others as he never wanted to be outdone. However, to truly put in triple the effort takes willpower and that’s how Kimura knowingly or unknowingly taught himself fighting spirit and became the greatest Judoka that ever lived.

Every good martial artist is supposed to have toushimanman (闘志満々) or “a strong will to fight.” However, the will we are talking about is the will to not be overtaken by by the demoralization of defeat. I truly believe that every person has fighting spirit - some just need to find it. Morihei Ueshiba said, “The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit.” Thus, every person has the power to cultivate fighting spirit and martial arts training is the vehicle we use to find it, develop it, and use it. The best martial artists may fail or even lose, but they never allow themselves to fall victim to defeat.

Happier

“This is the nature of war. By protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself.” - Kambei Shimada, Seven Samurai 

Aikido people are happier people.  

In the 1954 Akira Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai there is this scene that I think about a lot. The leader of the seven samurai, Kambei Shimada tersely rebukes the villagers who want to sacrifice the outlying villager’s homes to save the main village. While talking about his own experiences and trying to convince the villagers not to be selfish, he says, “This is the nature of war. By protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself.”

I recently read an article on CNBC about happiness which made me think about Kambei’s assertion. The article was about happiness, and it interviewed Author Stephanie Harrison who wrote the book New Happy. What she found was that “money and success are not the keys to happiness.” Furthermore, she stated, “I think the secret to happiness is using who you are to help other people. To do that, you have to discover who you are, who you really are, away from the conditioning that we’ve been given by our society. And then you have to figure out the best ways to share that self with other people.” 

From this article, I thought about Aikido and how training could make Aikido people happier people. Happier begins with ukemi. Early in our training, we are forced to take ukemi for our partners. It is forced because we do it because we are told to, not because we want to. Later in our training, when we become more confident in our ability to fall or receive a throw or pin, we actually come to enjoy taking ukemi. One reason why we enjoy it is because we have developed our physical ability and know we aren’t going to get hurt. Another and more deeper reason is because as Furuya Sensei used to say “training is how we gain enlightenment” and so by allowing others to use our bodies, we are helping them toward their enlightenment.  

Obviously, helping others toward enlightenment is not typically on the forefront of our minds. But, over time, the training subconsciously changes us into better and kinder human beings. One indication that it is developing us is that we start to display patterns of selflessness. In Japanese, this selflessness is te wo sashinoberu (手を差し伸べる) or “to lend a hand” but it is helping without being prompted. Anyone can look selfless one or twice especially when they know someone is watching, but true selflessness is a pattern. This pattern is unknowingly drummed into us with every act of ukemi, when we clean, or anytime we help out. With every act, we somehow become more giving and kinder people - we become happier. This giving of ourselves supports Harrison’s understanding that to become happier, we must help others.  

Aikido is not happiness nor are all Aikido people living in states of happiness. The operative word in the article was “happier.” Every day in life and Aikido, we are confronted with things that are out of our control. The unhappy person takes it out on others. Through Aikido training, the developed Aikidoist knows that they can’t change the circumstances, but they can change how they react. Aikido teaches us to be less selfish and think of others which science is now realizing helps us to be happier. Thus, Aikido people are happier people. 

Today’s goal: Lend a helping hand to someone else in need - it will make you happier. 

Watch this Ted Talk to better understand happier

Finesse

The best Aikidoists focus on finesse. In Japanese “to finesse” the technique is gikou (技巧). Finesse takes time but if we can learn to not force things then our lives become less difficult or wildly less painful.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a motorcycle mechanic. During my apprenticeship, whenever I would struggle and start to get rough with a piece of equipment or try forcing a part in, the head mechanic would shout out, “If it doesn’t fit, force it!” and start laughing with all the other mechanics. Every time I see someone get rough or force something, I remember that old biker mechanic, who coincidentally, was missing a few fingers because he told me that he used to force things too until he learned to use technique instead of brute strength.   

In class, there is a tendency for mid-level students to kojiireru (抉じ入れる) or “force” their techniques. This is just the stage that every student has to get through. At this level, faster means rougher, slower means rougher, turning your hip means rougher, etc. It is almost comical because no matter what correction you give them, they can only hear or only do rougher. Interestingly, another way to say “force it” in Japanese is gorioshi (ゴリ押し). Gorioshi is a half japanized word where oshi means to push and gori might be short for gorilla. Therefore, those that “force it” are pushing it like a gorilla. Like a gorilla, the mid-level student can’t really hear or understand the teacher’s correction so instead they just resort to using udezumou (腕相撲) or “brute strength.” Brute strength is the hallmark of a mid-level Aikidoist. Later, after many dustups that leave us with even more bumps and bruises, students learn to calm down and focus on finessing the techniques.

Finessing the technique means that we tadashiiokonai (正しい行い) or “doing the right thing” at the right time. In every technique there is a specific time that requires a specific amount of leverage. Outside of that time and place, we run the risk of having to use brute force. What separates the beginner from the expert is the expert’s ability to rely on technique over brute force. There is no easy way to get through this phase in our training - it takes patience and humility. Patience is the price that we pay to gain mastery. Forcing our techniques could cause our partners to get injured or at the very least be uncomfortable as we force our way through it. Humility is realizing that we have done something wrong and have the ability to apologize. When we have acquired humility, then we will have cleared this stage in our training. From my own experience, I know that patience and humility both take time to cultivate. Until then, “If it doesn’t fit, force it.”

In Aikido and life, everything we do is about finesse from dealing with our co-workers to throwing our partners down. No one wants to be on the receiving end of someone trying to force it, no matter what it is. The best Aikidoists have gained the skill to realize that if something doesn’t fit, we calm down, take a breath, and finesse it.

Today’s goal: Everything requires patience. Slow down, take a breath and don’t force it.

Watch this video about not forcing things.

Change Your Mind

The best Aikidoists are good at changing their minds.

In Japanese, one way to say “to change one's mind” is kigakawaru (氣が変わる). Kigakawaru literally translates to mean “to change one’s energy.” To be able to change one’s ki (氣) or “energy” is to be able to change one’s life.   

