Respect your partner’s ki (don’t interfere with their chosen direction), don’t become the attacker, cause no harm and, ‘the enemy is within ourselves’ not in the attacker. None of the above are signs of weakness but properly employed enable great power to be manifested, a power used not to destroy an enemy but to save a misguided soul from harm. If you think this is nuts then check out O-Sensei, Tohei, and modern teachers like Paul Linden. None of them hurt their partners, it looks like some teachers today, do. If we want to have harmony of spirit and be one with the universal, we might have to consider this in daily life, because on the mat we dispense with engaging verbally with our partner (attacker for want of better word). Instead of ‘sorry pal if I have upset you, how can I put it right with you?’ we immediately escalate to a staged violent confrontation and use our aikido to teach them a lesson! We all end up with an opinion and then seek evidence that supports it, but only by questioning and leaving our comfort zone will we progress towards the peaceful art of aikdo – an art to reconcile the world. What do you think? Richard Small
Sent from Mail for Windows 10