"True victory is victory over oneself."
But in Aikido what does the term victory even mean? The traditional use has connotations of triumphant trouncing of ones opponent. But there is no winning in Aikido, there is only training with your partner(s). So I wonder what Osensei was trying to convey as he said this. Was the purpose to eliminate the competitive mind? Did he have an understanding of "victory" that has become untied from this phrase?
I have heard that it is the nage's (person doing the technique) job to take care of the person attacking them, and to do so with love. There are stories of Terry Dobson, one of the early western aikidoists, giving rowdy fighting-minded people massages and telling them jokes when he had to subdue them as a bouncer. . .
So maybe the word victory could be replaced with the phrase "loving embrace:"
True loving embrace is to lovingly embrace oneself
Then maybe if we start from the space of self love we can extend that to anyone we are in relationship with (such as uke, friend, teacher, partner, family, "opponent", "enemy", other side of the political spectrum).
Said another way,
Winning is truly winning/ Loving is truly loving.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Abe wrote:
I was just thinking about the quote “True victory is victory over the self.” My take on it is a little different in that I see this path, or ‘do’ as sensei spoke of it last night, is about self-mastery. I don’t mean technique mastery but mastery of being able to connect and stay connected to what is important.
I love reading your reflections on your path. Being open be being loved, loving yourself, and then allowing yourself to love others. I never thought that this would be the outcome of a martial art practice. It's refreshing, life affirming.
Post a Comment