There are some thoughts about O-sensei’s Aikido and its practical application in our lives. There is much more about Aikido, but even these three principles are too much for us to handle…
1. The Principle of Non-resistance to Force
An Aikido response is opposite to what many of us are conditioned to do when facing a difficult situation. The society-conditioned reaction of an average person is to resist or to deny the situation. An aikidoist’ momentary approach would be: “This is the situation. How can I use it to my advantage?” In fact, the whole Aikido training is about ingraining this approach on the level of your intuition.
In aikido you learn to go with the flow, accepting the aggressiveness of your partner and redirecting his own force creatively in order to neutralize him without harming.
“This is the situation. What is the lesson to learn here? How can I use it to my advantage?” – when you apply the same approach in life, your life stops being “hard” or “depressing”. Life becomes interesting, you start evolving.
2. The Principle of Emotional Non-Reaction
Aikido is a unique martial art because it’s not about fighting. There are no opponents – only partners. There is no aggressive sparring – you cooperate with your partner. There are even no competitions and medals – your victory is the victory over your “smaller” self.
Aikido is not even about defending yourself. When you feel no anger – you have no enemy to fight against. When you have no guilt, you have nothing to defend. When you have no emotional reaction to a life situation, you have the power to solve it constructively.
Your shield is your righteousness: when you do the right thing, you harmonize yourself with the Universe. When you are ONE with the Universe, it will automatically protect you through the Law of Karma.
3. The Principle of Ki (Qi) or Life Energy
There are many debates in the Aikido world about the existence of mysterious Кi. Whether you believe in it or not, does not matter. People-who-know work with and use Ki in their Aikido practice. There are many levels of Aikido training. In the beginning, it’s all about techniques and body mechanics. On the higher levels, it’s about energy. And that is why learning Aikido takes a lifetime. You do not learn Aikido, you mature into it.
On the surface, in your training you keep repeating the same basic techniques over and over again; but the act of constant polishing slowly opens a new dimension – the dimension of energy, even to a rationalist. You can get a glimpse of “Aikido magic” while training with a Master. And from that moment on you are hooked for life because you will ever seek to learn THAT-what-you-cannot-put-in-words.
We are multi-dimensional beings, not only physical. However, very few people know what are the implications and practical applications of this fact. When you become aware of the energy aspect of your being and when you learn how to utilize it positively and constructively, you will be able to enhance all aspects of your life – your physical, financial, relationship and spiritual wellbeing.
Yulia Pal. Sept. 2008
New Delhi Aikido Dojo