Reality Checked! The Improbable Probability:

I was reading an article about Aikido the other day and it was all about "reality checks" and what is the most effective way to beat your opponent and what one should do to take the victory and on and on and suddenly, I began to think it very odd. . . . .

However strong and great we become in Aikido or handling the sword, it is really, at best, not very effective in this world today. What do you do against a sniper in a tree 100 yards away ready to put a bullet through your head? What do you do if they do away with you by planting a bomb in your car? You turn on the ignition and "bye, bye!" They poison your water supply. You may laugh but this is the reality of today and it happens all of the time. . . . .

In martial arts, the Most Effective technique is the one that does away with your opponent quickly and effortlessly. In one second, your opponent is dead on the ground - ok, that is good martial arts technique. This is the True Reality. It has always been this way.

However, I don't want to take the life of another. I don't want to kill anyone, I don't want to injure anyone as well. More than spending my life thinking about how to kill the other guy, I am more concerned with the quality of my life, harmony, respect and respect for others, peace in the world, higher awareness and fulfillment of life, the end of suffering and so many other things - these are all more important to me and most folk, than killing another person.

Besides, killing someone brings so much bad karma and human suffering all around. Finally, your whole family is shamed and you spend the rest of your life in jail - maybe executed like a common criminal. What good is all this going to do me? Sounds like a big waste to me.

Aikido, if your think about it "realistically," is very Inefficient because it values human life so much - or rather - too much. It doesn't even want to injure or hurt the other person in the smallest way. . . It talks about peace and human balance and mankind as one family - this is not an inefficient martial art at all - yet this is what I like very much about Aikido.

Some people, no - most people aspire to such Effective techniques and this is fine. . . . these never reach "killing" mode so this is a good thing but without killing the other guy, it is never the "most" effective!

I prefer Aikido, because it doesn't want to hurt anyone and that is the way I want to live.

I love Japanese history, the samurai and the samurai swords, yet what a messy process to kill someone with a sword! All the blood and spilling guts, all the screaming and suffering. . . . it is definitely not the movies, where after you "kill" the bad guys, they walk off the set and get a cup of coffee until it is time to die again or get ready for the next take.

We all like to think we are so "effective" and so "strong" but humans are not really strong because they can throw very hard or break your arm or kill you. . . . This is not what humans do best as history proves over and over again. Man is known for his human spirit - which Aikido polishes and allows to shine. Violence will never be the answer to our problems, it quite possiblty could be our End.

What is Effective is really an improbable and highly impractical proposition. To expand on my little essay here, I was reading that they used to employ cyanide, a deadly poison, to leach the gold from the ground. This was considered the "most effective' way to mine gold - yet look at the consequences of poisoning all of the land and waters? Companies used to dump toxic wastes in rivers as the "most effective" way to eliminate their garbage - and so many people died and suffered. . . . . Sometimes, the "most effective" is not the best, it depends on how high we hold to our values and principles. . . . Aikido does not kill and can be criticized for this as a martial art - yet it allows us to live noble, beautiful lives and ultimately, this makes it the highest martial art of all.

From Sweden:

09-27-04: Hello Furuya Sensei. As I have not actually received an-email from you I copied your response from your site of daily words. Must be that the mail got lost on the way.

It doesn't bother me at all being open with how I feel, or with how life is.

I think Aikido is open, should be open, and by being open even to strangers, I can contribute with my own Aikido in this world. maybe that is just a stupid thought but being honest and open makes me feel better, and I think it makes the people I communicate with feel better also. Heaven is here and now, and we create it. =]

Living in Sweden and living is US of A is very different I think, more different than I used to believe. I have read up some on America, and it has altered my view.

But, Tanden in us is the same, and I think Aikido is a great bridge, creating something for us all to lean back on when the differences seem to overwhelm us.

The feling goes something like "I am like me and you are like you, but we both have the spirit of Aikido and thanks to that we can recognize ourselves in one and other".

E-mailing to you is not at all just English writing practice for me. No no, I am sorry that I made you feel that unimportant.

The feeling is much greater than just words on a screen. Thoughts and feelings working rather through a strip in time and space than through two different languages.

