Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Spirit of Aikido


Human beings are born from the interchange of Heaven (A) and Earth (U). Standing between the two, consciousness begins as (Wa=UA) Heaven refers to sunshine, the air we breathe, and even our highest aspirations. Earth is gross matter, the ground of being, and our physical body itself. When water ki (O) flows through the earth the vitality of the life force (Yo) is awakened from its slumber and the life will (I) begins to reach towards it’s highest aspirations (A), the manifestation of its own perfection. 
This process takes place in the life of every child, yet too often this fountain of youth runs dry and vitality is lost before wisdom can be realized. The balance of our soul and spirit needs to be maintain through proper training in Aiki. In this way we maintain and further develop the harmonious interchange between will (I) and vitality (O). When vitality becomes dominant over the will, we lose the unified focus of intention (Yi) and the wisdom of Aiki (Gokui) is missed. What an incredible waste