It is said that Aikido is moving meditation. What that means is that through the repetitiveness of the movement, we can reach a higher mental state of consciousness. In our normal everyday lives, our minds are in a beta state or a heightened state of arousal which is associated with concentration and fight or flight. With the repetitive nature of Aikido training, we are able to shift our minds into a theta state. Theta is the state of mind associated with REM sleep, creativity, unconscious behavior, super learning, and the unconscious mind. It is the same state that we reach while engaged in seated meditating and when athletes are “in the zone.” It supposedly can take up to seven minutes for our minds to switch from beta to theta. Theoretically, the more we train, the faster we can get into theta. It is in theta that we can supposedly gain access to our unconscious minds and make changes to our ways of thinking, personalities, character, etc.

O’Sensei began every class with tenkan. Furuya Sensei said something to the effect that everything we need to learn in Aikido is encompassed in the practice of tenkan. On the surface, tenkan teach us things like body movement, coordination, and connection. On a deeper level, tenkan can also teaches us higher consciousness concepts like patience, perseverance, and compassion to name just a few. That is why in my dojo, I let tenkan go on a little bit too long, possibly 5-7 minutes. I do this because not only is tenkan teaching students movement, but I am also hoping that the students can calm down and get into a theta state of mind which will help them learn faster in the rest of the class. Once students realize or learn how to put themselves into a theta state of mind in class, it becomes easier to reach theta in their daily lives and they can change other aspects of their consciousness or in other words change their minds.

This is where the idea that studying Aikido makes you a better person comes into play. Aikido techniques are metaphoric. What this means is that the techniques are the physical representations of higher philosophical concepts like compassion, empathy, restraint, etc. Therefore, every time we are in a theta state and we throw a person down and we demonstrate restraint and care for our partner’s wellbeing, we are unknowingly practicing to be kinder, empathetic, and more compassionate human beings.

A person who studies Aikido is a seeker. A seeker is a person who strives to know, change, and grow. When we know who we are and understand our tendencies, we look for things that we need to change so that we can grow. Aikido practice is not just about improving physical movement - it’s about becoming better human beings. It said that the mind leads the body and thus everything we do stems from how we think. A person who studies Aikido understands this and that is why the best Aikidoists are good at changing their minds because if we can change our minds, we can change our lives.

Today’s goal: Right or wrong, good or bad are just judgements. True power lies in the ability to change our minds.

Watch this video about the Counterclockwise study and
how changing your mindset can change your life.

Tolerance

The best Aikidoists have a high tolerance for frustration.

Life is a gaman taikai (我慢大会) or “a test of our patience, perseverance, and self-control.” Stephen Covey said, “While we cannot always choose what happens to us, we can choose our responses.” To be able to choose how we respond is born out of our ability to be tolerant with not just people but with all the frustrations that they and life bring us.

Furuya Sensei often quoted his Zen master Bishop Kenko Yamashita as saying, “Nandemo omoidori ni ikanai” (何でも思い通りに行かない) which means “Nothing goes the way you want it to.” To accept this assertion means that we must have a high tolerance for frustration. If we have low frustration tolerance, then everyone and everything and even the smallest of things will disturb us. 

In swordsmanship, our opponents are always trying to apply seme (攻め) or “pressure” on us. In Weapons class, when leveling the weapon in the direction of the opponent, Furuya Sensei would often say “press.” He was not actually touching the other person and thus the press or pressure was not actually physical. Seme is almost spiritual and is this total focus of mind and body unification. It is where we focus so hard on our opponent that we attack them with our minds. The focus is so intent that they can feel it even though we are not actually touching them. It is thought that this focused pressure can interrupt the opponent’s concentration and create a momentary opening for us to attack.

In order to not succumb to our opponent’s mental attack, we have to develop a high degree of not only concentration but a high level of frustration tolerance. In psychology, frustration is defined as “a common emotional response to opposition, related to anger, annoyance and disappointment.” If frustration is emotional, then we can’t just put up a shield. We have to learn to not just accept the frustration but gain a high degree of tolerance to it. That is why the Bishop’s assertion is so poignant. In order to accept that “nothing goes the way we want it to” we must have either achieved the skill of letting things go or have developed a high degree of tolerance for frustration.  

In class, one way we unknowingly develop a high-level tolerance for frustration is by working with a variety of different partners. Most people are physically different and have different body types, heights, and weights. Some have long arms, short legs or an overhead strike that could knockout a bear. Harder to negotiate than the physical is the wide variety of personalities that bring with them wildly different mental and emotional dispositions. Some people are jerks and attack us with reckless abandonment. Others are bossy and don’t work well with others. Most don’t mean to be difficult mentally or physically, it is just that the mat tends to bring out our stuff. Working with all these different types, enables us to develop tolerance for the frustrations that they confront us with. With each frustration traversed, we become more and more tolerant of frustration and thus no one and nothing that they do can get to us.  

We cannot control what happens nor what others do, but we can gain the ability to choose how to respond. Training teaches us to have a high degree of tolerance to frustration but it also teaches us to accept and embrace the imperfection in others and especially the imperfections within ourselves.

Today’s goal: Be tolerant - you never truly know what others are going through.  

Watch this video about frustration tolerance

Discernment

“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”
- English primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall

Yesterday was Michael Stinson’s heavenly birthday. Michael was a student at the dojo and sadly took his own life in 2019. A couple of the many things his passing has taught me was that it is very easy to lose sight of the reach of our influence and the role that we play in other people’s lives.  

Aikido training teaches us discernment. In Japanese, to have discernment is hijichoumoku (飛耳長目) which means “to have sharp eyes and open ears.” To have discernment is to be able to calculate one’s opponent or see the situation properly.

In Aikido, the nage or “the one throwing” has to be able to “see” their training partner. Physically, we have to be able to judge our opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. We need to know how fast or strong they are and what their ability level might be in addition to what style of fighting they might be trained in. 

