“Feel free to ‘steal’ all you can, from wherever and whomever you can. After all,
taking a few things, probably is theft. Taking a lot of things, is really research.”
I have found learning, as well as instructing, to be habits cultivated by committed and prolonged repetition of the fundamentals of your chosen craft, science or philosophy. It has to be your own choice.
The stronger and more internalized the habits, the more resonance you will produce when sharing. The purpose of living, is that it must always be about your own life’s choices. Ask not of others what interests you, inspires you, or even defines you. There is no more qualified person to help you every day than the person in the mirror,
He knows, and has always known.
When I referred to “studying the art and science of teaching”, I did not allude to an independent course of study to do just that. Rather, by committing to the areas you truly will devote yourself to, you will naturally encounter experiences, mentors and methods that you will recognize, almost on a cellular level. Seek within, if you really want to win. By seeking primarily outside yourself, you are likely to continue cultivating even more doubt, and reluctance to act.
Trust the Teacher within. All the rest are merely your assistant instructors, regardless of accomplishments or relationship to you.
There is no other advice I can give, other than to search your own sense of correctness regarding your mission in life, and trust the fundamentals that are there. Feel free to “steal” all you can, from wherever and whomever you can. After all, taking a few things, probably is theft. Taking a lot of things, is really research.
People tend to take you at your word, all other things being equal.
If you say that “you can”, they will try to assist you. If you say that you cannot, and will not try, then they will simply move on.
I hope you choose, and research, wisely.
“The bushi used calligraphy as he did the other arts: as a method for simultaneously centering and balancing his mind and body. Any faltering, any self-consciousness will show up in his work.”
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“I believe happiness is important, and all else being equal, the happy life is better than the unhappy one.
Kendo sparring training provides an invaluable insight into metsuke, maai and deai, ki no musubi; and totally improves Aikido because it reveals insights into many attributes of combat that require speed and attrition to understand.
“I was reminded on the incredible power of our brain recently as a window in my bathroom fell open. Before I had a chance to think, my body had jumped into a fighting stance as a surge of adrenaline shot through my body and a growl escaped my lips. It was kind of funny but as this was happening I already knew what the affront to my serenity was – the window. But like it or not, I was as ready as my body could possibly be for whatever the external environment might throw at me. This I attribute to my brain’s intervention with my normal thought processes.”
“Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness — of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.”
“I was fortunate to attend an excellent training seminar taught by Kyoshi Bill Hayes this past weekend. Major Hayes is the author of ‘My Journey With The Grandmaster’. I walked into the session with a notebook and pen. I took several pages of notes but it was not enough to capture the amount of information presented. I simply could not write fast enough.”
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New practitioners of aikido today have vastly more options than those of us who began decades ago. Aikido has grown enormously as an art and many fine teachers have emerged over the years. The march forward of technology has also provided an abundance of pedagogical materials that would have been unimaginable in the past.
“I believe that training the mind is just as important as training the body, for were the mind goes the body follows, something many of us forget in our pursuit of physical mastery. It is almost impossible to achieve our full potential as martial artists unless we acknowledge the fact that the mind plays a significant role in our over all development. It is the key to all growth and without it we are merely puppets on a string, all physical movement and lacking in the depth and understanding that’s absolutely necessary to take us to the higher levels of mastery.”