A strange title to a blog post I think you'll agree, but its something that I've come to reflect on in recent weeks.
I am not sure if its my recent injury that kept me away from training, or if it is a natural process of the mind wandering because I could not train, but I found myself thinking about the spiritual side of this martial art. What makes Aikido, Aikido? What compels us to return to the dojo each week regardless of what chaos and mayhem is part of our everyday lives? Why do we train and continually push individual boundaries?
I am not sure if other martial artists or other Aikidocca reflect on the spiritual side of the arts they train in and love. We all just turn up, change quickly and jump into the warm-up with gush do, don't we?
If I am honest, I do the same. I rush from work, quickly change and hit the mat. This week however, was different. For some reason, I was the first person there. I bowed on but rather than start stretching, I felt compelled to just sit in Siza for a little while, don't ask me why. It was a strange feeling, to sit there and 'feel' the quietness and stillness of the dojo-it was very soothing. Try it- you definitely feel the spirit of the dojo around you.
So, back to my wandering mind for a second. Maybe the spirit of Aikido isn't necessarily what we think it is, but maybe its a little more of the essence of the people who we train with. Whatever it is, you know what I mean-Aikido grips you in a certain way. Its not something you can put into words-all I know is, and I'm sure you'll agree-if you're not training, you don't feel whole.