Once we get good at judging physicalities, we try to get a handle on the mental aspects of our partners. We look for clues that give away our opponent’s true mental state. In poker, these are called “tells.” A tell is “a change in a player's behavior or demeanor that is claimed by some to give clues to that player's assessment of their hand.” The same goes for Aikido. We need to know the opponent’s mental and emotional state and temperament. Knowing or being able to discern means being able to properly judge the situation and the person and see them in their entirety and then acting accordingly.

In class, students should workout with a myriad of different people, body types, skill levels, etc so that they can start to develop a portfolio of archetypes. These archetypes become the basis of how we negotiate different types of people. For instance, working out with a tall and heavy person who has experience in Judo helps you understand how to deal with that type of person. These archetypes won’t be exactly the same, but they give us a place to start and a way to begin engaging them. 

Later, we take our newfound ability of discernment and use it outside of the dojo. This is where Aikidoists start to understand humanity. We have the eyes see that the rude person is just a person who is suffering, and we learn the Truth about humanity - everyone suffers. Each person is suffering in their own little world and most of the time the things that are being done toward us are not personal at all. Those people are just acting out their suffering on us.

Aikido teaches us that each of us has a role to play in people’s lives and we get to choose how we play that role. The interesting thing is that we will most likely never know what role we truly played, nor will we ever know the impact, good or bad. All we can do is realize that we “get to” be part of people’s lives and “get to” have an impact and thus we should act as kind and generously as possible.

Every day, I think about Michael and how I didn’t see that he was suffering. Hindsight is 20/20. Trying to learn a lesson from his passing, I believe that he didn’t realize how much of a role he played in people’s lives and how much of an impact he had on so many people. English primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall said, “Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.” A good Aikidoist should be able to see but the best realize that what they do matters. 

Today’s goal: Be kind - you will never truly know the role or impact you have on others

If you are thinking about harming yourself or attempting suicide, tell someone who can help right away. If you need to talk to a counselor, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or in the US dial 988.

Watch this video short of Seth Godin talking about mattering

El Budoka - It's a Trap!

Editor's note: This article by David Ito Sensei originally appeared in the Spanish language magazine El Budoka and was translated by Santiago Almaraz Sensei. Read it here in Spanish: Es Ana Trampa!

It is a Trap!

Sun Tzu said, “All warfare is based on deception.” Essentially, what Sun Tzu is talking about when he is referring to deception is setting a trap for one’s opponent. If Sun Tzu’s assertion is true then the theory can be used against one foe or a 1,000 and thus it also applies to Aikido. Aikido, like all sophisticated martial arts, doesn’t defeat their opponents with force, instead they trap them.

Sun Tzu’s full quote reads: “All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near. Offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him.” Therefore, when we think about this idea of deception, what we are really trying to do is lure our opponent into a trap. A trap is defined as “a situation in which people lie in wait to make a surprise attack.” 

“Military deception” or kihen (欺騙) is “an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force.”

Trying to incorporate this idea of deception into our training as Aikidoka, we look at Japanese swordsmanship and something they call kyo-jitsu (虚 実). Kyo (虚) means to be “unprepared” and jitsu (実) means “truth” or “reality.” Every good martial artist is supposed to be “good at finding weak points” or suki wo mitsukeru nogajozu desu (隙を見つけるのが上手です). Suki (隙) are “openings” that we knowingly or unknowingly put forth to our opponents and what they try to exploit to gain an advantage and take the victory. 

It is thought that we capitalize on weak points when we are in jitsu or aware and our opponents are in kyo or unaware. Most importantly, kyo-jitsu refers to one’s state of mind during an encounter. In swordsmanship, we strike our opponents when they are in a kyo or in a conscious state of mind and we are in a jitsu or subconscious instinctive mindset. The rationale is that our reactions are based solely upon our previous subconscious programming. 

Typically, a normal and untrained person reacts mindlessly from a conscious state of mind. The untrained person struggles and can’t “think” of what to do and is more apt to fall into a trap. Their minds are in a conscious state which is slower and can only take in 50 bits of information per second. A trained martial artist acts mindfully from a subconscious state of mind and can supposedly see farther than the presented deception. Subconscious mindsets are supposed to be faster and can process up to 20,000,000 bits per second. 

For a trap to be good it has to have shikai (四戒) or “the four commandments.” In Kendo, shikai is referred to as the “four sicknesses.” The four sicknesses are: kufu (恐怖) or “fear,” gi (疑) or “doubt,” waku (惑 ) or “confusion,” and most of all it should be a kyo (驚) or “a surprise.” Therefore, because our opponent didn’t know it was coming, it was a surprise that scares them, confuses them, and makes them doubt themselves which causes them to give up. Ideally, a trap is done in one move and in a split second. Therefore, our movements have to be purposeful and efficient. In Japanese, they say, “itto ryodan ni suru” (一刀両断にする) which is an idiom that is supposed to describe someone who is decisive or discerning but it literally translates to mean “to cut something in half without hesitation.”

Miyamoto Musashi said, “If he attains the virtue of the long sword, one man can beat ten men. Just as one man can beat ten, so a hundred men can beat a 1,000, and 1,000 men can beat 10,000. In my strategy, one man is the same as 10,000, so this strategy is the complete warrior's craft.” Understanding Musashi’s assertion, the same strategy holds true in heihou (兵法) or “the art of war” for battles with 10,000 opponents or just one and thus can also apply to Aikido.

Aikido is a sophisticated martial art that uses technique rather than force to fell their opponents. Interestingly, jutsu (術) means “technique” but it can also mean “trap.” A good trap is complicated but simple. It is complicated in its theory and practice, but it is simple in its execution. Ideally, it is the opponent's actions which leads to their own downfall. That’s why when explaining Aikido, most Aikidoka say, “Aikido uses the opponent’s strength against them.” 

The technique of trapping from an Aikido standpoint is a complicated skill that takes many years and lots of repetitions to cultivate. The first step is to neutralize our opponent’s attack with movement. However, this is not just any movement. An Aikidoka’s movement is supposed to be precise, efficient, and purposeful. We create an opening, deceive them into attacking us a certain way, use purposeful movement to thwart their attack, and then they fall into our technique or trap.

