Today's Schedule:

6:30-7:30pm Intermediate-Advanced Aikido. All levels, kyu and dan grades, are welcome today. Please come.

BITS & PIECES:

A student, the other day, told me that he will put Aikido aside for a while because he is too busy, and come back to it later. To me, this is a very strange statement but I hear it all of the time. We think we can take parts of our lives and set it aside or ignore it and then pick it up again - like putting something in the refrigerator and taking it out again much later. Somehow we think it will stay fresh forever, but it does not. Even though you put it in the frig, you must still make use of it quickly or it will go bad and become useless.

We cannot separate ourselves or think that our lives can be taken apart like this. Aikido, brushing your teeth, eating your meals, sleeping, working. . . . it all makes up the whole person which cannot be cut into pieces. We are an "integrated One" which cannot be divided and separated. . . . Because you don't use your left arm much, it doesn't mean you can cut it off and do away with it. It is still a part of your "whole" self and you still need it. . . . .

Aikido must be made a part of the whole of your Life. This is the Path of the true martial art.