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A bunch of us gathered after Friday class for supper and for the sole English chappie amongst us, a couple of beers. For the rest of us Singaporeans and Malaysians, sugar cane drinks with or without lemon and plates of oyster omelette ("or luat"), satay (grilled meat on sticks) is the equivalent of a pint in a pub on the way home.
The conversation turned to how aikido tended to moderate one's behaviour in general and one of the guys said it had actually made him calmer. That was interesting to me because since I'm not generally given to losing my temper so it's harder for me to imagine what it feels like internally to lose control so easily. (If anyting I have the reverse problem of too much suppression of emotion ). So it was an interesting confirmation of what our chief instructor had said in another class earlier in the week. He'd pointed out how aikido actually often has this regulating or moderating effect on people's temperments. For people given to anger, it helped them calm down and for people who were more timid, it built up their sense of confidence and courage. For this particular person, he said he really agreed with that and discovered it had that effect on him. He also said aikido was a very good way of balancing his emotions before he went home and faced the demands of family life.
Plus he said he just liked the logic of aikido. Instead of trading blows, getting out of the way then taking someone down with a minimum of effort and minimising any hurt if possible, was just much more sensible. And coming from someone who has actually been in more than his fair share of fights that was an interesting statement.
That sure made a lot of sense and for me it's always very interesting to see and hear other people's perspectives on aikido especially when they're very different people from me. For me, other than the fact i just love the sheer art, it's always been a good de-stresser after of course I got over where my hands and feet had to be which took quite a while in my case. So it's definitely a strong reason for showing up after a hard day in the office, not that I need one aiki addict that i am .
01-12-2008 12:19 AM 
). So it was an interesting confirmation of what our chief instructor had said in another class earlier in the week. He'd pointed out how aikido actually often has this regulating or moderating effect on people's temperments. For people given to anger, it helped them calm down and for people who were more timid, it built up their sense of confidence and courage. For this particular person, he said he really agreed with that and discovered it had that effect on him. He also said aikido was a very good way of balancing his emotions before he went home and faced the demands of family life.
which took quite a while in my case. So it's definitely a strong reason for showing up after a hard day in the office, not that I need one aiki addict that i am 
.