For instance, in shomenuchi ikkyo omote, we are not smashing the opponent into ikkyo. Instead, we are supposed irimi or “move forward” into their attack with awaseru (合わせる) or “harmony” in order to align with the power of the attack. As we move in, the opponent realizes that it was a trap which causes them to change from offense to defense. As they change their focus this causes their body to naturally turn away from our movement out of self-preservation. This turn away causes them to lose their balance and fall into our ikkyo trap. In a good ikkyo, the uke does all the work and the nage just sets them up so that they fall into the trap of ikkyo. Remember, a good Aikidoka is efficient, precise, and purposeful.    

All warfare is based on deception. Deception is the ability to outmaneuver our opponents both mentally and physically. Deception is a mindset and traps are the techniques that we deceive others into falling into. True power is having the ability to do as little as possible but still obtain the greatest amount of return. Aikido is a sophisticated martial art where we trap our opponents into giving up rather than beating them into submission. Trap them - do less but get the same result.

Inner Peace

Today is O’Sensei or Morihei Ueshiba’s meinichi (命日) or “anniversary of death.”O’Sensei is the founder of Aikido which he called “the Art of Peace” and created this idea that a martial art could teach us inner peace.

When we talk about peace, the uninitiated think about it in terms of wasen (和戦) or “war and peace.” Peace from this perspective is about violence and is defined as “a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended.” Understanding O’Sensei’s philosophies, Aikidoist think about peace from its other definition meaning “freedom from disturbance; tranquility.”

This idea of peace might seem contradictory as Aikido is first and foremost a martial art and martial arts are about defeating others. However, Aikido is a highly evolved martial art. O’Sensei took the practices and techniques of Daito-ryu and transformed them into a tool that we could use to develop ourselves. Fighting or not fighting is not the point. Violence is something which arises from our inner state and intentionality. If we are calm, we cannot commit violence. This composure and non-violence is something that naturally evolves inside of us we train in Aikido. Through training, we realize is that if we are at peace, then there is no need for violence. However, if someone attacks us and we throw them down and they get hurt, that is just the outcome of their actions and the violence they experience was done to them by themselves. This is the understanding of violence, inner peace, and intentionality.

We attain inner peace through shugyo (修行) or Aikido as an ascetic practice. Furuya Sensei explained: “Shugyo means ‘training’ or ‘practice.’ Gyo is inspired from Buddhism meaning intense spiritual training. In ancient times, a warrior would go on a long journey called musha shugyo or ‘warrior training.’ This type of training was not only to develop their skill as a swordsman, but to develop them into a mature human being as they experienced the realities of life. Today, shugyo means regular physical practice taken to an intense level in order to transcend the body and reach a high state of spiritual awakening or awareness. My grandfather explained to me that shugyo was silent practice. To practice with whatever hardships or obstacles or disappointments that arise in the art and in life, without quitting or giving up, in silence, and without any complaints.”

The way we are supposed to approach our training and the achievement of inner peace is similar to what Sen Shoshitsu wrote in the book Tea Life, Tea Mind. “Tranquility is an aesthetic concept unique to Tea, comes with the constant practice of the first three principles of harmony, respect, and purity in our everyday lives. Sitting alone, away from the world, at one with the rhythms of nature, liberated from attachments to the material world and bodily comforts, purified and sensitive to the sacred essence of all that is around, a person making and drinking tea in contemplation approaches a sublime state of tranquility. But, strange to say, this tranquility will deepen even further when another person enters the microcosm of the tearoom and joins the host in contemplation over a bowl of tea. That we can find a lasting tranquility within our own selves in the company of others is the paradox.”

Similarly in Aikido, that we can be at peace even though someone is attacking us is the paradox. Aikido is way more than a means to destroy others - it is a way to achieve inner peace. O’Sensei may be gone but he’s not forgotten. He lives on as long as we remember him and as we assiduously practice the Art of Peace.

Today’s goal: Take a moment and remember O’Sensei and all that he brought to the world.

Watch this video of O'Sensei in 1961

Restraint

"A warrior uses their sword only when they have no other choice.”
- Quote attributed to Miyamoto Musashi

The best Aikidoists always exercise restraint.

In Japanese the martial arts, an often used proverb is yaiba ni tsukimono wa rei ni suguru (刃に強き者は礼にすぐる) or “The best warriors surpass all others in decorum.” To exercise decorum not only in regular life but on the battlefield requires restraint or discipline. One way to say “restraint” in Japanese is enryo (遠慮). Enryo can also mean “constraint,” “modesty,” or “to hold back” but it is really one of those Japanese words that is difficult to translate. Furuya Sensei once explained, “In Japanese, we use the word enryo which means to be reserved or to hesitate. It also means to be humble and modest. To enryo in a sense is to become closer to the other person. For old fashioned Japanese, it is always good to enryo or show modesty. Today, we are much too pushy and flagrant! The samurai were always to enryo because for them, it showed quiet, hidden strength. To enryo or show restraint demonstrates the strength of our character and our spiritual awareness. It demonstrates our reserved, inner courage - the highest quality of a good student.”

Restraint is about boundaries. We cannot have restraint if we do not know our boundaries and we can’t truly maintain our boundaries without restraint. Restraint is the ability to not only know our boundaries but the ability to exercise them in a healthy and appropriate way. Restraint is the inward discipline applied to our boundaries. Basically, it is the ability to apply only as much of what is absolutely necessary to achieve the optimal result. Thus, as the quote attributed to Musashi states: "A warrior uses their sword only when they have no other choice.”

Training teaches us about boundaries and how to exercise restraint. The nage or “the one who throws” tries to push the outer boundaries of what they can do. They want to know exactly what they are capable of achieving. Inwardly, nage’s have to learn how to govern that boundary and exercise restraint within that boundary. If we overstep our boundaries, we could get injured or make a mistake. Also, if we overstep our or other people’s boundaries, then they could get injured as well.

