What Does Courage Look Like Now? - November 2024
“Aikido makes you look at your impatience, your arrogance, your meanness, cruelty clumsiness, cowardness…all those qualities in you maybe you need to look at. It’ll show your bravery and compassion, love, joy, and sweetness and it will show you those qualities in other people. It’s very easy to go clutchy under pressure, but it’s really the mark of you if you can relax under it.” - Terry Dobson
The profound spiritual teacher and martial arts master Morihei Ueshiba O Sensei said it: “Aikido is medicine for a sick world.” I am struck by how he began calling his martial system “The Way of Harmony and Love” in 1942 amid one of the darkest times in our history: World War II. O Sensei radically re-envisioned the fighting art of Daito-ryu, transforming it into a movement prayer for peace. Our practice of Aikido is therefore a perfect antidote for this nadir moment in national politics. The essence of our training urges us to take responsibility for meeting our world with a luminous center, a grounded stance, and a deep sense of self-trust to love near and far.
No escaping it. For those of us who found the recent election results incomprehensible, the question roars out: what do we do now? How do we participate as a citizen in a country whose leader disparages its people? We acknowledge the sadness or uncertainty we might feel now, and we know in our souls that we must meet the day with a sense of hope and rigorous action. When we step onto the mat, we feel the luxury to stand boldly on our feet in the face of an attack. Over and over a strike comes at the top of our heads; we meet the force with keen awareness, correct stance and precise timing. We study how to be at the right place at the right time so we can upset our opponent’s balance and keep them unbalanced as we lead them to the floor and pin …. firmly, gently, so they can’t get up. We can protect ourselves and our opponents with clarity, not force. I reflect on what a great metaphor this is for coping with life’s daily stresses. Sorrow has its place and we can follow it up with courageous action.
All of us have our versions of “what does courage look like now?” Our combined feelings create a force field of positive ki. We need each other. We need our communities. We need to combat our dis-ease and fear with love and support. The contemplative teacher and author Jack Kornfield says: “this is the moment we’ve been practicing for.” Neither Aikido nor Buddhism promised a way without conflict, only a practice of resolution.
I’m so glad to be in it with you.
I take heart in the fundamental message of O Sensei’s teachings: masaka agatsu katsuhayabi. True Victory, self-victory that extends beyond time and space. It’s one of the primary teachings introduced to me and others by Mary Heiny Sensei at the Seattle School of Aikido. The first part translates as “true victory is a victory over the self.” If we can establish the appropriate purpose and truth of our lives, then katsu hayabi, the speed beyond light, will manifest in every moment of our radiant existence. It’s upon us now to cultivate this inner courage; to witness the truth of how our society’s structures are in danger of fracture and to breath hope and courage into our Aikido. This will make our art a model of transformation to a global loving kindness and equanimity. I am grateful for the opportunity to study and share these precious teachings with you all on and off the mat.
In spirit,
Kimberly Richardson