Morihei Ueshiba said, “Training is not real because nobody dies or is injured.”
As it should be, Personal power resides in being true to promises you make to yourself. Morihei Ueshiba exemplified this sincerity of purpose in his life and training. If you want to be like him, it’s not going to fall from the sky by a wish, or be bestowed by copying his beard. You will have to expend the same amount of energy, sincerity, hard work, both physical and mental, the same austerities, the same singularity of purpose, the same integrity..
Lasting success only comes to those who know how to persist.Nature does not understand resting on laurels, such as certificates, belts, name droppings (what lineage you think you may come from) and the like. Once you cease training, you start to downslide.
Your only true and real qualification is to be found in the barometer of practice. This varies from day to day in a cyclic manner, but persistence does add to a gradual ascension.
“This old man must keep improving and training..” said Morihei Ueshiba when caught training on his last day on earth.
Unfortunately, too many people believe that life should be a movie, where instant gratification is possible after waxing on and waxing off in about three five second clip edits. Not in this galaxy folks. And probably not in any other.Lest we forget, Aikido is Budo! Nothing less. Only the major purpose is the winning the battle within oneself, Masagatsu Agatsu Katsu Hayabi, a far more meaningful and consequential enterprise than accumulating debt and death in the killing fields of futility. Matter, by its very nature is subject to entropy. If energy does not act upon it, decay then sets in and random particles return to original substance as happens to organic bodies after they die.
Most humans don’t know how to directly affect or modify sub-atomic source particles. Or their products such as atoms, molecules etc. However, we can evoke change by the use of mind and will to generate purposeful, skilled activity on a regular basis. The nature of the universe and natural evolution being as it is, this will bring about transformation.The average person knows but a fraction of themselves. The yogi, meditator and Aikidoka has within their grasp, the tools to become cognizant of, and also to activate a considerable part of themselves which would otherwise remain dormant and unconscious.