The uke or “the one receiving the technique” is also testing the outward boundary of what they can do physically. Ideally, the better the nage, the more they can help push the uke’s boundaries and the uke in turn is freely giving them their body. The problem is that the nage might not be aware enough to know the limits of the uke’s boundaries. This is where the internal aspect of restraint comes into play. The uke should know their true limits and have the courage to speak up and be assertive when the nage is pushing them too far. Restraint in this sense is not allowing ourselves to be pushed too far outside of our boundaries and pushing the limits of our assertiveness. Typically, that means using our voices before we have to resort to retaliatory violence.

To understand restraint and boundaries, Aikidoists should think of themselves as castles. The Japanese expression that comes to mind is kinjouteppeki (金城鉄壁) which means “invulnerable” or “impenetrable castle walls.” The literal translation of kinjouteppeki is “Gold castle with iron walls.” We are the gold castle which is bordered by iron walls. Walls have two sides. The outer boundary of the wall restrains what can come in and the inner wall restrains what can come out. Therefore, the restraint of our boundaries are protecting us from other people but at the same time they are protecting them from us.   

Today’s goal: Know yourself, maintain your boundaries and always exercise restraint.

Watch this video of the Holistic Psychologist explaining the basics of boundaries.

Imperfection

角を矯めて牛を殺す
Tsuno wo tameteushi wo korosu
Perfect is the enemy of good.

The best Aikidoist embraces imperfection.

One of the things we strive to embrace in our Aikido training is the concept of wabi-sabi (侘び寂び). Wabi-sabi is one of those Japanese words which can’t be easily translated into English. Wabi-sabi is to be moved emotionally by a profound sense of beauty in something because it’s imperfect and impermanent.

Here is a story which illustrates this idea of wabi-sabi. Long ago, Sen Rikyu, the originator of the tea ceremony, was invited to his tea growers house for tea ceremony. During the ceremony, the grower nervously knocked over the tea whisk and all of Rikyu’s assistants snickered. At the end of the service, Rikyu said that it was the best cup of tea he had ever been served. On the way home, one of the assistants inquired why he had said that. Rikyu answered, “He did not invite me to show off his perfection as a tea master. He invited me so that we could enjoy a cup of tea together. I was touched by the sincerity of his effort and thus it was a wonderful cup of tea.” Rikyu was moved by the imperfection which showed the tea grower’s honest sincerity.    

In Aikido training, we often see students becoming frustrated as they try to perfect their technique. This frustration is necessary because it shows that the student cares - it shows their honest sincerity. Teachers should see the student’s sincere effort and reward it with empathy rather than scorn. Sometimes it is best to simply realize that right now is good enough. Other students should also see their own strife in their fellow students and thus realize that they are more than mere throwing dummies there for them to release their frustrations upon.

As a martial artist, every Aikidoist must realize that they are an imperfect person living in an imperfect world which is filled with other imperfect people. If we cannot, then we risk judging them and judgements are often wrong. As they say, “People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.” This is not the same as giving people a pass for poor behavior. Like wabi-sabi it is having the ability to see another person’s humanity first and judge them accordingly afterwards.

Furuya Sensei once wrote, “Although we strive for perfection in our training, our humanity lies in our imperfection. We are not great because of our strengths, we are human because of our weaknesses. We should never forget this in our Aikido training.” Thus, humanity is our greatest strength and our two greatest skills are in our ability to be kind in our actions and generous in our judgements. We are kind and generous because we realize that we too are imperfect and thus need kindness, compassion, and forgiveness when we make a mistake. In order to get it, we have to give it. Training teaches us to realize that no matter how hard we try to be perfect, we too are imperfect and that is beautiful. Aikido training teaches us to strive for quality of effort over emphasizing the quality of product and that’s why the best Aikidoist embraces imperfection in themselves, in others, and in the world.

Today’s goal: Instead of judging people based upon their imperfections, realize that imperfection is what makes them perfect.

Watch this video to better understand wabi-sabi

No Mind

“When this no-Mind has been well developed, the mind does not stop with one thing nor does it lack
any one thing. It appears appropriately when facing a time of need.” - Takuan Soho

The best Aikidoists move with no-mind. In Japanese, when a person worries too much, they are referred to as being atamagaomoi (頭が重い) or “heavy-headed.” When we spend too much time or energy anticipating or worrying about what may or may not be, our heads become heavy, and we lose focus on the present. When we lose focus on the present, our minds linger on something and a suki (隙) or “opening” is created. These weak points are what our opponents exploit to defeat us.

In Aikido, we are supposed to be moving with mushin (無心) or “no mind.” No-mind isn’t a state of apathy or being mentally checked out. No-mind is this fluid state of hyper-focus in which we have learned to drown out all the mental din and exterior distractions and move unencumbered. In sports, this is called being “in the zone.”

When we are attacked, we have to be able to recognize the attack, move in or with the attack, feel our partner’s mental and physical state, re-orient their power, unbalance them, bring their movement into our movement, and then turn their power into a joint lock or throw. And we are not even mentioning O’Sensei’s philosophy of non-violence and caring for our opponents. There is so much going on that our conscious minds cannot keep up and thus we must shift from a conscious mind to a subconscious state to keep up.

In class, we can literally see people’s minds churning as they go from step to step. There is this literal physical pause as their minds check the box for each step. Conscious thought slows our movements down and makes our movements appear choppy. This is just part of the process. However, what is not acceptable is that this conscious thought also opens the door for an internal dialogue of judgement, worry, fear or any other story that we are telling ourselves. This not only slows our movements down but causes undue suffering. The only way that we can learn to turn off our conscious minds is through repetition. With every repetition, our minds go deeper and deeper into a subconscious state. Therefore, the more we train, the more we learn to shut off our minds and flow with the movement. However, we don’t really shut off our minds, we actually just learn to let go of our thoughts.

