Maryland Lottery
Practice is an attempt to build a habit for oneself through repetitions. No matter what you do, the process is almost always a combination of physical practice using your body and spiritual practice with your mind. As Seishiro Endo Sensei, one of my favorite teachers once said about Aikido: It is like a carriage of two wheels -- one called physical practice; the other one called spiritual advancement. If one wheel is larger than the other, you are bound to spin in place.
The basic premise of Aikido practice is to help people develop a strong mind through vigorous physical practice. The idea is that the improved physical abilities outside may enhance the self confidence inside people. It is a system that works for some people, but not for all. Some seem to get stuck after a certain point. Upon careful inspection, I find that a lot of people continue to carry a lot of fear inside of them despite the many years they spent in Aikido. And that fear is the ultimate obstacle to their advancement.
Practicing with fear in your heart can grow into a habit -- a habit that hurts you. The more repetitions you do, the more it is reinforced.
I always wonder if it is possible to teach someone to be not afraid. How do you tell someone to stop fearing? It just is not that simple.
Aikido partners are friends. Nobody is there to really hurt you. As much as we try to be realistic about our practice, most of the times, there is no real consequence even if you fail to perform a technique or to get out of the way. Why do we have to be so afraid?
Many times, as instructors, we try to appeal to students that they need to move out of the way of their partners because if they do not, they may get hit. With time, unfortunately, I find that many students grow to be overly sensitized to the possibility of being hit. Their responses become something based on fear.
I was just talking with a student the other day about his ukemi. He is young and agile. When he is uke, he is very responsive. However, instead of moving to a new, safe position where he can attack again, he is, basically, just running away from hits the entire time. He is escaping. He has already turned himself from an attacker to the one being attacked. In martial arts, evasion is futile. As a result, he often paints himself into a corner.
I figure that students must be confused by my seemingly contradictory rhetorics: "Practice seriously and realistically!" and "C'mon! Relax. Take it easy!" To me, they are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary.
Aikido is a simulation of real life situations; it is not real life. In the worst case, you fall down, get back up, and you bounce around again with a new life like Super Mario!
Even if you do not believe me, listen to the Maryland Lottery slogan: Let Yourself Play!
The basic premise of Aikido practice is to help people develop a strong mind through vigorous physical practice. The idea is that the improved physical abilities outside may enhance the self confidence inside people. It is a system that works for some people, but not for all. Some seem to get stuck after a certain point. Upon careful inspection, I find that a lot of people continue to carry a lot of fear inside of them despite the many years they spent in Aikido. And that fear is the ultimate obstacle to their advancement.
Practicing with fear in your heart can grow into a habit -- a habit that hurts you. The more repetitions you do, the more it is reinforced.
I always wonder if it is possible to teach someone to be not afraid. How do you tell someone to stop fearing? It just is not that simple.
Aikido partners are friends. Nobody is there to really hurt you. As much as we try to be realistic about our practice, most of the times, there is no real consequence even if you fail to perform a technique or to get out of the way. Why do we have to be so afraid?
Many times, as instructors, we try to appeal to students that they need to move out of the way of their partners because if they do not, they may get hit. With time, unfortunately, I find that many students grow to be overly sensitized to the possibility of being hit. Their responses become something based on fear.
I was just talking with a student the other day about his ukemi. He is young and agile. When he is uke, he is very responsive. However, instead of moving to a new, safe position where he can attack again, he is, basically, just running away from hits the entire time. He is escaping. He has already turned himself from an attacker to the one being attacked. In martial arts, evasion is futile. As a result, he often paints himself into a corner.
I figure that students must be confused by my seemingly contradictory rhetorics: "Practice seriously and realistically!" and "C'mon! Relax. Take it easy!" To me, they are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary.
Aikido is a simulation of real life situations; it is not real life. In the worst case, you fall down, get back up, and you bounce around again with a new life like Super Mario!
Even if you do not believe me, listen to the Maryland Lottery slogan: Let Yourself Play!
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