Maai is the functional study of relationship boundaries and of the nuances of the natural forces that go into making them. Boundaries exist to protect a centre. There are infinite centres reflecting the one universal core.

People let their minds entangle in the space between boundaries and because it appears to be empty, become hypnotized by a concept of no-concept into which they insert their fears and ideas and their own mind then defeats them. Reality is what is happening while your mind was writing another script. These false assumptions born of fear then lead to violence of some kind.

The principle of musubi unites the boundaries and dances with the energy exchange between them bringing the natural economy of energy exchange to a balance where it may settle. Respect being the ultimate social lubricant it enables a constructive paradigm of existence to take place and to vivify those core values which carry us through time by uniting us as a species who can thrive against the odds.

All of human suffering comes from the disregard of, and the transgression of either real, imagined or other boundaries.

Often territory is hard earned, but it can also be stolen. Stolen territory whilst filled with the energy stolen from the rightful owners is fraught with mishap. The hungry ghosts of injustice do not rest until they have fed on the souls of the perpetrators. This is why all empires fall. Murder is not a building block but a corrosive acid.
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Some indicators are:
If you feel intense dislike of bullies and cowards.
When you feel like stepping in to stop injustice.
When you feel like “taking out” those who lie, con, cheat, and predate on the weak, innocent and gullible.
When you feel an obligation to stop harm and protect society.
When you are aware and like to minimize risk where you see it.
When you feel motivated to protect and instruct those who are too weak, ignorant or unprepared to do so for themselves.
When you like to see people happy, productive and at peace.

The warriors way walks a fine line. The risk is that an often legitimate warrior may, with excess of zeal and insufficient training, tip out and become part of the problem.

Here is the good news: In order to maintain and administer a society there are numerous career paths that require warrior types capable of facing danger to minimize risk for the gentler folk. Such active servers thereby establish a healthy balance both within themselves and in society that they serve.

You will seldom be thanked (Watch last 3 minutes of the movie The Seven Samurai) but the job satisfaction is always rewarding.

If you are an Aikido practitioner, in these cases the skill you obtain as part of your career will be augmented with additional strategic insights, and in turn your career will increase your Aikido skills.

Whatever your work, Aikido properly addressed will enhance your ability and your daily life.

A well protected and properly administered society is in a good position to uplift itself and step up to higher standards of happiness.

Nev Sagiba
aikiblue.com

It may be serendipitous that the empty space between the four diamonds of the Furin Kazan form the identical X, which Morihei Ueshiba describes as, “The Cross of Aiki.” Either way, to understand the principles of nature that express as Aiki through the human frame, one must have a clear and actionable comprehension of how the cross of aiki expresses.

The least of the aiki-juji is to be found in juji-garame a mere arm breaker most difficult to deploy during frenzied action. But throw it in we must as it forms one of the viable kihon nonetheless.

The primary Aiki Juji is to be found in proper stance. Not the mimicking of a stance with tension and stiffness in all the wrong places denoting false ego and fear, but the fully spirited stance of the warrior. This originated in the equestrian arts of war, now mostly lost. A stable vertical centerline denoting maximal heaven and earth connectivity.

People of today mostly mimic Aikido because not ever having had to really balance in dynamic motion, such as with equus; the full range of potentials in human balance has atrophied. The excess of sitting in soft society does not help. Without a living understanding of such skills as horse, sea-legs, hard manual labour and a few other attributes of natural living, you can access only part of what is possible for a full understanding of the Way of Ai Ki. In other words Aikido is “Mind fully in the body, touching Heaven and fully rooted in Earth, as one..” not merely conceptual but alive.
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“Atemi and kuzushi MUST be part of the flow and not separate or gratuitous. There is no time. Your “decisionary preparation,” must occur in the dojo by drilling the basics with, as O’Sensei would put it, “Honest attack and honest defence,” until the core basics become preconditioned responses that function naturally, not contrived..”

In the time it takes to say, “observe,” “orient,” “decide” and “act,” a real fight will be over and you could well be under.

Jet fighters have different distances and manoeuvres than human bodies engaged in mano a mano survival combat. Try this instead:

Notice, (all the time zanshin)

Intercept, (shortest path)

Enter, (closing the gap and also atemi)

Pivot, (captures flow to kusushi)

N.I.E.P. …and the obvious followup kihon waza, basic technique will reveal itself by itself because of the attack.

Start slowly in training and keep it safe, but in times of true need any speed is possible.

“What’s the difference?,” you may ask.

Decision is the difference. Decisions take calculation and time to process that on the ground you do not have.

Also atemi and kuzushi MUST be part of the flow and not separate or gratuitous. There is no time.

Your “decisionary preparation,” must occur in the dojo by drilling the basics with, as O’Sensei would put it, “Honest attack and honest defence,” until these core basics become preconditioned responses that function naturally, not contrived. All bujutsu, to function, must adhere to this.
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“Aikido is a method of healing the tendencies of contention and augmenting those of harmonious interaction without losing the practicality of survivability.” – “In practical terms, applied Aikido accelerates the rendering of aggression to impotence sooner than it would do so by itself if left unaddressed.”

When you want to fight an opponent who wants to fight you, you have both already lost. No matter the outcome, all contenders will sustain some measure of injury. Some more than others.

This is the “fighting” paradigm, also that of “sporty-fighting.” Contention feeding false ego.

A battlefield warrior, unlike the movies, whilst trained to do business, unless psychologically unwell, tends to prefer no battle will arise. He knows he is a sacrificial drone for other interests and his chances of survival are about even, if that.

Whilst some of the very best strategic lessons are learnt in the battlefield, only a few make it to debrief. Dead men impart nothing. Valuable wisdom is thus lost. If observed by an experienced warrior, mistakes may be able to be harvested to augment strategic capabilities by learning from them.

Some individuals never make mistakes. They “don’t need to train because they already know it all.” These are the living dead but they don’t realize it yet.

The best way to learn is from your own mistakes. The second best from the errors of others.

To learn from your mistakes, you must first place yourself in a position where you can make them, and survive, in order to correct them and move on to clarity of practical understanding. Skill in action. Training is an ongoing pursuit without any end, only incremental progressions.
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