Being Strong
I ran into Maria Macapawa Sensei at the anniversary seminar of the Hong Kong Aikido Association in 2011. We both used to train under the late Kenneth Cottier Shihan. I was really delighted to see my sempai after all these years.
After catching up with each other, Maria told me an interesting and inspiring story.
Maria was attending an Aikido seminar. Fukakusa Shihan of Thailand was the instructor of the class. At one point, Sensei came over to Maria and asked, "Maria, why are you only practicing with the men?" "Sensei, I want to practice more with men so that I can become stronger," Maria said. "No, Maria! You are ALREADY strong enough! You don't need to be any stronger. Don't turn yourself into a man!!!" Fukakusa Sensei shook his head. "You have to understand that women are actually very strong. I'd love to see the men learn more from the women. Please practice more with women so that we have more good aikido women to help teach the men!"
This reminds me of a quote from O Sensei:
"You do not come to Aikido to learn how to be stronger because you are already strong enough. You come to Aikido to learn how not to be weak."
Aikido is not about size or strength or speed. Just think about how swiftly O Sensei moved as we can see in archival footages. Even in his later days, he could handle a big group of much younger, bigger and stronger students without using any force.
Bruce Lee once said that practicing martial arts is not about getting stronger, but is about learning how to get the most out of the body you have.
I believe it is true for everybody -- men and women alike. If you can only perceive power through force and impact, you are totaling missing the point.
After catching up with each other, Maria told me an interesting and inspiring story.
Maria was attending an Aikido seminar. Fukakusa Shihan of Thailand was the instructor of the class. At one point, Sensei came over to Maria and asked, "Maria, why are you only practicing with the men?" "Sensei, I want to practice more with men so that I can become stronger," Maria said. "No, Maria! You are ALREADY strong enough! You don't need to be any stronger. Don't turn yourself into a man!!!" Fukakusa Sensei shook his head. "You have to understand that women are actually very strong. I'd love to see the men learn more from the women. Please practice more with women so that we have more good aikido women to help teach the men!"
This reminds me of a quote from O Sensei:
"You do not come to Aikido to learn how to be stronger because you are already strong enough. You come to Aikido to learn how not to be weak."
Aikido is not about size or strength or speed. Just think about how swiftly O Sensei moved as we can see in archival footages. Even in his later days, he could handle a big group of much younger, bigger and stronger students without using any force.
Bruce Lee once said that practicing martial arts is not about getting stronger, but is about learning how to get the most out of the body you have.
I believe it is true for everybody -- men and women alike. If you can only perceive power through force and impact, you are totaling missing the point.
Comments
Post a Comment