here is a thought or two:
planning for all the potential outcomes of a situation distracts us from the truth that surrounds us. our preparation and our preconceived notions are like filthy windshields.
here is a thought or two:
planning for all the potential outcomes of a situation distracts us from the truth that surrounds us. our preparation and our preconceived notions are like filthy windshields.
a masterpiece oft overlooked.
— rusty bonaparte
listen.
i was told that there are many dan holding aikido practitioners that are eager to use their techniques to display their physical abilities by defeating another person. at first that seems completely natural. study a martial art to be able to dominate another person. as long as the other person is an assailant, it is not offensive, it is commendable. i was told this is not real aikido. real aikido, i was told, is experienced when being cut off on the freeway. it is not about technique. it is not about beating anybody. it would go into greater detail but it would only bastardize the message. i have seen in myself and in others that the accumulation of technique and theory sometimes only refines one’s ego and one’s ability to express it. if you set yourself against anything you have the possibility of losing against it. all of that talk about harmony may sound banal but cliches are cliches because they are true in excess [sometimes.] if you do not set yourself against the person who cuts you off on the freeway you have no opponent, nothing to lose and nothing to win. nothing to lose is easy to come to terms with. nothing to win is difficult. some people have win deficits, others have win disorders. i suppose what i am saying is this: if you never set yourself against anybody, you never set yourself against anybody. now i know what you are thinking [that is a lie, i know what i am thinking which is this: ] what do you do if people set themselves against you? harmonize with them is the first thing that comes to mind, that is the obvious, aikido answer. yes, harmonizing with an attack is easy to learn in comparison with internal harmony. i haven’t found harmony with all of the negativity in the world, [directed at me and otherwise.] since i haven’t found it myself, i obviously cannot direct you to it, i’d be lying if i said that i could. or maybe i am lying now. i don’t know [that’s a lie, you don’t know, i do.] so what is the point? is it more important develop your physical prowess or your spiritual prowess? fuck, that is a baited question. of course it is neither [no it isn’t.] perhaps that isn’t the point. perhaps this is the point: it might be important to refine oneself spiritually when physically training martial arts. some would argue that spiritual refinement occurs naturally during the process of training. not everyone has been spiritually refined during their training and all generalizations are false. spiritual development must be dependent on the person [obviously.] i guess this is the point: i intend to continue to refine myself spiritually while training. or maybe the point is that i hope that my training refines me spiritually. spiritual development has longevity past the breaking down of the body [unless you lose your mind.] it might be called conflict deescalation. at the moment it seems like a diminishing internal aggression and egotistical tendencies. learning how not to be a prick in so many words. or perhaps it is learning how to be a prick at the proper time, or even learning that there is no prick. maybe it is all a sham. perhaps in attempting to reach past the clutches of human arrogance, aggression, and anxiety we are operating under the gravest pretense. after all, we are what we are [no we’re not.]
