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Old 07-01-2005, 08:23 PM   #3
sutemaker17
 
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Dojo: Mokurin Dojo
Location: Louisiana
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 34
United_States
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Re: Aikido for fighting anger?

TD,
All I can tell you is that Aikido, my seniors examples and their tough love have been one of the best things to ever happen to me. When I really began serious study they all had a hand in not only my physical training but my development as a human. I was told regularly that I had a chip on my shoulder and that sometimes the things I said or did seemed mean or hateful.
Through training and the checks of my teachers and sempai I began to become more aware of everything I did, what others were doing and how it affected everyone involved. Of course, I was trying to learn an art I knew nothing about so I mimicked my sempai not only physically but socially because I wanted desperately to fit in and I wanted them to stop telling me I was an acting like an arse. Then I began to develop a real sense of obligation to the group partly because they accepted me unconditionally (well with some conditions LOL) but also because I realized they were obligated to me because I kept showing up.
In my personal experiences I became less and less angry because I began to view things more objectively. In other words, I was not as concerned with assigning "good" and "bad" feelings to problems and causes of those problems in my life or even why because I could never gather enough information about why "this cop was talking down to me" or "the guy in the car beside me just shot me the finger" to know. Maybe they had an argument with the boss like I did yesterday,who knows? But it can help you put yourself in their shoes long enough to logically deal with undesirable situations in your life that you see someone else as the cause of, without wanting to beat the crap out of them. You will get a chance to deal with all that stuff on the mat and keep getting up and attacking with sincerity even though you know the guy just cranked on you on purpose and you don't know why but he/she is on of your regular training partners. So you give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe he wasn't thinking or he had a bad day. You will begin to excuse people for being human because God knows others have had to excuse you. I guess what I'm trying to say is yes if you find the right group of people to train with it can help you. BTW I was one year younger than you when I started seriously training in Aikido.
Holy cow! I just read all that and I'm not sure it makes any sense. But I hope it helps. Here goes the submit button.....
Jason
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