|
Rowing for Beauty/Dreaming of Mori
So, I'm watching Japanese television a couple of days ago and they're interviewing an older Japanese actress, who is aging gracefully. They asked for her secret to health and beauty. She promptly stood up began doing the "rowing" exercise. Of course, for all I know, she is a hachidan somewhere. I was just surprised to see it outside of the dojo. I know (or have read) that Ueshiba incorporated some "special" exercises in some of his warm-ups and that some chi gong people do a similar exercise. It was still a pleasant surprise to see. My wife just looked at me as I said, "Look, she's doing aikido!"
So last night, I had a strange dream. I was joining an aikido academy and I met with Morihei. We bowed and he slid a folded black hakama toward me across the tatami. That's the good part. I take that as a welcome sign. The rest of the dream turned into one of those "back-in-college-and-you're-late-for-class-and-you-can't-find-the-class-etc." dreams. I was running around this huge dojo complex looking for the dressing room. Then I had to stop and pee (wasting more time- thank goodness I didn't wet the bed). All i was thinking, "Ueshiba-sensei is going to be pissed that I'm late to his class."
|