In the Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi wrote, “Do nothing that is of no use.” What this means is that if something is not productive, we should not be wasting time, money, or energy engaging in it. Author Brian Tracy refers to this as Zero-based thinking. In Zero-based thinking, we take an inventory of the things, people, and behaviors and evaluate them to see if they are productive. If they are not, we stop engaging in them.

Furuya Sensei once wrote, “We are oppressed by our own thoughts and actions. We can become an obstacle to ourselves with incorrect thinking and incorrect actions. Through our training we learn to correct and polish ourselves and come to understand such things about ourselves.” Aikido is a method of learning how to unburden our minds so that we can move unencumbered with no-mind.

Today’s goal: Realize, as Furuya Sensei once wrote, “The most terrible aspect is really just the anticipation or the fear of it.”

Watch this video of Brian Tracy explaining Zero-based thinking.

Eclipse Yourself

"Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.” - Psychiatrist Carl Jung

Many cultures believe eclipses are omens of doom. To Japanese marital artists, an eclipse can be thought of as the harbinger of the martial arts.

The Chinese god Zhang Xian is often depicted aiming an arrow at a dog named tiangou who is trying to eat the moon. As a good spirit, tiangou brings peace, tranquility, and gives protection. As an evil spirit it eats the moon causing an eclipse. The word tiangou translates into Japanese as tengu (天狗). In Japanese folklore, the tengu are supernatural beings who are thought to be knowledgeable in the martial arts and taught people those arts.

There is a famous Noh play called Kurama-tengu which tells the story of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The play begins with monks and children from the Kurama temple enjoying a cherry blossom viewing. The group leaves in protest when a shabby Yamabushi or “mountain ascetic priest” arrives and tries to join them. Only one child stays and confides in the Yamabushi that he is Minamoto no Yoshitsune or the orphaned son of the slain head of the Genji clan. In turn, the Yamabushi reveals himself to be the head tengu and proceeds to instruct Yoshitsune in the martial arts. The play closes with Yoshitsune avenging his father's death using the skills he learned from the tengu. Interestingly, Yoshitsune is the distant nephew of Minamoto no Yoshimitsu who is more commonly known as Shinra Saburo and is the creator of Daito-ryu Aikijujitsu or the parent form of Aikido.

Ancient civilizations believed that eclipses were bad omens but actually what they feared was the unexpected. This is not without merit as all warfare is based upon deception and the element of surprise is its ultimate fighting technique. Therefore, it is only natural that we should be weary of the unknown and the darkness that eclipses bring.

Aikido is supposed to be a higher form of the martial arts. Our goal is not to destroy - it is to know. In route to knowing who we are, Aikido training teaches us to believe in ourselves. With each opponent and adversity that we overcome; we grow stronger. We grow stronger not in the skill of defeating others but in the skill in believing in ourselves. Psychiatrist Carl Jung said, "Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.” If Jung’s assertion is true, then we only become truly undefeatable when we know who we are and believe in ourselves.

Don’t be afraid of the eclipse. Its darkness can bring us the true power of the martial arts - knowing ourselves. Aikidoists do not fear what they do not know. Instead, they believe in who they are and the person that they have trained to become. Greek philosopher Archilochus said, “We don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.” The best Aikidoists don’t cower in the darkness, they excel in it.

Today’s goal: Don’t be afraid of the eclipse and its darkness, just be careful looking directly at it.

Watch this video of Gabor Mate talking about the darkness

Honest Effort

“‘In the midst of a single breath, where perversity cannot be held , is the Way.’ If so, then the Way is one. But there is no one who can understand this clarity at first. Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort.” - Lord Sanenori, Hagakure

The best Aikidoists train themselves to always give an honest effort.

In the old days, the Japanese used to say, “bushi no ichigon kintetsu no gotoshi” (武士の一言金鉄の如し) or that “A warrior’s word is as reliable as gold.” Their word is reliable because a warrior’s personal standard won’t allow them to break it. This integrity was not just in their words but also in their actions. In order to have integrity in action, we have to be able to give any undertaking an honest effort. An honest effort is to give one’s all regardless of what we are doing or if we want to do it or not. To give an honest effort is to make a conscious choice to isshoukenmei (一所懸命) or “do something with all of one's might.”

One of things that Aikido teachers are looking for is the moment when a student’s isshoukenmei arrives. Isshoukenmei is not just to train hard. It is this level of dedication to one’s training - it is the honest effort. We cannot be told to give an honest effort, nor can we be forced to. An honest effort is completely internal. Therefore, we either will, or we won’t. Some students are lucky enough to be born with this mindset. For the rest of us, it arrives around 3rd kyu and the technique where we see it arrive at is tai no henko (体の変更). To the beginner, tai no henko is just this boring abstract movement that doesn’t seem to have any relevance to Aikido, nor does it seem to have any fighting usefulness. However, Furuya Sensei said, “Every technique holds a secret to Aikido.” Therefore, to the ardent, tai no henko is the gateway to Aikido. Once we learn to give tai no henko an honest effort, that is where we start to see our Aikido really begin to flourish. Once we are able to put in an honest effort into something as mundane and abstract as tai no henko, then all of our Aikido techniques will begin to flourish as well.

The Bishop of Geneva, Saint Francis de Sales said, “Bloom where you are planted.” This means that wherever we are and in everything that we do, we must grow and flourish despite the circumstances. The word bloom also indicates that we must not just survive but thrive as well. In Aikido and in life, in order to thrive, we must learn to intrinsically put in an honest effort. What training teaches us is that a person who is capable of putting in an honest effort can achieve anything. The best Aikidoists train themselves to put their all into everything that they do, not just on the mats but in every aspect of their lives as well.

Today’s goal: If as a warrior you said you would do it, then you have to give it an honest effort.

Nerves of Steel

“No Fear, No Hesitation, No Surprise, No Doubt.” - Miyamoto Musashi, Vagabond

The best Aikidoists have nerves of steel. To have nerves of steel means “to have an impressive ability to remain calm in dangerous or difficult situations.” In Japanese, one way to say, “nerves of steel” is tanki (胆氣) which literally translates as “courageous energy.”

