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This poem and others are available in my books, Nothing Works: Meditations on Aikido, Buddhism, the Tao, Zen, and other inconsequential things....and, Nothing Special, and Nothing Matters..., available thru Amazon.com, in print and Kindle editions and Barnes & Noble websites.....Also available as an e-book via Smashwords.com. Try this link: www.nothing-works.com for the full array of options.
Your aikido will only improve when your concept of aikido improves. ~ Kenjiro Yoshigasaki
Sustainable Practice
As I get older
And my Aikido practice ages
(Matures?)
Along with me
I am reminded of the quote above
And how difficult it is
To improve or even sustain
My Aikido practice unless
My concept of Aikido changes
As I do physically
The need to adapt, change, grow
To transform self and art
Is a constant need and struggle
But can only happen
If and when your concepts change
And you are open to this very possibility
This, I constantly remind myself
As I step on the mat
Breathing, moving, breathing, moving
Doing my best to sustain an art
That has also sustained me
For long, hard, joyous decades
I find my mind, my mind finds me
As I move to where my ego smugly sits
And destroy it!