Welcome to AikiWeb Aikido Information
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.

Sections
home
aikido articles
columns

Discussions
forums
aikiblogs

Databases
dojo search
seminars
image gallery
supplies
links directory

Reviews
book reviews
video reviews
dvd reviews
equip. reviews

News
submit
archive

Miscellaneous
newsletter
rss feeds
polls
about

Follow us on



Home > AikiWeb Aikido Forums
Go Back   AikiWeb Aikido Forums > AikiWeb System

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!

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 04-13-2004, 05:29 PM   #1
AikiWeb System
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,320
Offline
Discuss the article, "This is MY Mat!" by "The Mirror" here.

Article URL: http://www.aikiweb.com/columns/themirror/2004_04.html
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-16-2004, 06:42 PM   #2
senshincenter
 
senshincenter's Avatar
Dojo: Senshin Center
Location: Dojo Address: 193 Turnpike Rd. Santa Barbara, CA.
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,474
United_States
Offline
If one's opinion can be seen as a feeling of their own heart - please allow me to say that I found this article to be excellent. Thank you for the article and for the feeling.

dmv

David M. Valadez
Visit our web site for articles and videos. Senshin Center - A Place for Traditional Martial Arts in Santa Barbara.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2004, 03:42 AM   #3
shihonage
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 890
United_States
Offline
Very nice article.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2004, 05:53 AM   #4
wendyrowe
Dojo: Aikidog Aikikai
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 199
Offline
What a wonderful article. I do pretty well looking out for myself in the "real" world, having learned back in the 4th grade how to cope with nasty classmates; but I do find that aikido has helped me with the really big conflicts. I stay calmer when someone attacks me (physically on the mat or verbally in local politics or whatever), and it doesn't throw me off-balance like it used to.

The hardest part of my aikido training right now is kuzushi done by bumping into uke, because I was taught growing up that you just don't DO things like that. It's funny which things bump up against my "programming." Before this, I couldn't manage to make contact doing atemi because "girls don't hit." It's amazing what I can learn to do when I

put my mind to it!

I have a feeling "This is MY mat!" would do me a world of good; I believe I'll think that to myself in class next time we're swapping throws.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2004, 04:53 AM   #5
Susan Dalton
Dojo: Greensboro Kodokan
Location: Greensboro
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 346
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Thanks David, Aleksey, and Wendy, for your kind comments. Interesting, isn't it, that aikido can help aggressive folks become more gentle and aware; at the same time helping passive people learn to enter. I admit I'm no where close to the point where I can geniunely thank this man for the lessons he helped me learn, but I do see they were very valuable lessons.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2004, 11:52 AM   #6
Janet Rosen
 
Janet Rosen's Avatar
Location: Left Coast
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 4,339
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Susan, the column is wonderful.
It makes me think of how we model what we want to be, even if it feels like a fake and a fraud inside, to help us change and "really mean (be) it."

Janet Rosen
http://www.zanshinart.com
"peace will enter when hate is gone"--percy mayfield
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2004, 12:14 PM   #7
Chuck Clark
 
Chuck Clark's Avatar
Dojo: Jiyushinkan
Location: Monroe, Washington
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 1,134
United_States
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Susan,

I enjoyed your offering in "The Mirror" this month a lot. I have seen many people make changes in their lives through budo practice. It continues to delight me to see these changes because, as a teacher, I get to learn from their changes as well. As one of my teachers used to say, "We all have much to learn from each other." Thanks for sharing.

Chuck Clark
Jiyushinkai Aikibudo
www.jiyushinkai.org
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2004, 12:51 PM   #8
John Boswell
 
John Boswell's Avatar
Dojo: Aikido of Midland
Location: Midland, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 597
United_States
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Susan,

Could you elaborate a little more about "fake aikido" and what your Sensei meant by that? I think I understand, but I would like to hear more about that from you; what do you come to realize; what reason is there to thank the boss; what is the difference in "aikido" and what you were actually doing?

Thanks! I look forward to reading your answer and further articles from "The Mirror."

  Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2004, 05:35 AM   #9
Susan Dalton
Dojo: Greensboro Kodokan
Location: Greensboro
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 346
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Dear John,
I've thought quite a bit about what my sensei said to me. I think he meant I was still "caught". Although I could breathe and relax and maintain my center enough so I didn't cry during interactions with this man, afterward I was obsessing and complaining about him. I still saw myself as a victim and him as the big bad guy-- I gave him far too much of my energy.

What changed with the second interaction was I did what I did and it was over. Of course this situation is much different because I have no history with this person and don't interact with him daily. Still, it represents a major change in my thinking. Probably a few years earlier I would have found out this person's name and his dojo--I would have seen him as a bully and myself as a victim. And I probably would have created drama--either in my mind or in reality. However, I don't know his name and I wouldn't recognize him if I saw him again--I can't remember much about him except he gave me the opportunity to practice, and I learned something about myself and what all those hours of aikido practice put into my body.
Susan
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2004, 05:37 AM   #10
Susan Dalton
Dojo: Greensboro Kodokan
Location: Greensboro
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 346
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Quote:
Janet Rosen wrote:
Susan, the column is wonderful.
It makes me think of how we model what we want to be, even if it feels like a fake and a fraud inside, to help us change and "really mean (be) it."
John,
What Janet said is another way to explain what I think my sensei meant. Thanks, Janet.
Susan
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2004, 05:44 AM   #11
Susan Dalton
Dojo: Greensboro Kodokan
Location: Greensboro
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 346
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Quote:
Chuck Clark wrote:
Susan,

I enjoyed your offering in "The Mirror" this month a lot. I have seen many people make changes in their lives through budo practice. It continues to delight me to see these changes because, as a teacher, I get to learn from their changes as well. As one of my teachers used to say, "We all have much to learn from each other." Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Sensei. Aikido has been a very poweful force of change in my life. ( I have to be careful not to think it's what everyone needs.) In the beginning, I tended to think, "Everyone else gets this and I'm the only one who struggles." Now I understand that we all have different struggles.
Susan
  Reply With Quote
Old 05-14-2004, 06:22 AM   #12
RonRagusa
Dojo: Berkshire Hills Aikido
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 824
United_States
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

This article should be required reading for everyone posting on the 'Size matters' thread.
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-30-2004, 07:39 PM   #13
Richard Elliott
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 47
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Hello Ms. Dalton

This is a tardy response to your esay, but I would just like to say that it just represents, for me, "the real thing" and won I can identify with too. Thanking somebody for something like you describe is as hard as "turning the other cheek" as they say. Something I'm a long way from. To me, that state of "being thankful" and practicing it is one of the best things about doing Aikido I discovered and learned about my own deficiencies with regard to it. It's just hard work, I guess.

Anyway, it seems to me, without a strong healthy ego structure to begin with it's hard to even get to that "place of thanksgiving" where one KNOWS why it's important.

And Thank You!

Respectfully, Richard
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-31-2004, 08:56 AM   #14
Ron Tisdale
Dojo: Doshinkan dojo in Roxborough, Pa
Location: Phila. Pa
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,615
United_States
Offline
Re: Article: This is MY Mat! by "The Mirror"

Nice article! I have an easier time on the mat than in the real world. Still working on that one...

Ron

Ron Tisdale
-----------------------
"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
  Reply With Quote

Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Article: Customizing the Dogi by "The Mirror" AikiWeb System AikiWeb System 10 03-08-2008 10:39 AM
Article: Keiko by "The Mirror" AikiWeb System AikiWeb System 7 03-08-2008 10:29 AM
Article: Mediating Reality, Connecting with the World by "The Mirror" AikiWeb System AikiWeb System 10 03-08-2008 09:50 AM
Article: Everyday Training by "The Mirror" AikiWeb System AikiWeb System 1 08-02-2006 09:10 AM
Article: Symbols, Metaphors, Change by "The Mirror" AikiWeb System AikiWeb System 9 10-03-2005 02:20 PM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:50 AM.



vBulletin Copyright © 2000-2024 Jelsoft Enterprises Limited
----------
Copyright 1997-2024 AikiWeb and its Authors, All Rights Reserved.
----------
For questions and comments about this website:
Send E-mail
plainlaid-picaresque outchasing-protistan explicantia-altarage seaford-stellionate