To have energy which is courageous is not something that every person naturally has. Some people have it, some people don’t, but it is something that can be learned. Having nerves of steel is about having emotional equanimity. In Japanese, there is no direct translation for equanimity. Equanimity is the ability to have “mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.” With this understanding, we can use the old word shinshokujijaku (神色自若) which meant “perfect composure.”

Japanese martial artists aren’t supposed to express emotion. It is not that they don’t have them - they are just not supposed to display them. Some go so far as to seem unemotional, disinterested or even bored. This outer stoicism is to hide their inner mental state. In Japanese, one way to say, “emotions” is shinsho (心緒). Shin means “heart” or “mind” and sho means “mental state.” The reason Japanese martial artists try not to show emotion is because emotions can show the true state of their minds or hearts. This information can be dangerous because our opponents can use it against us. Our opponents try to incite us to show emotion because a show of emotion can create an opening in our mental state which the opponent can use to defeat us.

Our mental state is supposed to be like a deep dark well where emotions cannot be easily dredged up by our opponent. This is not a suppression of emotions where one buries them deep. It is more like a black hole where matter has seemingly disappeared from the universe. It is an equanimous state where the Japanese martial artists have their emotions so in check that they have seemingly disappeared. That is why equanimity is one of the highest teachings in the Japanese martial arts. The more we develop ourselves, the deeper the root of our equanimity. Therefore, in order for our enemy to shake our equanimity and incite us, they would have to kirikomu (切り込む) or “cut deeply into” us.

In class, in the beginning of our Aikido training, the uke or “training partner” is supposed to wait to attack us until we are ready. Seems contrived, but this is done so that the nage can center and compose themselves. Once the nage is composed, they practice being stoic when attacked. This method helps to teach them equanimity or how to be unemotional and unflinching when attacked. Later in one’s training, the uke attacks more spontaneously and doesn’t wait until we are settled. Attacking spontaneously is a good test of our ability to remain calm and centered. This is the idea behind Miyamoto Musashi’s “No fear, no hesitation, no surprise, no doubt.” With fear, we could hesitate, succumb to surprise, or fall into self-doubt.

In Aikido and in life, to have nerves of steel means that we are able to stand stoically in the face of fear. George Addair said, “Everything you've ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear.” Thus, if we can keep our emotions in check, then there is nothing which can hold us back from having the life that we want. That is why the best Aikidoists train to have nerves of steel.

Today’s goal: Keep your emotions in check. Never let them see you sweat.

Watch this video to better understand nerves of steel.

Strive to Fail

“Success is not achieved by winning all the time. Real success comes when we rise after we fall. Some mountains are higher than others. Some roads steeper than the next. There are hardships and setbacks, but you cannot let them stop you. Even on the steepest road you must not turn back.” - Muhammad Ali

The best Aikidoists are defined by their failures not their victories. Failure teaches us way more than success ever will. Aikido training teaches us how to use failure in a positive way. Our defeats and failures are the true story of our lives.

We are celebrated for our successes, but success is just the reward for our hard work and it doesn’t necessarily teach us anything. We learn the most from our failures. That is why the Japanese believe in the proverb shippaihaseikounomoto (失敗は成功の元) or that “failure teaches success.”

In the eyes of a martial artist, failure is a good thing because they understand that true power resides not in winning but in resiliency. Resiliency is “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” In Japanese, the word for “strong” or “powerful” is tsuyoi (強い) but it can also mean “to be resilient.” We see this understanding of tsuyoi in the martial arts term utarezuyoi (打たれ強い) which advocates that we must be able “to take a hit” but it also means “to be strong in the face of criticism or adversity.”

When we think of resiliency the proverb that comes to mind is nana korobi ya oki (七転び八起き) or “To fall down seven times, but get up eight.” The idea is that success is really in being able to get up one more time. In Aikido class, we put this proverb into practice every day. Taking ukemi is the physical manifestation of this proverb. With every throw, we are desensitizing ourselves to the act of falling down and every time we get up, we are reinforcing the practice of resiliency. The more we practice, the more resilient we become. Later in our training, we start to see our resiliency grow not only on the mat but in our daily life as well.

In Aikido and in life, our defeats and failures come to define us, they become the true story of our lives. The true story of our lives is not about what we won or who we beat but what we overcame to get there. Hyakusenrenma (百戦錬磨) is “a veteran who is schooled by adversity in 100 battles.” Most of us lose way more than we win. True success is in getting up one more time especially when we don’t want to and thus the only thing which will teach us this strength is failure. That is why the best Aikidoists are defined by their failures not their victories.

Today’s goal: When life or your opponent knocks you down, just get up one more time.

Watch this video to better understand failure leads to success.

Authenticity

“The courage to be happy also includes the courage to be disliked.” - Author Ichiro Kishimi

The best Aikidoists have the courage to be disliked.

One of the things we are striving for in our Aikido training is to be shinsei (真正) or “authentic.” To be authentic is “to live your life according to your own values and goals, rather than those of other people.” Thus, in order for some of us to be authentic, we need to have the courage to be disliked.

Having the courage to be disliked is not intentionally becoming the villain in someone else’s story. It is also not actively and intentionally being selfish. Having the courage to be disliked is to intentionally be authentic which might cause some people to not like us. Some of those people might not like us because their entire relationship with us is based upon always getting their way. True relationships always have a balance - sometimes we give and sometimes we take but we never take more than we give, and we never give more than we take.

In Aikido training, there is also this balance of give and take. When we train with our partners, we should always be pushing them to help them improve. Furuya Sensei said, “Take them to their [furthest] level and then take it one step farther.” He didn’t end it with “smash them” or “kill them.” Sensei specifically stated, “one step farther” with the key word being “one.” Only going one step requires restraint and discipline.