It is great to be able to feel sometimes that we are all so small, and that we are one with everything. It makes me calm.

Yesterday I practiced Aikido techniques in another dojo than usual.

The feeling was great, it brought me in touch with the essence of it all.

Probably due to the feeling of being a beginner all over again, as two sensei's Aikido very seldom is the same. Atleast that was the feeling I got when I thought back on it today.

That feeling and the techniques he chose for us really made me feel like I was feeling the strength of the Earth under my feet and the calmness of an open Sky inside me.

It was great. I can't wait for practice tomorrow in my ordinary Dojo, it will be very fun.

I am very content with the Aikido practiced in the Dojo I usually go to. It is great!

I hope you have had a good time since last time. It is sad the e-mail didn't reach me as it has prolonged my response.

Thank you very much for thinking of me as speaking honestly. I try my best, everyday is practice.

What do you prefer to call our one Ueshiba-Sensei?

O'sensei, Sokke, or maybe Kaiso? (I hope I have spelled those titles correctly)

I think I prefer Kaiso...the founder. It has such a nice ring to it.

Thank you again for taking your time, and please forgive me for making you feel like somebody I practice my English on. That is not why I keep on e-mailing you.

Even though, thinking about it, who is better to practise anything on, than a Sensei? =]

Take care, hope the start of your week feels good. /Kim Salmelainen

Sensei's Reply:

Thank you for your email and I like your feeling about Aikido training - please don't even lose that spirit and joy of training and practicing with others.

I am also happy that you are open to share your letter with everyone. Many people read here and they learn a great deal from the feelings and experiences of others. Sharing our ideas is one way of teaching and learning about ourselves and Aikido.

Don't worry about practicing English. I think it is great that you take the time to write to me. Please keep writing and letting me know how you are doing in Aikido and Aikido in your country.

O'Sensei is an "affectionate" term of great respect which still lingers with the Founder of Aikido long after he has passed away. We still use it today, especially those who knew him and practiced during his lifetime. Perhaps, it is different with successive generations of Aikidoists today.

Soke and Kaiso mean about the same thing. However, in all publications and literature on O'Sensei in Japanese by Hombu Dojo, he is formally referred to as, "Aikido Kaiso," or the Founder of Aikido. This seems to be the most appropriate and most fitting title. Soke has just another connotation of "Head" of a group, more akin to the meaning of "Doshu" as we use it in Aikido. Kaiso or Founder is the actual founder or creator of the art, who, at the same time, can be the head or leader of the art.

Successive heads of an art can be soke, just as there are succeedings of Aikido as Doshu, but there can only be one kaiso. Does this make sense to you?

As in a country, you can have succeeding heads of state such as a president or king, like soke, but there is only one founding father, kaiso.

In Japanese martial arts and all fine arts and disciplines, even priests in temples, and generations of a folk craft or business. . . . are usually succeeded in the "family" line. This is called the "iemoto" (literally "family-source") system and is very typical and commonly practiced in Japan. There are volumes of books which discuss this social phenomenon in Japan.

In many cases, when there is not a appropriate succeeding heir to this position, an heir is married into the family and adopts the family name. This is also an unusual but common practice in Japan and this is called, yoshi, but continues in Japan from very early times. It was especially important in the feudal ages when sucession also meant succession (and preservation) of position, rank, job and material possessions.

Although in Aikido, we are now led by 3rd Doshu, Ueshiba Moriteru Sensei. In other traditional martial arts which have continued since the 1500's, they are already in the 20th, 25th, etc., generation of successive head masters. In some ancient temples in Japan, some generation heads are in the 30th and 50th generation of leaders.

I think in this country of ours, we do not realize how old and revered this tradition is, a custom that still continues today after 1,000 years in some cases. As an example, where I get my tea in Kyoto, this tea shop has been in business for about 1,200 years and is succeeded in the family line for all of these years. In Japan, this is not such a rare or unique situation.

