Sensei Berry on Aikido

I had a question and answer session with one of my former students a few months ago when he stated that you cannot change your past.  I have proven to his satisfaction that his interpretation is incorrect since I have specifically experienced the contrary.  The question to be asked: Where does this type of thought come from?  Is it a societal consciousness or just a lack of thinking a thing through?  Or do we think as collective individuals?  Group thought is more pervasive than many realize.

Just because a thing has never been done before does not make it impossible, be it a new thought process or an Aikido technique. Otherwise, how can we progress as human beings?  It’s normally called evolution (slow change) or revolution (quick change).

Students are not possessions.  Is it not the job of the martial arts instructor to foster growth in his or her student, or is it to gain and keep students around forever?

I say all that as a way of explanation for the statement,”former student.”   The person I refer to is one of a few former students now serving in the ministry of GOD. I can’t claim credit for that. I have students in many walks of life but more are lawyers than any other profession.  My point is this: Martial arts training is just a stepping stone in life. Some merely stay a few years longer than others.  But make no doubt about it, all of them  eventually leave. This and all training, martial or otherwise, is a means to an end!

Now, about that predicting the future; you must open your mind.  You can often see what’s down the road if you open yourself up to how the universe truly works. If you look deeply enough, really see and observe universal laws in action, quiet your mind sufficiently, acting rationally and with correct and positive intentions you can predict the future with fairly certain accuracy.

However, to successfully predict the future, one must insert the points I mentioned in the previous paragraph into your past….and add them to  your present.

Was my comment on being able to predict the future correct?  I chose not to use this idea in my last blog as I felt it would distract from the more important issue at hand.  Perhaps my thinking was flawed.

Do you know for sure that one cannot see the future?  Just because an act has never been scientifically validated is not cause for denial is it?

I’ve written a blog on the hermetic principle, “cause and effect.” I have seen and experienced this most natural law. With the possession of enough facts can one not predict an outcome in certain situations? Consider a close look at the fraternal Rosicrucian Order, or you  may search for it as it is officially known, “AMORC,” or  ”Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis” an international organization which is old, old, old, going back to the old Egyptian empire days.

Anyway, it is in my experience that we set the future by correctly living in the present.  Correct thinking?  My usage of the word “living,” would be synonymous with “being.”  Consider your existence as a human being with the emphasis on the verb,”being,” not the noun, “human.” After living your life this way for several months talk to me about your new experiences.  Then tell me what you are feeling?

There has been to date, 14 responses to my musings on “time to leave.”  Actually it felt more like I lit a fire and no one called the fire department while the house was burning down.

Well, the house is still standing and I’ve received much advice and concerns.  For all those concerned, thank you. For the guy who said “nobody likes a quitter,” walk a mile in my shoes before you make that kind of comment. (just kidding)

In response to concerns of my current state of mind consider this: No one knows what the future brings. Or if there is to be a future considering the way many in the present are acting.  Can you predict what will happen in the next day or two?  How about in the next moment?  If you could have back the last three years, what would you change and what would you do differently?

Has your training and your accomplishments been satisfactory?  I can answer both yes and no to the last question.  And I’m in charge of my life, am I not?  Believe me I would like to think I’m in charge.

The truth of the matter is I’ve not been in command as I should be.  I’ve given too much power to others. By that I mean some thoughts drifting into my subconscious during the last few years came from elsewhere and I know that should not be.

I’ve found that when I let up a little, too many random thought-patterns come in, though not necessarily from stronger minds, it’s just too many  minds collectively thinking the same weak, negative thoughts.  Collectively they have the capacity to wear one down in much the same way a large group can overwhelm  one person physically. It just takes many, many more working overtime to do it mentally.

While that is no excuse for my outburst, it is my wakeup call.  The truth of the matter is that I am, as I said in that last blog, responsible for my own happiness and well-being and no one else.  I’m on this path and teaching myself during this journey and invited others to travel with me.  Some travel as students, others as friends, there have even been a couple traveling as adversaries but we are all on the path.  When the time is right for me to step off the path, or maybe I should say hit an intersection and head down a different path I will know it and so will many of you.

In the mean time, train on.

We recently put down a new mat; right on top of the old one.  We didn’t even the remove the old canvas.  But we did extent the mat from wall to wall.

What a challenge we encountered at 8:30 in the morning.  The new mat material is 2 inches thick, 6 feet wide and 42 feet long and covered with carpet material. In fact, it is a  gymnastics mat.  It came in 4 tightly rolled bundles. We knew when ordered that they would not fit through the door so we were four people strong.  (guest what, not enough people) We had to unroll each mat and snake it through the door, up the stairs to the second floor, around the corner, down the hall, through the dojo door then lay it down with chairs on each end for several hours to get it to lay flat.  Consider that process times four.  Two hours later we were done the bull work.

5pm that afternoon we started the process of fitting the 4 pieces together, cutting them to length and filling in the corners and odd nooks.  The joints are covered and held together with 5 inch wide velcro strips and fit very nice.  Just about the whole dojo joined together to put it down. Nice work, everybody.

The question usually comes up as: What does the future hold?  Then comes: Is there an answer?

Short version, Yes!

Realistically I may not know the exact answer.  However, why concern myself over what I cannot control.  But that calls up another idea.  Do we or do we not draw to us what we agonize over? And is that not an ancillary form of control?

The answer is both yes and no.  The truth is, most things we worry about will never materialize.  That said, consider this: We really do draw to ourselves whatever happens.  As I’ve stated before, most situations we find ourselves in are a result of what we did or did not do. Even though we may have agonized over some supposedly detrimental situation, it usually comes ( if it comes at all) in a manner or form we do not expect.

Getting to the essence of all this stuff requires no more than a simple and practical “thought” equation one must bring into play.

