an early weapons class
the air is cold and crisp
faint smell of linseed oil
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Nonviolent and Peaceful
"The more evolved one becomes, the more evident it becomes that the strike may not be needed.
Yet for the master of Aikido, this is a freely chosen decision. Aikido students who speak so proudly
of their art as 'nonviolent' and 'peaceful' are actually referring to the mind of a very highly evolved
master who has the internal confidence to nonviolently maintain control of the external influences
despite the level of danger.
The irony often lost on those students is that this confidence is a result of having the capability of ending the threat at any moment with one strike.
It is the capability to destroy the threat that grants the Aikido master the luxury of saving the enemy's life. He may simply 'show' the enemy his opening without necessarily exploiting it.
This is a highly evolved level of any martial art which takes years of practice and practical experience. The beginners who claim they are practicing this are, frankly, talking over their heads."
"A pacifist is not really a pacifist if he is unable to make a choice between violence and non-violence.
A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy, he chooses non-violence."
"I recall a presentation 2nd Doshu gave to the Japan Martial Arts Society in the 1980's, and someone raised his hand as asked just when it was that Osensei became a pacifist. After the translation, Doshu looked rather puzzled, and asked for clarification, and the question was asked again.
Doshu seemed to be suppressing giggles, and said, in effect, that his father was never a pacifist, nor was aikido a pacifist practice. "After all, it is a martial art", he said.
He then continued on to say, vaguely but accurately that his father created something new, that was outside the dualism of violence and non-violence.
The irony often lost on those students is that this confidence is a result of having the capability of ending the threat at any moment with one strike.
It is the capability to destroy the threat that grants the Aikido master the luxury of saving the enemy's life. He may simply 'show' the enemy his opening without necessarily exploiting it.
This is a highly evolved level of any martial art which takes years of practice and practical experience. The beginners who claim they are practicing this are, frankly, talking over their heads."
- Shannon Kawika Phelps, Shorinjin Ryu Saito Ninjitsu
Aikido Journal
"A pacifist is not really a pacifist if he is unable to make a choice between violence and non-violence.
A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy, he chooses non-violence."
- Yukiyoshi Takamura, Shindo Yoshin-ryu jujutsu
"I recall a presentation 2nd Doshu gave to the Japan Martial Arts Society in the 1980's, and someone raised his hand as asked just when it was that Osensei became a pacifist. After the translation, Doshu looked rather puzzled, and asked for clarification, and the question was asked again.
Doshu seemed to be suppressing giggles, and said, in effect, that his father was never a pacifist, nor was aikido a pacifist practice. "After all, it is a martial art", he said.
He then continued on to say, vaguely but accurately that his father created something new, that was outside the dualism of violence and non-violence.
- Ellis Amdur, Aikido, Araki-ryu and Toda-ha Buko-ryu
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