An interesting thing happens when some people start Aikido training. Some have a problem grabbing their partners strongly or striking them. When you ask them to grab your wrist, they hold it very gently. When you ask them to hit you, they intentionally come up short or miss. One reason why this phenomenon happens is because we were conditioned that intentionally grabbing people, striking them, or throwing them down is impolite. Later in our training, we learn that a strong attack is not only necessary but, on a certain level, the polite or right thing to do because our job as someone’s training partner is to push them “one step farther” so that they can improve.

Sensei used to jokingly say, “You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few arms.” What he meant was that in class, students should train hard with the intention of training hard and giving their partners a good workout. To do that, sometimes they might get frustrated, angry, or even hurt. If we train hard with the intention to hurt or dominate someone is wrong. If we train hard with the intention of helping them improve and they get upset or hurt, then we didn’t exercise Sensei’s “one step” rule. We are only human, and this is likely to happen more often than not, but if it does happen then we should apologize afterwards and better meter ourselves the next time.

In Aikido, we are striving to understand harmony. Not so much harmony with others but harmony within ourselves. That we can find true harmony within ourselves while in the presence of others as they are attacking us is the true paradox of Aikido training. True harmony means living authentically and thus some people will like us and some people won’t.

Today’s goal: Know your true worth and have the courage to be disliked.

Watch this video to better understand people pleasing.

Patience

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." — Leo Tolstoy

The best Aikidoists defeat others with patience. Someone once said, “The heart of a samurai should be in patience and waiting.” One way to say “patience” in Japanese is konki (根氣). Kon means “root” and ki means “energy.” Thinking about the translation of the Japanese characters, one could theorize that patience is the root of our power.

Oftentimes, having patience feels like boredom and looks like laziness. However, to an Aikidoist patience is not passive at all. To be bored is “to feel weary because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity.” In this sense, the malaise of boredom is passive. Patience is defined as, “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.” The key phrase is “without getting angry or upset.” In a martial arts context, patience is active because we have to mindfully maintain our composure when we are confronted by failure, difficulties or discomfort. Thus, patience is a superpower.

In Aikido training we learn the value of being patient. In class, one thing that we are trying to learn is how to read the rhythm or timing of our partner’s attack. If we can read their rhythm, then we can see the suki (隙) or “opening” within their movements and exploit it. One way to look at it is that the body is a system of levers. When levers are opening, other levers must be closing. As something is closing (contracting) or opening (extending), a momentary weak point appears that we can attack and use to gain the victory. To train oneself to see an opening requires patience because only time and experience can teach us this skill. Patience is also required so that we can exploit the opening at just the right moment for success.

Aikido training teaches how to use patience as a weapon. “To defeat someone with patience or persistence” is referred to as konmake (根負け). Training is supposed to be a gaman taikai (我慢大会) or “a test of one’s perseverance.” Gaman (我慢) means “to persevere” and taikai means “tournament.”  When people hear this, they immediately think of pain but it is really more of a test of wills. The gaman taikai answers the inner question of “How much can I take?” We defeat people because we can outlast them but the real opponent we are defeating is ourselves. We must have patience when things become difficult or uncomfortable, and we must have the perseverance to see things through to the end.

Leo Tolstoy said, “Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.” Both Aikido and life are filled with ups and downs, victories, and defeats. The hardest part is to have patience and continue on when things aren’t seemingly going our way. In Japanese, they say that success is unkondon (運根鈍) or a function of  “luck, patience, and steadfastness.” No one gives it to us, we must work hard and defeat our adversities with patience.

Today’s goal: Be patient, your day will come - defeat them with patience.

Watch this video to better understand patience.

Everyday Courage

“Everyday courage has few witnesses. But yours is no less noble because no drum beats for you and no crowds shout your name.” - Author Robert Louis Stevenson

The best Aikidoists have everyday courage.

Courage is defined as “the ability to do something that frightens us.” One way to say, “courage” in Japanese is yuuki (勇氣). Yuuki directly translates to mean “courageous energy.” When we think of courage, we often think of heroics or grand gestures. We envision a single warrior standing against many who is yuuki wo dasu (勇氣を出す) or “summoning the courage” to fight. Courage in this sense only seems to come about in those once in a lifetime dare to be great situations. Here, we either have it or we don’t. For most of us, the problem is that our true dare to be great moment never seems to materialize and thus we walk around unsure if we have it or don’t.

Everyday courage is the scaled down version of courage. Everyday courage is the ability to meet life’s small seemingly benign challenges that may not be life threatening but still require inner strength to see them through. Author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “Everyday courage has few witnesses. But yours is no less noble because no drum beats for you and no crowds shout your name.” Everyday courage is the dress rehearsal for those dare to be great moments. The idea is that if we can mindfully display courage in the little things that are for the most part banal or uncomfortable, then chances are we should be able to make the jump to big courage when the time comes.   banal platitudes

Aikido is the ultimate self-development tool because one of the things it teaches us is everyday courage. Aikido is not something that we master - it is something that we practice. The word practice implies that we get the opportunity to fail, get back up, and try again. To fail and try again requires courage. To do something that we are not good at requires courage. To take in a correction from the teacher requires courage. To be dead tired or not want to go to class and still show up requires courage. Aikido teaches us that with every act of micro courage our macro courage grows and over time as the Japanese proverb states, “even specks of dust if piled up can become mountains” or chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru (塵も積もれば山となる).

Furuya Sensei once wrote, “One aesthetic of traditional martial arts which is absent in our discussions is that the warrior often must accept their circumstances, however dim, very quietly and with courage - quiet courage.” Understanding this, the main difference between an Aikidoist and a normal person is that Aikido teaches us to mindfully take into account the acts of everyday courage. We realize that with every act of everyday courage, we come closer to knowing who we are and whether or not we will have courage when our dare to be great moment shows up.

In Aikido and in life, we are buffeted by circumstances which are not within our control. Most are not life threatening but are more like an annoying paper cut. But, a paper cut nonetheless still requires a little bit of courage.

Today’s goal: See the victories in everyday courage. Everyday courage brings about everyday victories. 

Watch this video and listen to David Foster Wallace's speech to better understand how to look at life and its banal platitudes