Reports

“I’ve been waiting for the bus since 2001 and it hasn’t come”.

The flight from Vienna arrived punctually Friday afternoon into London Heathrow. From there I travelled by car to the Midlands with family. Then, as predicted, the wild and mystical travel lottery that is rail travel in the UK could begin in earnest. The train I’d planned on taking from the small town of Market Harborough to Burton, changing at Leicester and Derby, was cancelled. My enquiry at the ticket office as to my options was met in a relaxed, nonchalant tone of “I think Burton is still flooded and no trains are running”. Not convinced and having already followed proceedings closely on the website from the car, I waited for him to check the system and then confirm that it may be possible after all.
With (only) one hour delay, in two packed trains of mostly “keep calm” styled Britishness, a dark and gloriously dingy Burton, immediately identifiable from the station surrounded as it still is by its Victorian and contemporary beer brewing topography, had been reached. I say ‘only’ as, not only would I make the training on time as scheduled, but the favourable delay (as opposed to potential Armageddon) presented the opportunity, most properly, to imbibe a local institution and whet the senses with a swift half in the delightful Coopers Tavern that just happened to be on the way. One of the weirdest and most interesting pubs I’ve ever seen, and visited later that evening, greets guests of the central Travelodge hotel in which a few of us stayed. A historic elongated single storey building, it is now indiscriminately located in the middle of the hotel car park! But that’s another story.

On the meaning of Do (道) or, “I’ve been waiting for the bus since 2001 and it hasn’t come”

Despite the warnings and calls for action, starting with the Club of Rome (Limits of Growth, 1972), and the downward turn in the global economy in recent decades, no new international arrangement has been made to determine a new direction. It showed that “…it is impossible for everyone to agree on the same thing.” Older people living today have lived through these major changes and thus have the possibility to understand how the world has changed. Yet, generally, people 40 or 50 years ago could see improvements and a better life on the horizon. What about young people today? “What should we do when the future looks negative, when life is going down?”…
One value of martial arts is trying to understand life without sentiment, emotions and psychology. For example, when someone acts in an aggressive manner it is only important what you do, not what you ‘feel’. This is the justification for the emphasis of meaning on what you do (act), and not what you feel or necessarily think. It brings life perception into being: Not in past time, but the next second. That is the basis. In order words, the question of creating future life and this world, it is not so much useful to compare the future path to the past, but rather perceive and act from the position of what can be done now (in the smallest perceptible time frame or span).
This raises the question: what is positive and negative? Positive is (potentially) when one’s mind is in the future and if one’s mind is in the past it is (potentially) negative. Doshu’s definition avoids the teleological trap (that a “positive mind” necessarily creates certain positive outcomes by design) through considering “potential” outcomes. I will forego a lengthy discussion on philosophical issues in favour of suggesting that readers reflect on the meaning and consequence of this concept for themselves.

Do your best

Do your best to create a better future. Not only people in general, but also Aikido masters have difficulty to grasp this idea. For example, if you think that something is positive when it allows or helps you to feel good. It is not reducible to feelings and emotions. Making the future better is clearly a social question predicated on relationships and not a simple matter of “doing what you like”. This may sound similar to a utilitarian philosophy, but it is quite different. Sensei has remarked that “Aikido is like a joke”. A joke can be many things and although it may have a use, it is not useful in the sense of having a clear function or purpose. If you only learn techniques, whether in science, medicine, architecture, or aikido, then usually you want to apply those techniques. For “point mathematics” based pursuits based on hard materials this has meaning and value. For example, in building a safe bridge in an appropriate location. But still it can’t tell us if it is good or positive for the whole society (is it a good allocation of funds? Does it benefit the people and wildlife living close to the bridge? Etc.) Clearly in the context of the arts and daily life this is an important question. On the other hand, “form mathematics” is the study of life and relationships. Aikido and arts fall into this category and should seek to express and develop the human and social condition.

Good ol’ times?

Burton-on-Trent

A note on language

Forms and symmetry. One way of conceiving practice.