Aikido spirituality in perspective
The Biography of the founder is very meaningful. His life, his spiritual quest through Shinto, Esoteric Buddhism, Omoto Kyo and Shamanism and his “adventures” all shaped Aikido.
If you know, the tools OSensei put into Aikido, are not random, but meant to help you grow and develop as a person. In his view to unite Heaven and Earth. In other words, to get the best out of yourself as a human being in all aspects. Live an inspired life, face, and conquer challenges.
In this course you will learn just that. We will move from Religious to Spiritual (big Yikes for many people), to Philosophical, to practical tools for personal development.
The founder even said it literally: don’t take my religion but take what you can use and make it your own to grow. And that is exactly what this mini course is about.
Aikido versus Daily demons
Up to now the courses have been about what dojo, warmup, techniques physical and philosophical can do to help you grow. Now you are going to cherry pick exactly those principles and apply them to face your own daily demons.
Aikido has a lot to offer for stress, anxiety, depression burnout, relational or work problems etcetera. Training on the mat will reinforce your implementation and application in Daily Life. Not as a replacement of therapy when needed, but as preventive or extra tools to gain more life balance
The 9 pillars of Aikido – The philosophy behind each Technique
I have been practicing for years, thinking that shihonage was “just” a throw in four directions, with plenty of technical details. Yes, you could also do it with the jo and bokken! And besides that, the founder said aikido was saving your uke’s life and some of his own weird spirituality. Then, through my new teachers, after 2 years of training a whole world opened up.
All Aikido techniques fit into 9 pillars. Some pillars have deep and extensive meaning, some carry a simple but strong principle. These pillars are Shiho, Irimi, Kaiten, Kokyu, Osae, Ushiro, TenChi, Aiki-Ken/Aiki-Jo, Ukemi.
It will be a very extensive course. Every technique will come to life and its philosophical principle will be available on demand. Not to throw somebody, but in daily life.
Warm up – Body, Mind and Speech
After we enter the Dojo and leave our daily drama behind, it is time to get ready. But of course, the process of getting ready is part of training. Not only calisthenics to be ready to throw 100 times and be thrown about the same amount. Aikido offers a great collection of meaningful exercises to prepare, focus and train our body, mind and even speech.
Body needs maintenance and strengthening. Some physical exercises have a Shinto background
Mindset is a conscious thing. O Sensei adopted specific exercises from esoteric Buddhism/Omoto Kyo to visualize to get into a certain mindset. Kototama Chanting is stressing the importance of words, speech. These exercises, when understood, are not woowoo stuff, but simple, logically explainable and effective.
You will be able to warm up fully conscious of its meaning. And take these exercises/practices to daily life to be and stay prepared, relaxed, and focused.
Dojo – Place of the Way
To practice Aikido, we go to the Dojo. It is a safe place to fail, to grow, to experiment. We can leave our worries behind.
To make the whole world our dojo, we must make a conscious transition. This mini course will cover dojo history, culture, and community. Then you will learn to consciously practice dojo mindset, the mindset of the monk, warrior and human and learn the tools to take the dojo as a principle to daily life. When the whole world feels as your dojo, and the dojo principles are your tools, you can grow, tap into your unlimited potential.
Shugyo
USING THE SECRETS OF THE MARATHON MONKS OF MOUNT HIEI AND SAMURAI COMBINED WITH YOUR OWN MARTIAL ARTS EXPERIENCE