Because we do not have this tradition in this country, we use these terms very freely and informally, Nowadays, many modern Japanese do not understand their own history and traditions and the importance of these titles. The title of kaiso and soke are very important and taken very seriously in the artistic world in Japan. Until modern times, generally such a title for an art was conferred upon the person by a personal declaration of the Emperor of Japan himself or some illustrious person of the highest rank such as th Shogun . . . . Today, the Emperor still makes awards to persons of great cultural and artistic importance in the form of medals and a formal ceremony which also includes a personal audience with the Emperor. O'Sensei and 2nd Doshu both have received the highest possible honors a civilian in Japanese society can possibly receive from the Emperor. It is said that it is the first time in Japanese history that two persons of the same family have ever received this high honor, it is also said that it is almost an impossibility that both father and son (Ueshiba Morihei O'Sensei and Ueshiba Kisshomaru Sensei) could receive the same high honor. Both O'Sensei and 2nd Doshu have earned their place in Japanese society and history. This is almost equivalent to the title of "Mukei Bunkazai" (Intangible Living Art Treasure) and "Ningen Kokuho" (Living National Treasure), issued by the Monbusho or Ministry of Education.

It is not a title or word we can pick and choose ourselves so freely.

Best wishes and looking forward to hearing from you again.

Wealth:

09-27-04: Furuya Sensei, This is an article which has become cause for much contemplation this afternoon. I thought you might be interested. I have to wonder if there can really be a scientific way of measuring happiness. It crosses my mind that this urge to quantify everything might actually lead to a certain degree of unhappiness.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-09/aps-wdn092404.php

Sandi Wilkinson, Seattle

P.S. In your Daily Message of August 28th you mentioned the proper way of signing a letter with name, rank, origin, and length of training. I am sorry that I do not know how to provide this information since I have only been in training as of two weeks ago. I hope to learn so I can present better etiquette in the future.

Your article:

Wealth does not create individual happiness and it doesn't build a strong country, either

A study in the recent issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest addresses how economic status is no longer a sufficient gauge of a nation's well-being. The authors argue that the psychological well-being of its citizens is the greatest measure of a nation-- not the well-being of its economy. "While wealth has trebled over the past 50 yearswell-being has been flat, mental illness has increased at an even more rapid rate, and data, not just nostalgic reminiscences, indicate that the social fabric is more frayed than it was in leaner times," the authors state. Prosperity is neither the answer nor the cause of satisfaction. The study calls for an ongoing systematic set of national indicators of well-being to report on a society and aid in its policy-making.

It has been assumed that money increases well-being and, although money can be measured with exactitude, it is an inexact surrogate to the actual well-being of a nation. In a 1985 survey, respondents from the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans and the Maasai of East Africa were almost equally satisfied and ranked relatively high in well-being. The Maasai are a traditional herding people who have no electricity or running water and live in huts made of dung. It follows, that economic development and personal income must not account for the happiness that they are so often linked to.

"Scientists are now in the position to assess well-being directly, and therefore should establish a system... to supplement the economic measures," encouraged the report authors, Ed Diener, University of Illinois, and Martin E.P. Seligman, University of Pennsylvania.

The variables measured would include engagement, purpose and meaning, optimism and trust, and positive and negative emotions in specific areas such as work life and social relationships. The periodic assessment of a sample of the population would provide policymakers with a much stronger basis to gauge the well-being of the nation. It would allow them to refocus. "After all, if economic and other polices are important because they will in the end increase well-being, why not assess well-being more directly" the authors ask?

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This article is published in the latest issue of the Psychological Science in the Public Interest. For more information, contact Diener at (217) 333-4804 or e-mail at ediener@s.psych.uiuc.edu. A copy of this report is available at http://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/index.cfm?journal=pspi&content=pspi/home.

This report is part of a continuing series of reviews by preeminent researchers who examine psychological science findings on topics of general public interest. Psychological Science in the Public Interest is a journal of the American Psychological Society. APS's mission focuses on the advancement of research and science-based psychology in the public interest.

Sensei's Reply

Thank you for the article which I share here with others. Yes, we do have an obsession with wealth as a measure of success. We even associate wealth with power which can become a very unhealthy and hurtful perspective on Life.

I receive so many emails and letters from so many different people whom I do not know or ever met, I would like to know a little about the person who is writing to me so I have a better idea how of how to answer them. At least, a name, age, place, and background in Aikido are a little help for me.