Breathe in, hopeful anticipation
Breathe out, didn't happen
They say patience is a virtue. In studying Aikido it seemed near impossible at times. So many times I would watch Sensei demonstrate and then tell us to practice. I saw what he did. I thought I knew what he did. I even thought I was doing it. But, it didn't happen.
Yet.
Yet is such a simple three letter word.
Yet wields such power. So what does it actually mean?
Yet can mean in addition to and on top of everything else. It also is a reference to time. The word
yet means up to the present time, eventually, and at a future time.
Hypnosis, a study of suggestion as well as the trance state, supports the power of the indirect or implied command. Rather than trying to convince someone that if they keep practicing they just might gain some level of mastery after all, we can just state that they haven't mastered it
yet. Externally, as a teacher, this has the power of implying that the student can gain these skills but also a belief that they can. When we hear a student say that they don't understand it or get it, we can simply agree with them. They don't understand or get it,
yet. But they will if they keep studying, investigating, and training.
We can also understand that all that self-talk and chatter in our heads actually programs us and dictates what we can and cannot do. We are our own hypnotist whether we know or accept it our not. So, if we tell ourselves that we will never get it or obtain a certain level of proficiency, then we will not. If we tell ourselves that we have those skills right now, the mind also knows we are lying to ourselves and will not accept the suggestion of ignorance and arrogance.
Yet, if we repeatedly suggest to ourselves that if we train with honest and genuine intent and intensity, we open our conscious, subconscious, and unconscious to future possibilities.
Many people have been programmed through their personal and social history and experience to view and sort the world and themselves through the negative. This perspective or orientation will always see the scarcity and the impossibilities. This becomes the basis of a fear-based mentality and identity manifest in depression, anxiety, and eventually failure. Unfortunately, many martial arts are still facilitating and perpetuating this fear-based mentality. While the negatives do exist in reality, being overly obsessed with them actually both prepares us for them and brings them more and more of what we don't want into their lives.
On the other hand, some people have been programmed through their personal and social history and experience to be open to the positives and possibilities. They are the lucky ones. They naturally believe that they can and will develop the skills and attitudes they need to succeed. When they listen to their internal chatter or self-talk, they encourage and support learning and success. When they look at the internal visual representations they see themselves getting it someday. Maybe not today. Maybe not
yet.
Ki, as kinesthetic energy, follows the direction or course dictated by our focus or intent. The cognitive processes of the mind dictate focus or intent. The nice thing is that we can consciously control and change our thoughts, our mind. Just as we discipline the body through conscious discipline and repetition, we can also discipline the mind through the same process. We can gain body and mind unification eventually.
As we practice Aikido, we can use the opportunity to train and change both the body and the mind. Many people have difficulties beginning Aikido because while they are trying the move their bodies in a circular motion, their mind is still thinking in a straight line. The body and the mind are in opposition to each other. This creates a great deal of stress. Eventually the mind usually wins, which may mean we lose. They have not unified the direction of their bodies and the extension of the intent,
yet.
Armed with this mindful awareness and the ability to change our minds and our bodies, we can begin to mindfully model those who possess skills and attitudes we eventually want to have. Please remember that the only thing we can do quickly is usually destructive. Therefore this conscious change takes time. Anything worth having, anything constructive, takes time to develop and obtain. Simply because we have not changed it
yet, doesn't mean we can't and won't, it simply means we haven't
yet.
We may not have those skills of our teachers when we walk in the door of the dojo and bow onto the mat. We may not have them
yet, but we will if we train mentally and physically.
Breathe in, hopeful anticipation
Breathe out, didn't happen
Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!
Lynn Seiser (b. 1950 Pontiac, Michigan), Ph.D. has been a perpetual student of martial arts, CQC/H2H, FMA/JKD, and other fighting systems for 40 years. He currently holds the rank of Sandan (3rd degree Black Belt) in Tenshinkai Aikido under Sensei Dang Thong Phong at the Westminster Aikikai Dojo in Southern California. He is the co-author, with Phong Sensei, of Aikido Basics (2003), Advanced Aikido (2006), and Aikido Weapons Techniques (2006) for Tuttle Publishing. His martial art articles have appeared in Black Belt Magazine, Aikido Today Magazine, and Martial Arts and Combat Sports Magazine. He is the founder of Aiki-Solutions and IdentityTherapy and is an internationally respected psychotherapist in the clinical treatment of offenders and victims of violence, trauma, abuse, and addiction. He currently lives in Marietta, GA and trains at Roswell Budokan.
