Tag: Timing

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Aikido in Daily Life: October 2018

We come to our dojo to train so that we’re better able to apply the principles of aikido in our daily lives.

Ma’ai… Time, options, and our decisional space. The practice of aikido emphasizes relationships in space and in time. We strive for a harmonious spacing or ma’ai when we’re practicing in the dojo. Our goal, however, is to take that concept and use it in our daily lives. Ma’ai is a particularly useful concept when we use it to shape our decision-making. 

We’re all faced with many decisions, some decisions are relatively minor:  “Should I get another cup of coffee?” Other decisions are much more significant: “Should I engage in a violent act that may alter my life or someone else’s life forever?” Sometimes we have a great deal of time and information to use in our consideration of the options and other times we have to decide in a split second. Regardless of the situation or the decision, we have a set of options that decrease over time. 

By focusing on proper ma’ai in this context, we can grow our ability to make decisions early and when we have many options available to us. This leads to a couple of things. First, it helps us respond sooner, or be more responsible. Second, it shapes how we apply our personal power in our lives by being intentional and effective with our influence.  

 

By Nate Weed

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Aikido in Daily Life: May 2018

We come to our dojo to train so that we’re better able to apply the principles of aikido in our daily lives…

Timing is highlighted in some of the first techniques we learn in Aikido. The notion of a kokyunage is interesting because the timing necessary to make  a kokyunage work is really the same timing as most other natural things. That said, trying to make that timing happen is challenging. Each Saturday at 7:00 in the morning, our dojo hosts an hour of bell misogi. This practice is largely meditative while providing an opportunity to unify mind and body. It also requires that each stroke of the bell be in harmony with every other stroke. Again, staying in harmony with that timing is challenging.  

In our daily lives, there are so many things where a natural rhythm clearly exists. And, it’s not an easy task to live in harmony with those rhythms. As human beings, we allow our egos to get involved and “second guess,” ignore, or override the natural timing. We also let our minds begin to intervene by analyzing and strategizing how to act in a way that tunes into these rhythms. When we do this, it takes extra energy and creates additional barriers to accomplishing our tasks and goals. 

As Aikido students, we have many opportunities when we’re in the dojo to explore ways to shed some of our mental, physical, and even spiritual “insulation” that prevents us from feeling and simply flowing with the rhythm of the universal energy.  The next step is to take those lessons with us when we leave the dojo and apply them in our daily lives. 

By Nate Weed