Learn from the past; Prepare for the future; Live in the present!

That’s all there is, there ain’t no more; just the eternal NOW!

In writing the book “Stepping Off the Mat,” I had no idea the mental training and conditioning of Aikido would come in handy in a completely new and different direction.   To be completely honest I know all about the mental aspiration and preparation for surgery since I’ve had 4 major operations in my adult life.  I knew the necessity of relaxation in preparation for surgery I just did not realize I would have to use it during the  surgery yesterday morning.

Cataract surgery is done with the patient fully conscious, fully awake.  They place an IV in the arm for an anesthesia just in case of an emergency but unless something happens it is not used, which was the case yesterday.   I knew this before hand I just thought they would administer something to make me drowsy.   Nope, it didn’t happen.

I was told to stare at the bright light overhead which I did.  They covered up my other eye and placed a cloth around and against my eyelids so I could not blink and started in. Of course, they put multiple drops in my eye to dilate it in the  pre-operation procedure and gave me a valium tablet as a relaxer.

The Aikido training I applied as I was asked to relax.  It was difficult to do when I’ve never had someone fiddling around in my eye for the first time.  What added to the strange sensation is there was no pain just that odd little pulling and nipping.  The doctor must cut the membrane then cut and vacuum out the old lens and implant  a permanent artificial lens so the sounds are not very reassuring either.

I focused on the bright light and on my breathing.  It’s very interesting that I was not going back and forth between the two.  I  simply noticed my breath  as a background happening in addition to the light.

As I’ve explained to my students over and over, relaxation is the key, or ki to everything.  The actual procedure only takes 7 and a half minutes, but those 7.5 minutes seem like an eternity when you are under the knife.  Most fights never last that long.

I’m fine now, though my left eye has not yet regained its full focus.  No physical Aikido, no bending forward and no driving for the remainder of the week and not pressure or rubbing on the eye for two weeks.

After Michael Jackson died Thursday, I went online early Friday morning and checked out Amazon.com.  It is amazing how profits and monetary considerations affect people. What I was looking for was the 1983 video, “Motown 25, Yesterday, Today,  Forever.”  What I found was $19.99 crossed out and a new listing of $129.99 for the collectors version VHS tape on sale. Now I find some listed for prices of $69.00 to $199.00

Today’s newspaper commentary headline shouted “Mega-wealthy survivors have never had it so good.  They were talking about the drop in prices for goods and services which we average folks have trouble buying because of salary reductions and/or layoffs.  It was also stated that the number of millionaires listed dropped significantly.  The super wealthy have no such problems.  However, wealth is relative as is everything else.

When you consider health, money may buy extremely good doctors’ care, but when you look at all the celebrities dying lately, money doesn’t seem to have helped much.  Michael had his own cardiac specialist right there in the house and it didn’t save him.

However, speaking of wealth, feeling GREAT is priceless! When I look around the country and throughout Kokikai, I realize that one cannot put a price tag on having a multitude of friends.

When I look at our dojo with Wilmington Aikido, Sanuces Ryu Jujitsu and Quiet Storm members I realize how truly blessed I am.

Consider this: I am extremely wealthy primarily because of my attitude, belief structure, convictions, dedicated martial arts principles and way of life.  It took me a while to get here.

Anyone care to join me?

What is Aikido?  Why do we practice this art of throwing and neutralization?  To begin with, I do not practice for the sake of self-defense, nor have I felt the need to work on that aspect of life for a number of years.  Although it is true that we train through the medium of attack and defense, the art-form  and concept is realized mentally rather than physically.

Physical confrontations develop in accordance with misunderstandings and ignorance.  The higher a person evolves mentally and spiritually the greater the likelihood of a peaceful resolution of a conflict.  This can be likened to a math problem: when an equation is worked properly, the equation will be balanced on both sides of the “equal” sign.

If the attacker is one-half of the equation and the defender is the other half, the Aikido technique used correctly through mental preparation could be considered the equal sign. Or better yet, expericencing correct spiritual preparation one could avoid the confrontation altogether simply changing it to lively conversation.

Life is full of complex problems, trials and tribulations moving sometimes up and sometimes down.  It seems that sometimes we  will not make it through this world or ththat the world will not survive.  But then comes Aikido, these  simple movements.  And  while they may be difficult to learn – like understanding life’s complex problems – something happens; they really become nothing more than simple exercises designed to lift us up to another vibrational level where understanding simply happens.

And we realize that it is just life flowing onward.

Aikido is us dancing life.

The paradox of kata.

Is kata present when you think about it?  Kata does not occupy space such as a bowl or table?  But is it simply an abstraction?

The paradox is simply this; while kata does not physically exist like a table, it comes into existence when you perform it. Therefore it can only exist in the present, not in the past or future.

Kata are the manuscripts written by the teacher for students to study when the teacher is not physically present.

My understanding of kata goes something like this:

First of all, kata are not, as has been stated in the past, a continuous fight against an imaginary four to eight opponents. They can be, and most often are powerful “training tools.” I say that because many misunderstand the purpose of kata.

Second, kata are not as old as most think.  While many Japanese kata were originally derived from Okinawan variations, many of these Okinawan kata as well as many of the Korean variety were of Chinese origin. Many others are no more than sixty-five or seventy years old.

The original purpose of kata was to transmit methods of defense and counter for the exploitation of an opponent’s weaknesses. The secretive nature of original practice was essential to keep outsiders from learning clan or family secrets. Also there were many  “okuden,” hidden techniques and methods within kata so a spy or a less-than-loyal student could not decipher them.  In fact many students spent years studying a ryu’s basics and all of their kata thinking that they had mastered the system when in fact they only had a superficial understanding.

Due to this lack of transmission many secrets were lost when a founder or subsequent master died prematurely.