Mindful Martial Arts » Aikido

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba 1935

admin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:38 +0000

An elegant history lesson…

Aikido, The Samurai Spirit

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:00:26 +0000

This is a fantastic video!

Mastery vs. The Quick Fix

admin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:55:15 +0000

George Leonard, in his book “The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons from an American Sensei” raises some insightful points about Mastery vs. The Quick Fix. Our consumerist culture offers copious false promises of easy, effortless results. We are, for the most part, a quick-fix instant gratification culture, striving to find the next minimum-effort, maximum gain endeavour. Mastery doesn’t come in a plastic egg from a gum ball machine, and yet our society is full of promises: to gain health without exercise, to eat cookies for weight loss, to gain enlightenment through yet another self-help book. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder: has God become a quick fix? Pray, and everything will get better. Was historical Christianity a band-aid solution for the instability of the Roman Empire, and therefore a means to elicit control over the people? Give them a faith and enforce it through legal means. I have no idea, and not the ego to make such blanket statements with 100% certainty because I don’t think there is an answer Personally, I cannot adhere to a faith because I was simply taught that “that’s the way” or because a book tells me so. To me, this is the Quick Fix vs. Mastery. I believe that finding my spiritual path is going to be a fluid, organic, and life-long journey. I don’t expect easy and effortless results. Rather, I hope for emancipation from that which the modern, Western world teaches us that God is and isn’t, and find my peace in the end!

The Way of Aikido

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:30:13 +0000

I am currently reading The Way of Aikido (Life Lessons from an American Sensei) by George Leonard… “To practice Aikido in a meditative state can bring great joy.”

I would imagine that a meditative state would bring to joy to nearly everything. Mindfulness is often highly underrated and often overlooked in this era of panicked rushing. Personally, I am feeling more drawn to Aikido because of its underlying spiritual principles. The effortlessness in the doing, but the mindfulness in the action strikes me as very Taoist, and is extremely appealing. Each time I pick up George Leonard’s book “The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons from an American Sensei”, I feel as though I personally have learned another life lesson.