Two Hundred and Three

"Like the balance embodied in the equinox, a balanced life and a balanced culture are both possible and necessary. In an act of cosmic irony tied closely to the celestial imperatives of the equinox, grand ideas coming out of science and cosmology are setting the stage for such a change." - The Tyranny of Modern Time by Adam Frank, posted 9/23/11 on 13.7 Cosmos and Culture.

I'm continually reminded of the close connection between Aikido and cosmology. Aikido presents me with a way of being in the world, a mechanism by which I can relate myself to the rest of creation on a variety of scales, both time and distance.

Aikido brings balance to my life which in turn helps bring balance to the culture, albeit at a "quantum" scale. I am one person in a roiling sea of humanity. One person who has achieved balance and lives in relative harmony amid the chaotic maelstrom of modern life. By providing a space for others to explore their Aikido and hopefully bring their own lives into balance, Mary and I contribute a little bit towards the further balancing of our culture. For if it's going to happen, if we're ever to rise above the pettiness that has crept into life in the Modern Age, change will have to come one person at a time.

The true nature of O Sensei's gift of Aikido is the ability to affect just such a change of attitude in the folks who undertake their study seriously. So while science and cosmology set the stage for the change on a cosmic scale, Aikido works on a much smaller scale engendering a new attitude at the level of the individual. I undoubtedly won't live long enough to see the emergence of a new cultural balance on anything like a grand scale but it's with some satisfaction that I can look back and say that I've contributed to its growth.

Two Hundred and Two

It has been said that continued practice of something done incorrectly will not lead to any improvement. Interesting. The underlying assumption is that the incorrect practice is repeated over and over in exactly the same manner. That's not really practice though, is it? It's nothing more than mindless repetition. Practice entails iterations of performance, analysis, correction and refinement.

Aikido practice is a process of self discovery whereby I continually engender changes within myself via analysis of my performance so that I may make corrections to refine the totality of the interaction with my partner in order to improve my performance. Aikido is a wonderfully self correcting activity.

When I began my study I was able to rely on muscle power in order to effect the execution of technique. As I moved along the path and ukes became less willing to just roll over for me I had to find another way to perform that relied less on muscle and more on the principles of Aikido that were presented to me by Maruyama Sensei. In short, I had to find correct feeling, and once felt, strengthen and polish it. The process is like watching hair grow. The road from baldness to shoulder length hair is crystal clear in hindsight while altogether invisible day to day. Growth in Aikido and my attainment of correct feeling is the same; no "Ah ha, I've got it!!!" moment; just a gradual continual improvement due to daily practice.

To continue to grow I must practice mindfully in order to be able to analyze, correct and refine my performance.