Aikido Life

[Paul]

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I have been studying the art of Yoshinkan Aikido for more years than I care to recall, and will never claim to be a great practitioner. However, over the years, not only have I learned a myriad of techniques, I have met some of the best people I care to know and have retained some lessons that translated well to everyday life.

The first concept is "agatsu", loosely translated as "victory against yourself". When I first heard this term, it was during an extremely grueling class and the head instructor spent a lot of time (while we were kneeling in "seiza") explaining the concept of agatsu. Basically he said no one can make you better except yourself. Conversely, no one can hold you back more than you can yourself. The pain must have made me more receptive to listening, because I have not forgotten that lecture. I limped away understanding that the lesson was pretty much that you can be your own worst enemy and don't worry so much about how good the person next to is, be the best you that you can be and beat whatever artificial barriers you have created for yourself.

The second lesson I retained is "nanakorobi yaoki". Loosely translated, it means to fall down seven times, get up eight. In other words, it's not the fall or failure that's important, it's what you do afterwards. You can go down and stay down, or you can fall and get up, and keep getting up.

So when I am feeling like I am "not good enough" or catch myself wondering why some person is "better" than me, I think back to agatsu. I realize that the only meaningful victory is victory against myself and those doubts that creep in. I realize that I can be my best self, and that is pretty darn good.

I hope I've passed these tenets on to my children, my Aikido students, and people who I want to see happy and successful, however they care to define success. Lastly, another term I heard often on the mats, "ganbatte"......do your best!

The following translation from the Japanese-language autobiography entitled Aikido Jinsei (An Aikido Life) by Gozo Shioda Sensei of Yoshinkan Aikido is published with the kind permission of the author and the publisher, Takeuchi Shoten Shinsha. The series began with AIKI NEWS No. 72. Read the eighth part here.

As I mentioned before, members of the Ueshiba Dojo taught at the Nakano School. At that time, one of the senior instructors at the School was a Major Ito. He was an active leader of the group which was striving to defeat the United States and Britain and was also a public-spirited man. He used to come to our dojo on a private basis and was on friendly terms with Ueshiba Sensei. Though I was a university freshman at the time, I was more or less able to instruct. Thus when Ueshiba Sensei was not able to go to the Nakano School, I taught the young officers including first and second lieutenants there in place of him.

On that occasion, he talked to me about the state of affairs in Japan and the rest of the world at that time and how violent both the United States and Britain were to the point it made my blood boil. I was very outraged to hear these things and so impressed that I promised to visit him again with my close friends when I left his house.

Before long, the group led by Major Ito was preparing for the first of January of the 2600th year of the Koki (imperial reign) era (1940); on that day they planned to conduct a raid on the American consulate in order to steal confidential documents and hand them over to the then prime minister, Fumimaro Konoe, to publicly denounce the arrogant behavior adopted by the United States and Britain all over Japan. On the day the plan was to be carried out, several young soldiers of the Himeji Regiment were to join in. All 47 people, coincidentally the same number as those participating in the raid of the 47 master-less samurai of Akoo, were waiting for the day of decisive action. The civilians involved were Ogawa and myself who were students. Our role was to receive the stolen documents and have them over to the Prime Minister Konoe. Kataoka was supposed to stand ready. However, the plan was not actually consummated due to the betrayal of some of our comrades who notified the authorities. All those taking part in this plan were arrested by the military police. This was known as the Kobe plot.

The following is an excerpt from the newly released Aikido Pioneers: Postwar Era, which contains in person accounts and insights with many of the closest post-WWII students of the founder of aikido, including Shoji...

The following is an excerpt from the newly released Aikido Pioneers: Postwar Era, which contains in person accounts and insights with many of the closest post-WWII students of the founder of aikido, including Mitsunari...

The following is an excerpt from the newly released Aikido Pioneers: Postwar Era, which contains in person accounts and insights with many of the closest post-WWII students of the founder of aikido, including Morihiro...

