Rediscovering My Love for Aikido

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[kedarvandan]

Will anybody read this? Maybe not. It's just the story of one man's fascination with the martial art of Aikido, but I'll write it anyway. Ever since my parents allowed me to go to my first Tae Kwon Do lesson the martial arts have become part of my being. It began as most kids interest does as a desire to defend myself from bullies at school. As I attended classes and learned the katas, the kicks and the punches I became more confident and less afraid. I was able to become more aware of myself and the people around me as they truly were instead of how my fear made me perceive them. My shy nature began to disappear and I began to actually enjoy being with other people, something I thought would never happen. Looking back now, I can see that martial arts played a big part of my development as a human being. I studied Tae Kwon Do, Jung Sim Do, Hapkido and even a little Kung Fu. I absorbed as much Asian culture as I could while living in Southern West Virginia, working and attending school. As much as I love the martial arts I allowed life to pull me away with a wife and kids and trying to make a living and pay the bills. The martial arts seemed to go the way of so many of my other childhood dreams pushed to the back of my mind, but not out of my mind completely. It was always there. Then I saw a Stephen Seagal movie, his first one in 1988, and all the times spent in the dojo came back as I watched him move and defend himself with a martial art I had up to that point been unaware of. Aikido. I watched Above the Law probably a hundred times watching the techniques and playing them over and over in my mind. When I found my first Aikido school in St Albans, WV with Master Roger Jarrett I knew I had found my martial arts home. A martial art not based on attack but solely based on defense. No resistance only acceptance. No aggression only love. A martial art based on physics and Newton's first law of motion. "An object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an external force." It was so beautiful. All I wanted to do was practice and practice. I practiced all the time and wherever I was, if I could, I would be visualizing Ikkyo, nikyo, sankyo, yonkyo, gokyo, or rokkyo. But then life again took a turn and I lost my job and had to quit going to classes. When I found another job it was out of state in Florida. We moved but life remained bumpy and the classes in the Tampa area were much more expensive and I couldn't afford it. Luckily I had my Mastering Aikido VHS videos by Sensei Ken Ota which I watched over and over again but eventually the VHS player quit working and again I let life get in the way of my love of Aikido. Now I'm almost 50 and the desire to practice again is getting strong. I'm looking for a school that will accommodate my schedule, my wallet and my wife. Whether I find one or not remains to be seen. Master Jarrett said that the way to really learn is by teaching. I would like to finally get my 1st Dan and teach Aikido and give to others some of what I got from the martial arts or Budo. Like O Sensei said, " True Budo calls for bringing the inner energy of the universe in order, protecting the peace of the world , as well as preserving, everything in nature in its right form." That's Aikido. That is the nature of my religion, Hinduism, as well. By absorbing and redirecting energy, not by holding onto energy or resisting it, we become one with the universe and the One energy that flows through all things. This is what Aikido teaches. Aikido teaches us how to live. Absorb and redirect.

[hughrbeyer]

Dude. Paragraphs.

Glad you found your way back. :)

[kedarvandan]

Thanks,

Sorry about no paragraphs. Is there a way to go back in and edit my post to fix it?

[hughrbeyer]

Just yanking your chain, dude. Its' all good.

[Adam Huss]

Seriously though. Most people will not read a text wall like that, so if you have something good to share breaking it up would be helpful for clarity reasons.

[kedarvandan]

I agree. Thanks.

[Adam Huss]

....as I write run-on sentences, lol

[Stephen Nichol]

Thanks,

Sorry about no paragraphs. Is there a way to go back in and edit my post to fix it?

http://imageshack.com/a/img823/2490/crtr.jpg

[Stephen Nichol]

Oh and welcome back! Did not want to be just empty posting.

I went through a very similar process myself and was very happy to get back into it.

Funny thing is that at my dojo there are quite a few students who have had breaks of 10 years or so in their training because 'real life' outside the dojo decides to take you for a ride.

If you can get yourself to shodan... push past that a little more if you can before entertaining opening your own dojo. At the very least stay in touch with your teacher and make an effort to visit several times a year to keep progressing yourself and pass all that on to anyone you are teaching.

Good luck and have fun!