2006 started with a bang - or more precisely a spark, a flame and ultimately a conflagration that engulfed much of the Peninsula. A chance cigarette butt, tossed negligently out of a car window wreaked havoc on the mountainside causing huge damage, leaving very visible blackened scars and even causing the death of a British tourist who was overcome by the smoke.
Even now, as I sit here in a farm-house in the Overberg the devastation of another fire is all too visible. Around me about 400 hectares of the unique fynbos vegetation of this part of the world was destroyed. Only quick thinking of the owners ensured that the farm-houses survived the flames.

This season of flames, of seeing nature's fury night after night from my balcony in the city, made me think of the elemental nature of our training. We're constantly balancing the four elements - fire,air, water and earth - in our training. Fire fills us with the passion and inspiration to practice, air (or kokyu rokyu) ensures that we have the relaxed connection to the universe that allows us to act without attachment, water gives us the flow to move circularly emulating the spirals in the universe and earth ensures we are grounded squarely in proper technique and good posture to channel all of this energy.

In order to gain the full benefit of our aikido training, it is necessary to find the balance between these elements - too much fire and we risk overheating and burning ourselves up (and possibly destroying uke); too much air in our practice and we may forget the realities of actual combat or a self-defence situation; too much water and our techniques lose the focus we need to take control of the situation; too much earth and we remain stuck in the face of an attack, unable to move quickly enough out of harm's way. So it is in finding the balance between these elements that the secret lies hidden. And for each of us that balance will be different because we may already have an excess of one or more of the elements. Through our practice then we need to awaken the dormant elements and calm down the hyper-excited ones.
As we practice and become aware of our own and others' actions and reactions, we will start to change - where we might have been shy and retiring, we may find ourselves moving more confidently; where before we might have brash and impulsive, finding the balance calms us down and makes us more thoughtful, strategic.

Just like the seasons are changing now and the blazing summer heat makes way for slightly cooler evenings of autumns and the plants gear up for the hibernation that winter brings, so too each of the elements are important, essential even and appropriate at different times. Knowing how to act appropriately and equally importantly, when to do so, is the product of a self-awareness, and a confidence that comes with regular practice.

See you on the mat

Ghalib