Training with Joy....

For a while now I have had a gnawing feeling that something's been missing from our practice - or to be more precise, from my own practice.

And it struck me that perhaps over the last little while the lightness has not been there. O-Sensei exhorted us to train with Joy; one's aikido practice should be an en-lightening experience.

This last while has been stressful, filled with aggravation and even aggression. And filled with human suffering. And in the midst of all that, it was easy to forget the good in life, the fundamental goodness of all human beings that O-Sensei often spoke of; the Universal Love that is at the heart of aikido - and should be present in our practice.

In our daily lives, beset as we are by work pressures, exams & deadlines, relationship woes or other challenges, we often close ourselves down, reducing our focus to the immediate problems. In focusing that narrowly though, often our whole experience becomes reduced to that issue.
Similarly on the tatami, we focus on the attack, ready ourselves for our response - and get drawn to the fist or strike or get locked in the grip - often anticipating the attack before it is formed.

And unsurprisingly, we find ourselves stuck, or blocked - or worse.

The challenge is to find the lightness, the joy in the movement, the ease that comes from the point of stillness at the centre of our being, rather than the dis-ease that comes when life threatens to overwhelm us.

Our internal state does and will influence our external practice. By the same token though, our external practice can and should serve to shift our internal state. Forcing it though does not help. Focusing so hard that you frustrate yourself is not the answer.
The challenge is to relax into the movement, to reach out to your partner, to be grateful for the opportunity to learn that is being presented - especially to learn about yourself, and the joy that burns within.

So here's looking forward to taking up our practice again - with a smile on our face - that comes from deep within.....

See you on the tatami soon