Got Juice?
A few months ago, I came across an interesting article about a lecture taught by the late Dr Wayne W. Dyer.
To summarize the lesson: when we squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out because it is what is inside. The same is true about us. When pressured, if anger, fear or other negative emotions is what comes out of us, it is simply because it is what we have allowed to be inside of us. To live a highly functioning life, Dr Dyer suggests that we replace negative things in our lives with love.
As Aikido students, our training exposes us to all kinds of stressful situations. Since Day One, our partner comes to attack us with strikes and grabs. It can be quite scary for a beginner. As we progress, we are expected to do randori (dealing with random attacks by multiple attackers). It is natural for everybody to feel vulnerable and threatened when faced with several attackers simultaneously. It is not unusual for even the most gentle and nice people to suddenly act fearful and brutal with a lot of frantic energy.
Aikido is more than just physical training. It is ultimately a training of the mind and spirit. With practice, hopefully, we learn to replace fear with more constructive responses. Through repeated exposure to potential danger, we may become capable of handling stressful situations with compassion and a calm mind, rather than fear, anger and violence.
To intentionally fill the inside of oneself with desirable qualities is a long process. It takes a lot of time and determination. Many, many hours of hard work is required to prepare ourselves for the ultimate moment of truth when life squeezes us hard. Therefore, it is very important for Aikido students to remember to polish our minds as we work on our physical techniques. No matter what techniques you learn to do, without a strong mind to support it from within, the physical moves are nothing more than a rigid shell that is brittle and fragile.
Seishiro Endo Sensei once used this metaphor: Aikido is like a carriage with two wheels. One wheel is called "Techniques". The other one is called "Spirit". To move forward, an Aikido student needs to work on growing his physical abilities and his spirit evenly so that the two wheels of this carriage are of the same size. If one only grows one wheel but neglects the other, his Aikido carriage will only spin in place.
https://www.drwaynedyer.com/blog/why-the-inside-matters/
To summarize the lesson: when we squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out because it is what is inside. The same is true about us. When pressured, if anger, fear or other negative emotions is what comes out of us, it is simply because it is what we have allowed to be inside of us. To live a highly functioning life, Dr Dyer suggests that we replace negative things in our lives with love.
As Aikido students, our training exposes us to all kinds of stressful situations. Since Day One, our partner comes to attack us with strikes and grabs. It can be quite scary for a beginner. As we progress, we are expected to do randori (dealing with random attacks by multiple attackers). It is natural for everybody to feel vulnerable and threatened when faced with several attackers simultaneously. It is not unusual for even the most gentle and nice people to suddenly act fearful and brutal with a lot of frantic energy.
Aikido is more than just physical training. It is ultimately a training of the mind and spirit. With practice, hopefully, we learn to replace fear with more constructive responses. Through repeated exposure to potential danger, we may become capable of handling stressful situations with compassion and a calm mind, rather than fear, anger and violence.
To intentionally fill the inside of oneself with desirable qualities is a long process. It takes a lot of time and determination. Many, many hours of hard work is required to prepare ourselves for the ultimate moment of truth when life squeezes us hard. Therefore, it is very important for Aikido students to remember to polish our minds as we work on our physical techniques. No matter what techniques you learn to do, without a strong mind to support it from within, the physical moves are nothing more than a rigid shell that is brittle and fragile.
Seishiro Endo Sensei once used this metaphor: Aikido is like a carriage with two wheels. One wheel is called "Techniques". The other one is called "Spirit". To move forward, an Aikido student needs to work on growing his physical abilities and his spirit evenly so that the two wheels of this carriage are of the same size. If one only grows one wheel but neglects the other, his Aikido carriage will only spin in place.
https://www.drwaynedyer.com/blog/why-the-inside-matters/
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