philosophy of aikido by George Simcox
(1933-2000) - Page 2 of 2
AIKIDO: A civilizing martial art
and,
Ki: The force that makes it that way
Ki training is the path to meeting the performance objectives of Aikido.
As taught by O'Sensei, Ki was developed through diligent practice of Aikido.
Koichi Tohei, founder of the Ki Society International and last Chief Instructor
appointed by O'Sensei, found that, by employing a few simple principles
which he developed during his teaching of others, he could speed the development
of Ki awareness within students and show them how to improve the flow of
Ki energy in their body. This revolutionized instruction in Aikido and is
developing a group of Aikido students which start their training with relaxation
and softness as a part of their "going in philosophy". This results
in a martial artist who has their civilizing forces strengthened, rather
than weakened, during training.
As we progress in our attempts to live in a society which is decidedly schizophrenic
in its approach to living, we need to keep working on the objective of increasing
our civilizing nature. We need to use our power to spread calm rather than
contributing to the din of conflict.
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