AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.
Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.
If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!
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.
Picture this: A large auditorium
A sea of white gis
And dark hakama, thrown in
Summer Camp in San Diego
Many years ago
Probably over two hundred
Aikidoka In the room
Sitting seiza, sweat cooling
Listening to Chiba Sensei speak
We all listen attentively, of course
Leaning forward, trying to catch
And comprehend his words and meaning
His English sometimes hard to understand
Suddenly, in the now quiet hall
Someone lets out a loud fart!
Poor bastard, two hundred plus aikidoka And Chiba Sensei and he (or she) loses it!
Chiba Sensei stops speaking and asks loudly: Who can't control their anus?
This we somehow all understand
He grins and we all laugh - 'course
No one raises their hand!
Chiba Sensei's thought is that farting
Is one way for the body to lose ki
Still, if that last burrito with beans
Is still hanging around
What to do?
A small golden boy
Crouching under the shade
Of a large Joshua tree
His Razor scooter
Abandoned casually beside him
On the sand
A hot, harsh sun hammering
Down on the aikidoka
Practicing before the boy
On a large concrete court
A small, low fountain
Opposite the Joshua tree
Rolling desert all around
As the aikidoka practice
The 36 jyo basics Kesa, tsuki, shomen-uchi
With some Sancho one
Thrown in to further confuse
Gis and hakamas moving
And flowing in the hot air Shihan and shidoin
Watching and correcting
Bravely hiding their sorrow
As they watch us perform
Hats, sunglasses, sun screen
Not the usual attire
The sun and heat beating down
Sweat evaporating quickly
In the dry desert air
I wonder what the boy sees
As we strive for perfection
Achieving instead hot skin
Dry throats, stiff muscles, and
Occasionally, slammed hands and fingers
As we steadily narrow
That performance window
Closing in on the kill-strike
Risking injury and bruised egos
Perhaps this is true misogi
Moving and doing with intent
And focused minds
Honing the six elements
The five senses and the mind
Asking the desert kami
To wash away our sins
As we try to bring our
Bodies, spirits and centers
Into unification
The inspirational essence
They say, that drives good poetry
Can never be defined
Only alluded to
It is strangely beyond
The very words that are used
It is hard to find
Only clumsy metaphors are left
Yet, it will come to you by itself
It will come through
A lack of desire
And through a lack of effort
Are we only talking
About poetry now?
The Wabi-Sabi of Aikido
Trimming away and eliminating
The non-essentials
Creating your aikido-self
Each technique and movement
Each moment
Transient, fleeting
As nage and uke
Create an imperfect
Impermanent and incomplete
Beauty
06-17-2012 03:22 PM 