Those are all valid reasons, but the only one that really matters is the reason you are interested in the martial arts. So ask yourself, what do I really want? Why am I interested in training a martial art? That question and the answers you find will help guide you to the right martial art. Ultimately, this is a very personal question, and the answer depends entirely on where you are in your life, and where you want your path to take you.

25 years later: I was in my late 30s, I had gained a lot of weight, and I had been wishing my whole life that I had continued taking martial arts. So when I finally got up the courage to change my lifestyle, I lost a bunch of weight and decided it was time to explore martial arts again. It was time to stop regretting the past and pursue one of my bucket list items with a vengeance.

Like you, I spent a lot of time on the internet looking at different dojos and different martial arts styles in my local market (Salt Lake City). At this point in my life, some of my reasons had changed. I was no longer interested in being the Karate Kid. Here were some of my criteria:

The age-friendly aspect of Aikido is very different from most martial arts. Many arts are simply too aggressive or require too much physical strength/agility to continue training after you reach a certain age or physical condition.

At the end of the day, for me Aikido has application far beyond the walls of the dojo. Yes, it is fun, great exercise, mentally and physically challenging, and builds friendships that will last a lifetime. But perhaps more important, Aikido teaches principles of peace, kindness, humility, and harmony that can be applied to every aspect of life.

About the Author: Gerry Carpenter (3rd Dan Aikikai Aikido) is co-owner of Aikido of Salt Lake located near downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. His teachers include Philippe Wyffels (4th Dan Aikikai Aikido) of Salt Lake City and Roberto Maruyama (7th Dan Aikikai Aikido) of So Paulo, Brazil.

One of the things that first attracted me to aikido was watching two people practicing a technique when, suddenly, one of them went flying through the air several feet off the ground. Instead of crashing to the ground in a crumpled heap, he executed a beautiful roll and popped back up onto his feet, laughing and ready for more.

The practice was founded in the early twentieth century by Morihei Ueshiba. It was considered quite esoteric, with principles based on self-improvement through mastery of the mind and body, instead of combat training. The absence of winning or losing allows the participants to focus solely and mutually on their journeys. As such, the practice is actually a path to spiritual growth.

To prove her point, she asked me then to forget my centre and to focus on using my physical strength to stop her from bending it. My fist clenched and my muscles contracted in preparation, and because I am stronger than most assume, I suspected that she would have her work cut out for her. I was so wrong. This time, my arm shook as I tried my darndest to hold it straight. I lasted less than ten seconds. I was baffled.

Have you ever tried Aikido? If not, and if you feel to try even the simple techniques outlined in this article, we would love to hear about your experience in the comments below. What were your insights? How has it impacted you?

Thank you Briony Dalton for writing this article on Japanese martial arts especially about Aikido and introduced Melinda who is a great teacher for Aikido.My grandfather first introduced Aikido to me when I was fourteen.This technique helps me to be more attentive towards my work, Beside my everyday lifestyle and my official responsibilities, I quite often practice Aikido for improving my spiritual and physical health status.

Relax your body, and just be aware of how your body feels. Without changing anything, notice what you are feeling, and where you are feeling things in your body. If your body wants to adjust a little, let it. Be curious how it feels as your body relaxes. (Resist any temptation to analyze or think.)

On the mats, or outside, one should try and achieve harmony. In the dojo,we hope there are no crazies so we should not act crazy. Outside isanother matter. There are many crazies out there and we should harmonizewith them also. In the street, use street technique. If the person is alittle crazy, you should also be a little crazy.

Reminds me of a time I was working on the Trans-Canada Pipeline. I was ina small town after work having my first beer of the day (or was it mythird?). A motorcycle gang on its way through burst into the bar (it wasa one-bar town) in which I was the only patron. As they came over to me,I invited them to sit down and have a couple beers on me (I was being paidvery well just having finished about 50 hours of overtime that week).Since I am a cycle fancier, I got on very well with them discussing thepros and cons of my Triumph semi-chopped 500cc as well as their hogs. Theevening passed by quickly and entertainingly.

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